Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ZFS Outlook Stable
Sep 18 2000 // The outlook of Zurich Financial Services (ZFS), the Switzerland-based holding company of the ZFS Group, was revised to stable from negative by S&P. Key factors in the rating action included the group’s improved...
Fitch Adopts Negative P/C Outlook
Sep 15 2000 // It’s not hell-in-a-handbasket yet, but the outlook for the property and casualty industry is far from good. On Thursday, Fitch, the international rating agency formed through the June merger of Duff & Phelps...
WCIRB Proposes 10.1% Pure Premium Rate Increase
Sep 15 2000 // After completing its analysis of accident year experience valued as of June 30, 2000, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) announced it will amend its pure premium rate filing. The...
Guy Carpenter Reinsurance 2000 Report Sees Firming Market
Sep 14 2000 // Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance arm of Marsh Inc. has just issued a comprehensive 64 page study of the state and prospects for the property/casualty reinsurance market in the year 2000. The report sees an industry in...
Michigan Basic HO Rates Up 4.1 Percent
Sep 13 2000 // The Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services announced that Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association homeowners premiums are increasing 4.1 percent, effective Oct. 1, 2000. “Consumers that are...
Rendezvous Confirms Gloomy Reinsurance Outlook
Sep 11 2000 // The recently concluded Reinsurance Rendezvous 2000 in Monte Carlo confirmed the somber state of the industry. Although the delegates heard some good news, the consensus opinion was that the problems the industry has had...
Survey Says Nearly All Consumers Satisfied With HO, Auto Cos.
Sep 8 2000 // Almost all respondents to a recent Insurance Research Council survey of U.S. households said that they are satisfied with their personal property insurance companies. Ninety-seven percent of the respondents who were asked...
NAPSLO Survey Shows Net Revenues for MGAs, Brokers Grow
Sep 4 2000 // Average pretax profit and net retained revenues for MGAs and brokers increased in 1999, according to the results of the Income & Expense Survey recently completed for the National Association of Professional Surplus...
U.K. AUTO RATES ON THE RISE
Sep 4 2000 // Drivers in the U.K. face automobile insurance premium increases of 25 percent or more within the next 12 months, warned Mintel, a marketing research firm. The average premium in 1999 was £226 ($336). It’s expected...
Readers’ Survey: How Do You Plan to Use the Surplus Line Market in 2001′
Sep 4 2000 // Is the way you use the surplus line market changing? Has the Internet drastically influenced the way you conduct your business, or do the traditional methods still hold water? Let us know how you intend to use the surplus...
Commentary: Time To Start Evaluating the Future of Your Agency
Sep 4 2000 // The pace of consolidation within our industry is accelerating much faster than anticipated a few short years ago. In addition to the fact that the total number of players are shrinking, those remaining—specifically the...
AFG Outlook Revised to Negative
Sep 4 2000 // The outlook on American Financial Group Inc. (AFG) and related entities was revised from stable to negative by S&P, which indicated it would be meeting with the company to discuss strategies for improving...
ECB Rate Rise Fails To Lift Euro
Sep 1 2000 // In a widely anticipated move the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its basic interest rate a quarter point from 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. The ECB indicated that fears of inflation, which has been running around 2.4...
Survey Reveals Most Consumers Fail to Shop Auto Insurance
Aug 30 2000 // While most Americans believe it’s smart to shop around when purchasing high-ticket items, few actually do so when it comes to auto insurance, one of the leading annual expenses in most household budgets. Most...
Agents See a Future Filled with Technology
Aug 29 2000 // According to preliminary findings of a series of focus groups conducted by the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) and sponsored by nekema.com, independent agents know that they will need new technology to...
IDC Forecasts Online Insurance Shopping Will Be Next Area of Internet Expansion
Aug 28 2000 // IDC released its market forecast for online sales of personal property and casualty insurance today, predicting the Internet will influence 37% of all premiums purchased in 2004. These findings indicate that despite the...
Skandia Tops Brand Value Survey
Aug 25 2000 // The Swedish based financial services and life insurer, Skandia, whose most important international market is the U.S., where it is the number one writer of variable annuity products, has received another number one...
Big Increases Expected in U.K. Auto Rates
Aug 24 2000 // Drivers in the U.K. face automobile insurance premium increases of 25 percent or more within the next 12 months warns Mintel, a marketing research firm. The average premium in 1999 was £226 ($336); it’s expected to...
A.M. Best Revises Outlook on PXRE
Aug 23 2000 // While it affirmed the PXRE Group’s overall A (Excellent) rating, A.M. Best nevertheless revised the outlook for PXRE Reinsurance Co. and Transnational Insurance Co. to negative due to a number of recent adverse...
Quake Claims Bill Continues to Shake Up Industry Groups
Aug 23 2000 // On Monday, the California Assembly passed SB 1899, a bill that lifts for one year the expired statute of limitations on damage claims from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Both the National Association of Independent...
