Latest Trends Headlines

All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Preliminary Swiss Re sigma Report Confirms 2002 “Below Average” Year for Catastrophe Losses

Dec 19 2002 // Swiss Re has issued some preliminary findings from its forthcoming sigma report on the world’s catastrophes in 2002. Initial estimates show that it was a relatively benign year. Although “19,000 people world...

Insurance Information Institute Takes Peek at 2003 Forecast

Dec 19 2002 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals...

Survey Says Industry Executives Want IT Modernization Despite Budget Limits

Dec 18 2002 // Sapiens International Corporation an insurance business solutions provider, announced results of its survey of U.S.-based senior insurance executives conducted during the annual ISOTECH 2002 conference last month in...

CDI APPROVES AB 749 PREMIUM INCREASE ENDORSEMENT FORMS

Dec 16 2002 // Calif. Insurance Commissioner Harry Low recently issued a decision regarding the WCIRB’s pure premium rate filing, which was submitted to the Commissioner on July 31, 2002. In his decision, the Insurance Commissioner...

S&P’s Revises Travelers Outlook

Dec 16 2002 // S&P’s affirmed its “A-” counterparty credit and senior debt ratings on Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and its “AA-” counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on members of the...

Mass. Insurance Division Approves 2.7 Percent Auto Rate Increase

Dec 16 2002 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julie Bowler announced a 2.7 percent auto insurance rate increase for 2003 after rejecting an average rate increase request by insurers of 7 percent. The smaller rate increase...

Let’s Reform the Texas Insurance Market the Right Way

Dec 16 2002 // Oklahoma Insurance Commis-sioner Carroll Fisher put it best when he recently said, “The best regulator of insurance rates is the consumer. For all the hard work state employees do to regulate insurance companies,...

Movin’ & Shakin’: ERC, Lloyd’s Shake Up Reinsurance Market

Dec 16 2002 // The events of Sept. 11 were a defining moment in the reinsurance market; a watershed event that opened up the eyes of everyone in the insurance industry, forcing a re-evaluation of the industry’s practices,...

IRC Reports Satisfaction With Companies Despite Rising Premiums

Dec 12 2002 // According to a recent Insurance Research Council (IRC) survey of U.S. households, most Americans are satisfied with the companies that provide their personal insurance. More than nine out of 10 respondents with homeowners...

Swiss Re Panel Sees Modest Economic Growth, Continuing Hard Market

Dec 11 2002 // Swiss Re’s third annual “Economic and Insurance Industry Review and Outlook” was held yesterday in New York City. The meeting featured a panel discussion between Swiss Re economists, investment...

Insurers Show Increasing Use of Enterprise Risk Management to Address Pressing Business Issues

Dec 10 2002 // A Tillinghast – Towers Perrin (Tillinghast) survey on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), shows insurers around the world are increasingly adopting ERM, a relatively new approach to the strategic management and...

IIAANY Survey Shows Shrinking Commercial, Personal Capacity

Dec 9 2002 // Results of a recent survey conducted by the Independent Insurance Agent Association of New York Inc. (IIAANY) indicate a continuing decrease in availability of both personal and commercial insurance coverages in the state,...

Nebraska Insurance Dept. Approves Excess Med Mal Rate Increases

Dec 9 2002 // Tim Wagner, Director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance, announced that rates charged by the Nebraska Excess Liability Fund for excess medical professional liability insurance for doctors, hospitals and other health...

A.M. Best Affirms Swiss Re A++ (Superior) Financial Ratings, Downgrades Debt Ratings with Negative Outlook

Dec 6 2002 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings of A++ (Superior) of Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re) and its core subsidiaries with a negative outlook. At the same time, however, the rating agency announced...

Fitch Affirms Generali ‘AA’ Rating, Revises Outlook to Negative

Dec 6 2002 // Fitch Ratings announced that it has affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength rating of ‘AA’ and the Long-term rating of ‘AA-‘ for Assicurazioni Generali SpA, the major operating insurer and holding...

Top 5 Reasons Calif. Homeowners Insurance Rates are Rising

Dec 6 2002 // Representatives from the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) and the American Insurance Association (AIA) recently announced the top five reasons...

S&P’s Maintains Negative Outlook on Commercial Insurers

Dec 5 2002 // U.S. commercial-lines insurers are still plagued by inadequate reserves, according to Standard & Poor’s just-published outlook for 2003, and bullish pricing cannot simply sweep the problem away. Standard &...

New Swiss Re Study Finds Lowest Growth in Premiums Since 1980’s

Dec 5 2002 // A new Swiss Re Sigma report released yesterday concluded that overall global premium income reached $2.408 trillion in 2001; while that’s a lot, it’s only a “modest 1 percent growth over 2000,”...

Nev. OBGYN Insurance Reimbursement Rates Increase

Dec 3 2002 // In an effort to stem the tide of departing obstetrics and gynecological physicians leaving Clark County, Physician’s IPA announced it is increasing the rate of insurance reimbursement to its OBGYN doctors. The...

Progressive Survey Finds Advertising Helps Agents Grow

Dec 3 2002 // A survey conducted by Ohio-based Progressive Insurance found that independent insurance agents use a variety of advertising methods to help them attract consumers to their agency, and “the overwhelming majority of...