Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P: TRIPRA’s Passage Keeps U.S. Commercial Lines Outlook Stable
Jan 8 2008 // On Dec. 26, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (TRIPRA), thereby retaining the federal backstop for terrorism risk through Dec. 31, 2014. The...
S&P Revises Swett & Crawford’s Rating Outlook to Negative
Jan 7 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on HMSC Corp., the intermediate holding company of Swett & Crawford Group Inc., to negative from stable, while also affirming its ‘B’...
S&P Affirms Arrowhead General Ratings; Lowers Outlook to Negative
Jan 7 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on San Diego, Calif.-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. to negative from stable. At the same time S&P affirmed its ‘B’...
Philly Fire Deaths Down in 2007
Jan 3 2008 // Fewer people dead, injured in fires in Philadelphia in 2006 The number of people who died in fires in Philadelphia was down last year. The Philadelphia Fire Department has released the city’s fire statistics for...
Survey: Teens Want Friends to be Safer on Roads
Dec 31 2007 // With motor vehicle accidents claiming between 5,000 and 6,000 teen lives each year, a new survey commissioned by Allstate Insurance reveals that many teens do not take personal responsibility for safe driving and continue...
Munich Re 2007 Nat Cat Report Warns of ‘Rising Trend’
Dec 28 2007 // Munich Re’s loss figures for 2007 from natural catastrophes concludes that “despite the general absence of extreme events, overall economic losses had reached $75 billion by the end of December – an...
Conn. Private Coastal Insurance Market Works, Say Commissioner and Insurers
Dec 27 2007 // Acknowledging the ongoing concern over coastal property insurance in his state, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan maintained that the state’s coastal property insurance market is in pretty good shape...
Best: ‘Unauthorized’ Reinsurance Increasing P/C Market Share
Dec 27 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has published a special report which examines the increasing use of “unauthorized reinsurance” in the U.S. P/C insurance industry. The report also indicates, however, that an “expensive...
Future of Bond Insurance at Risk
Dec 27 2007 // The biggest casualty of the crisis surrounding bond insurers may well be the insurers themselves. Issuers and bond buyers alike may find it easier now to dispense with insurance, experts say, given that the finances of...
Florida Rejects Travelers’ Homeowners Insurance Rate Increase
Dec 27 2007 // A proposed 4.6 percent average statewide increase for homeowners insurance by The Travelers Companies Inc., was rejected last week by Florida’s insurance commissioner. Kevin McCarty notified Travelers that its...
Organic Growth Success Should Be a Key Initiative for 2008
Dec 23 2007 // Transparency, disclosure, and private equity interest reshape how high growth agencies do business As agents and brokers embark upon the strategic planning process for 2008, organic growth initiatives remain at the...
Picking up Katrina Claims Where Scruggs Left Off
Dec 23 2007 // Richard Scruggs, facing federal charges, has now removed himself from the law consortium, Scruggs Katrina Group, which he formed in 2005 to represent claimants after Hurricane Katrina. But other lawyers have formed The...
Survey of Analysts Projects Healthy Underwriting Profits
Dec 23 2007 // I.I.I.’s Earlybird Forecast predicts negative premium growth but continued profitability in 2008 Next year may go down on record as one of the best insurance industry underwriting performances in the past 80 years,...
Best Revises XL’s Rating Outlook to Negative
Dec 21 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to negative from stable on the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-“of Bermuda’s XL Capital...
Airline Insurance Market to Post Loss for Year; First Since 2000
Dec 20 2007 // The airline insurance market this year is expected to post its first loss since 2000, according to preliminary data collected by the Aviation & Aerospace division of Aon Corporation. Aon reported that forecasts...
S&P Lowers Kingsway Ratings to ‘BB+’; Outlook Negative
Dec 20 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services joined A.M. Best in lowering its senior unsecured and long-term counterparty credit ratings on Toronto-based Kingsway Financial Services Inc. to ‘BB+’ from...
Study: Texas Homeowners Rates Remained High in 2005
Dec 20 2007 // Texas homeowners insurance premiums stabilized some after legislative reforms in 2003, but two years later were still the highest in the United States, according to a new study released by the National Association of...
Reinsurance Rule Change Planned to Increase Competition in Florida
Dec 20 2007 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Cabinet preliminarily approved a rule change that would lift a competitive disadvantage faced by foreign companies selling backup coverage to property insurers. Insurance companies...
Preliminary Swiss Re ‘sigma’ Report Estimates 2007 Cat Losses
Dec 19 2007 // Swiss Re has released a preliminary “sigma” report detailing the extent of 2007’s catastrophe losses. According to its initial estimates, more than 20,000 people were killed by natural and man-made...
Survey Shows Phishing Attacks in 2007 Caused $3B in Damages
Dec 18 2007 // Phishing attacks in the United States soared in 2007 as $3.2 billion was lost to these attacks, according to a recent survey. The survey found that 3.6 million adults lost money in phishing attacks in the 12 months ending...
