Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Outlook Turns Negative on AIG Units, Ratings Downgrade Possible
Nov 6 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised the CreditWatch status of its ratings on a number of American International Group Inc.’s P/C subsidiaries and other units with ratings derived from guarantees...
Survey: Agents Report Rise in Agency E&O Premiums
Nov 5 2008 // A near majority of agents and brokers responding to the 2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey said they experienced increases in their agency’s errors and omissions premium this year. Some 44.1 percent of...
California Increases Temporary Total Disability Rate
Nov 4 2008 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the maximum temporary total disability (TTD) rate will increase to $958.01 on Jan. 1, 2009. The increase to the maximum TTD rate marks the third year in...
S&P Rates ACE Insurance (Switzerland) ‘A+’; Outlook Stable
Nov 4 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A+’ financial strength rating to ACE Insurance (Switzerland) Ltd. (AISL), a newly formed subsidiary of Switzerland-based insurance and reinsurance...
Higher Gas Prices Drive Down Auto Rates, Drive Up Politics Over Regulation in New York
Nov 2 2008 // In New York, there exists a curious relationship between gas prices and insurance premiums, at least in government officials’ minds. Gov. David Paterson said his state’s efforts to rein in insurance rates by...
California Commissioner Announces 5% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Nov 2 2008 // Rejecting the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) call for a 16 percent increase in the benchmark for determining workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner...
Montana State Fund Down About $26 Million in Market Tumble
Nov 2 2008 // The Montana State Fund lost about $26 million in late September when the stock market plummeted, a fund spokesman said. At about the same time, Montana voters received a pamphlet describing Constitutional Amendment 44....
Risk Managers Report Price Softening; Insurers Battle Surplus Decline
Nov 2 2008 // Property Premiums Fall Sharply; P/C Insurers Post Q3 Losses; Some Sell Stock to Raise Cash for Surplus Woes Risk managers report that commercial policy renewal prices are continuing to drop even as insurers are battling a...
Conning Research: Challenges, Threats Loom for Homeowners Insurance Market
Nov 2 2008 // The five-year period spanning from 2003-2007 served the homeowners insurance line favorably after the dismal 20-year period that preceded it, and return on surplus for the line averaged an estimated 11 percent for those...
Local Governments Increase Homeowners Loss
Nov 2 2008 // Personal Lines Ordinance or Law Exposures Within 10 years of completion (sometimes in as little as five) a house may violate several parts of a community’s most current building codes. Specific jurisdictional...
2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey at a Glance
Nov 2 2008 // The 2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey, conducted Oct. 3 through Oct. 16, drew 1,042 respondents from 50 states; there were no respondents from the District of Columbia. The five states with the highest...
Hanover Insurance Posts Q3 Loss But CEO Sees Positive Trends
Oct 31 2008 // Worcester-Mass.-based Hanover Insurance Group Inc. posted a $61.8 million quarterly net loss, as like other insurers it felt the pain of storm and investment losses, but the CEO said his company remains in excellent...
Selective Insurance Posts Profit Despite Storm Claims, Investment Decline
Oct 31 2008 // New Jersey-based Selective Insurance Group, Inc. today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008 that included a profit despite storm claims and a drop in investment income. Selective...
Florida Approves Another Rate Decrease for Workers’ Comp
Oct 30 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s amended rate filing for workers’ compensation insurance rates that will become effective Jan. 1. The rate...
S&P Affirms Hannover Re’s ‘AA-‘ Ratings and Stable Outlook
Oct 29 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on German reinsurer Hannover Rueckversicherung AG and its core entities...
Reinsurers Expect Financial Storm Will Cause Premium Increases
Oct 28 2008 // The world’s reinsurers expect the intensifying financial market storm will allow them to push through higher prices for the risk cover they offer insurance companies. The world’s No. 2 and No. 4 reinsurers,...
Survey: Insurance Agent Salaries Could Freeze in 2009
Oct 28 2008 // Given today’s tough economic times, most insurance agencies and carriers in the Southern California region are not planning to give their employees cost of living increases in 2009, although many companies have not...
Survey: P/C Premiums Decline Again as Industry Enters ‘Uncertain Times’
Oct 27 2008 // Commercial property/casualty premiums continued a downward slide during the third quarter of 2008, but there were suggestions the market decline may have leveled off, at least between July and September, for small and...
S&P Says QBE, PMI Australia Ratings, Outlooks Unchanged
Oct 24 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that its ‘A-‘ rating on Australia’s QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and its ‘A+’ ratings on QBE’s core operating entities remain unchanged...
Liberty Mutual Serves Up Loss Control Unit for Insurance Agents, Buyers
Oct 24 2008 // Liberty Mutual Group has created a new loss control organization, Loss Control Advisory Services, to give middle and national market commercial insurance buyers and their agents and broekrs better access to professional...
