Latest Underwriting Headlines

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

NAII Stresses Legal, Competitive Reasons for Use of Credit Information

Feb 4 2002 // Insurance scores provide companies an objective and unbiased underwriting tool, Sam Sorich, vice president and western regional manager of the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) explained last week during...

Bill Restricting Credit-Based Scores Would Cause ‘Staggering’ Premium Hike

Feb 1 2002 // According to the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII), pricing restrictions in pending legislation on insurers’ use of credit-based insurance scores would require low-risk consumers to pay...

Converium to Underwrite Midwest Crop Coverage

Jan 31 2002 // Switzerland’s Converium Holding Ltd. announced that its U.S. subsidiary Converium Insurance (North America) Inc. (formerly ZC Insurance Company) has reached an agreement with Crop 1 Insurance of Des Moines, Iowa to...

E&S Lines Basking in the Warm Glow of a Hard Market

Jan 28 2002 // Early in 2000, insurance prices started doing something they had not done in almost 15 years. They began to increase, and they kept growing at a modest pace into the third quarter of 2001, when the events of September 11...

When Good Employees Go Bad: Crime Insurance for Employee Dishonesty & Fraud

Jan 28 2002 // • A California man pled guilty to knowingly receiving, possessing and without authorization appropriating stolen trade secret information belonging to his former employer—specifically, customer and order information in...

E&S Lines Basking in the Warm Glow of a

Jan 28 2002 // Early in 2000, insurance prices started doing something they had not done in almost 15 years. They began to increase, and they kept growing at a modest pace into the third quarter of 2001, when the events of September 11...

NAII Says 4 Ind. Bills Would Unfairly Hamper Insurance Scoring Practices

Jan 23 2002 // Proposed laws that severely limit or ban the use of credit-based insurance scoring-which could result in higher rates for most consumers — are gaining momentum in the Indiana Legislature. Senate Bill 409, which would...

When Good Employees Go Bad: Crime Insurance for Employee Dishonesty & Fraud

Jan 14 2002 // A California man pled guilty to knowingly receiving, possessing and without authorization appropriating stolen trade secret information belonging to his former employer—specifically, customer and order information in...

Hub International to Sell Units

Jan 3 2002 // Chicago-based Hub International Limited (Hub) announced an agreement to sell its underwriting subsidiaries, Old Lyme Insurance Company of Rhode Island Inc. and Old Lyme Insurance Company, Ltd. (Old Lyme) to Fairfax Inc....

NAMIC Board Endorses Insurance Scoring Methods

Dec 28 2001 // The Board of Directors of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has endorsed the use of a consumer’s credit history by property/casualty insurers to help them make underwriting, marketing and...

Welcome to the 3rd Annual “Top Ten Stories of the Year”

Dec 24 2001 // In what became one of the most significant, traumatic and challenging years in U.S. history, the insurance industry, along with the rest of the nation, has had to come to terms with the terrorist attacks perpetrated...

Top 10 Stories of 2001

Dec 17 2001 // Recollections and Renewal: Looking Back at 2001 with an Eye to the Future This is the year that was. It is one that many people will be glad to see come to an end because the new year always brings hope—for a rebirth,...

Lloyd’s Warns of Greater Exposures for Marine Underwriters

Dec 12 2001 // Julian James, Lloyd’s Director of Worldwide Markets, speaking at a conference in Paris, warned that marine underwriters should rethink and restructure the way they they write risks, as bigger vessels, more passengers...

AIA Supports Credit-Based Insurance Scores in Underwriting and Rating

Dec 12 2001 // The use of credit-based insurance scores in underwriting and rating is an actuarially sound practice that carries benefits and responsibilities for insurers and consumers alike, the American Insurance Association said at...

Growing Market for Ski Insurance Faces Some Slippery Slopes

Dec 10 2001 // Owners of ski retail and rental shops and ski resorts may see some tougher conditions this year, as the ski insurance industry faces the overall hardening of the property/casualty market. More scrutiny in underwriting and...

Planet Salvage Inc. Signs Deal with Universal Underwriters Group

Nov 27 2001 // Kansas-based Planet Salvage, Inc., an online marketplace for the automotive recycled parts and salvage vehicle industries, announced that the company has signed a one-year contract with Universal Underwriters Group (UUG),...

Progressive Corp. Notes Improved Underwriting

Nov 19 2001 // Ohio-based Insurer Progressive Corp. said its underwriting performance – measured as the ratio of claims paid out to premiums received – improved for the month of October compared with last year. Progressive,...

Warren Buffett Explains $679M Loss, Gives Shareholders Update

Nov 15 2001 // In a letter to shareholders posted on Nov. 9, Warren Buffett did his best to explain to shareholders the recent unprecedented loss at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., calling the results of the third quarter “anything but...

S&P Comments on the Reinsurance Business

Nov 5 2001 // Standard & Poor’s recently announced that reinsurers are reducing their emphasis on long-standing client relationships and adopting a more clinical approach to underwriting, as both the insurance and reinsurance...

Swiss Re Says Profitability Requires Improved Underwriting Results

Nov 5 2001 // Major reinsurer Swiss Re released findings from its latest sigma study, “Profitability of the Non-Life Insurance Industry: It’s Back to Basics Time,” which showed that the slumping non-life insurance...