Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Survey: Auto Insurance Buyers Continue to Use Internet More Often
Sep 2 2005 // The number of visitors who turn to the Internet to seek service or obtain an auto insurance quote has increased considerably, according to a new study released by J.D. Power and Associates. “Consumers compelled to...
Vesta Insurance Forecasts $500k to $1.2M Katrina Losses
Sep 1 2005 // Preliminary gross income losses of from $500,000 to $1.2 million have been predicted by the Vesta Insurance Group of Birmingham, Ala. for damages caused by Hurricane Katrina. Vesta’s Florida Select unit has about...
Policyholders Line Up to File Claims at Miss. Agency; Fla. Associations Offer Aid, Assistance to Kartina’s Victims
Aug 31 2005 // Insurance adjusters are scrambling around South Florida, where before crossing into the Gulf of Mexico and becoming a catastrophic hurricane, Katrina slapped Dade and Broward counties with damages experts estimate from...
Emerging Insurance Brokerage Launches New Brokers Website
Aug 30 2005 // Freemont, Calif.-based Emerging Insurance Brokerage is launching a new Website (http://www.EIBwebsite.com) to provide brokers with access to life/health and property/casualty insurance so that they can better serve their...
Wis. Health Premiums Up 7 Percent
Aug 30 2005 // Average premiums for health care plans rose 7.2 percent in southeastern Wisconsin compared with a 9.6 percent increase nationally, according to a survey released by United Benefit Advisors, an employee benefits advisory...
Katrina Could Cost Insurers Up to $30 Billion, Forecasters Say
Aug 29 2005 // Oakland, Calif.-based EQECAT, Inc., Oakland, Calif., announced Sunday afternoon that based upon current information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about Hurricane Katrina,...
Occupational Fatalities Decreased in Texas in 2004
Aug 26 2005 // The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission reported that in 2004, Texas recorded the second lowest number of occupational fatalities since data collection began in 1990. A total of 440 fatal occupational injuries...
NICB ‘Hot Spots Report’ Shows Car Theft Decreased in Most of Southeast
Aug 25 2005 // Across the Southeast’s major metropolitan areas auto theft deceased dramatically in 2004, accompanied by a slight drop in auto theft nationally, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s annual Hot...
NICB: Rise in S.C. Auto Thefts
Aug 24 2005 // There were more than 22,000 vehicles stolen in South Carolina in 2004 according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which reports that theft rates rose for the sixth year in a row. NICB reports the Florence, S.C....
Miami PD Eliminates Its Auto Theft Unit; Area Agents Predict Higher Policy Rates, Increased Thefts
Aug 23 2005 // Insurance agents in Miami and Dade County were dismayed to discover this morning that, “due to manpower shortages” the Miami Police Department has disbanded its Auto Theft Unit. A PD spokesman told the Miami...
Barometer Shows Premiums on the Decline for Contractors Market
Aug 22 2005 // MarketScout began tracking property and casualty pricing trends in 2001 in an effort to share the pricing results of insurance placements related to their 50,000 member agent network. The monthly market trends are...
Insurance Industry’s Share of Weather-Related Losses Rising, Researcher Says
Aug 22 2005 // Also, Majority of Weather Losses Tied to Smaller Events, Not Larger Catastrophes The insurance industry’s share of the world’s total economic losses from weather-related catastrophes is rising and 60 percent of...
COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCES -26.78 PERCENT RATE DECREASE IN WORKERS’ COMP:
Aug 22 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced that workers’ compensation insurers in the state filed rate reductions averaging -14.6 percent for policies incepting on or after July 1, 2005 bringing the...
Survey: Competition, Capacity Characterize Surety Bond Market
Aug 22 2005 // Although today’s construction industry is coming out of a trench and contractors are intensifying competition by bidding low to get enough work to utilize available capacity, an increase in private sector...
Increase in Midwestern Insured Crop Acres Eases Drought Threat
Aug 22 2005 // Farmers in Midwestern states like Kansas have more than doubled the acres they insure and tripled their dollar amount of coverage since 1989, according to recent statistics. It’s a trend that could mitigate financial...
UF Study Shows Homes Built After 2002 Stood Up Better to Hurricanes
Aug 22 2005 // Homes built under the Florida Building Code that became effective in 2002 sustained less damage on average than those built between 1994 and 2001 under the Standard Building Code, according to a University of Florida study...
Oilfield Safety a Concern as Energy Demands Rise
Aug 22 2005 // As worldwide oil consumption and demand spirals upward so to does the stress on U.S. oilfield workers to meet those demands, according to the American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Permian Basin Chapter in...
Insurance Industry’s Share of Weather-Related Losses Rising, Researcher Says
Aug 22 2005 // The insurance industry’s share of the world’s total economic losses from weather-related catastrophes is rising and 60 percent of these weather-related losses are attributable to small events as distinct from...
Zurich 1st Half Net up 21% to $1.799 Billion; Farmers Profit Up
Aug 18 2005 // Zurich Financial Services Group joined the parade of insurers reporting strong first half results. The Swiss-based Company, which also manages the Farmers Exchanges in the U.S., posted a net income of $1.799 billion, an...
Working Overtime Increases Risk of Workplace Injuries More Than Job Hazard, U.S. Study Finds
Aug 18 2005 // The long working hours culture drives up the risk of workplace injury and illness, reveals a study by occupational medicine researchers, who also conclude that the risk has nothing to do with how hazardous the job...
