Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ecuador Court Upholds $18 Billion Judgment against Chevron
Jan 4 2012 // An Ecuadorean appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that Chevron Corp should pay $18 billion in damages to plaintiffs who accused the U.S. oil giant of polluting the Amazon jungle and damaging their health. A local...
IAG Finalizes $4.86 Billion Reinsurance Program for 2012
Jan 4 2012 // Insurance Australia Group Limited announced that it has finalized its catastrophe reinsurance program for the period commencing January 1, 2012 with up to A$4.7 billion [US$4.86 billion] in coverage, compared to A$4.1...
Fatal Connecticut Fire Reminds Homeowners of Ash Dangers
Jan 3 2012 // Fire safety officials are warning homeowners about the dangers of fireplace ashes after a Christmas morning blaze that killed five people in Connecticut. Authorities say the fire in Stamford was caused by a bag of...
Connecticut Health Officials Urge Homeowners to Test for Radon
Jan 3 2012 // The Connecticut public health department is urging residents to test their homes for radon gas, the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. Health officials estimate that radon is responsible for more than 21,000 lung...
Ground Shifting for Medical Liability Insurers: Moody’s
Jan 3 2012 // Although it comprises just over two percent of annual direct premiums for the U.S. property and casualty insurance industry, the medical professional liability (MPL) insurance business is integral to the U.S. healthcare...
Breast Implant Scandal Shows Regulators in Dark on Tracking Risks
Dec 30 2011 // Long before the latest global breast implant scare, American health officials were toying with the idea of building a registry that would track patients with implants. The registry would give a better idea of the number of...
Guy Carpenter Analyzes 2011 Catastrophes; $108 Billion in Losses
Dec 30 2011 // Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has examined the past year’s natural catastrophes, which it describes as “an unusually eventful year for the (re)insurance sector.” In addition to the ongoing financial...
Court Upholds Law Giving Telecom Firms Immunity for Surveillance
Dec 30 2011 // A U.S. appeals panel on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that grants immunity to telecommunications companies that assist the U.S. government in conducting surveillance of American citizens. However,...
Insurance Adjusters Brace for Cold Weather Claims
Dec 29 2011 // Though summer weather is associated with devastating catastrophe losses, the winter holiday season can be equally busy for insurance adjusters. The third-largest cause of catastrophic losses behind hurricanes and...
November Storms in Southern Alberta Caused $195 Million Insured Loss
Dec 29 2011 // Windstorms that hit southern Alberta in November have caused at least C$200 million [US$195] in insured damage, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. However, the estimate is preliminary, based on data from Property...
WTO Risks its Future by Keeping Doha Talks Alive
Dec 28 2011 // The 153 members of the World Trade Organization agree on two things: We’re in a hole. And we must keep digging. The hole is the Doha Development Round, a decade-old negotiation that was billed as the next stage of...
Insurers Worry 2012 Will Top 2011 for Record Weather Disasters
Dec 28 2011 // From floods that crippled countries, to mega cyclones, huge blizzards, killer tornadoes to famine-inducing droughts, 2011 has been another record-breaker for bad weather. While it is too early to predict what 2012 will be...
Nebraska, Iowa Towns Among Safest in U.S.
Dec 28 2011 // Several cities in Nebraska and Iowa made Farmers Insurance’s lists of the safer and most secure places to live in the country. The insurer ranked cities of different sizes based on crime rates, natural disaster...
Appeals Court Delays SEC-Citigroup Securities Fraud Case
Dec 28 2011 // The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won a delay in its securities fraud lawsuit against Citigroup Inc, as the regulator tries to appeal a judge’s decision to reject its $285 million settlement with the...
Court OKs AIG’s $450M Settlement Over Underreported Workers’ Comp Premiums
Dec 28 2011 // A federal judge has approved American International Group Inc.’s $450 million settlement with rival insurers to end litigation accusing AIG of underreporting premiums on workers’ compensation policies. AIG will...
FEMA to Give Partial Credit for Substandard Levees in Drawing Flood Zones
Dec 27 2011 // A levee isn’t perfect, but it exists and that should count for something when deciding if a property is at risk for flooding. That’s the position of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a new proposal...
Catastrophes Erode P/C Insurers’ Results for 9 Months of 2011
Dec 27 2011 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net losses on underwriting grew to $34.9 billion in nine-months 2011 from $6.3 billion in nine-months 2010. The combined ratio deteriorated to 109.9 percent for nine-months...
Best Affirms Ratings of Sompo Japan and U.S. Subs; Outlook Stable
Dec 27 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa-” of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. Best also, affirmed the FSR of...
Best Affirms Wind River Re, U.S. Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Dec 27 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Bermuda-based Wind River Reinsurance Company, Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiaries....
Financial, Legal Woes Dogged Breast Implant Company
Dec 27 2011 // Signs of legal problems and financial losses surrounding the French breast implant manufacturer at the heart of a scandal affecting hundreds of thousands of women worldwide can be traced back as far back as 2003,...
