Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Toyota to Settle Acceleration Cases for More Than $1 Billion
Dec 26 2012 // Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to spend $1.1 billion to settle sweeping U.S. class-action litigation over claims that millions of its vehicles accelerate unintentionally, as the Japanese automaker seeks to move past the...
Montana Lawmakers Want Pipeline Study Finished
Dec 26 2012 // Two U.S. senators from Montana are urging federal safety regulators to wrap up a yearlong study into whether oil spills into rivers, lakes and other water bodies across the U.S. have resulted from inadequately buried...
N.C. Farmer Pleads Guilty to Million Dollar Crop Insurance Fraud
Dec 26 2012 // Federal authorities announced last week that a North Carolina farmer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud on the federal crop insurance program for payments worth over $1 million. According to authorities, Harry...
Any Prospects for Insurance Regulatory Changes in 2013?
Dec 26 2012 // Progress in making insurance regulatory changes has been slow, and there’s really nothing to indicate that the situation will change in the near future. The United States, however, has managed to make some relevant...
Texas Homeowners Pay Highest US Insurance Premiums
Dec 21 2012 // An industry group says Texas homeowners are paying the highest insurance premiums in the country. The report was released Tuesday by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The Dallas Morning News reported the...
Lawsuits Cast Darker Shadow Over Banks Than Libor Fines
Dec 21 2012 // While banks appear to be brushing off record fines for rigging interbank interest rates, investors are starting to worry about a rising tide of civil lawsuits from disgruntled customers. UBS shares touched 18 month highs...
UK’s Met Office Sees 2013 as Likely to be One of Warmest on Record
Dec 21 2012 // Global temperatures are forecast to be 0.57 degrees [1.026°F] above the long-term average next year, making 2013 one of the warmest years on record, Britain’s Met Office, the UK’s national weather service,...
XL Group’s Marine Unit Boosts Underwriting and Claims Staff in N.Y.
Dec 20 2012 // XL Group plc’s North American marine business is expanding its blue water hull risk management capabilities in New York with the addition of Siobhan Coen and Jeff Loechner as senior underwriters and Eileen Fellin as...
Southern California Jury Awards $4.5 Million to Filipino Teachers
Dec 20 2012 // A federal jury awarded $4.5 million to Southern California Filipino teachers who paid large fees to obtain U.S. jobs through a placement agency. Jurors on Monday found that Los Angeles-based Universal Placement...
Trade, Insurance Sanctions Against Iran in U.S. Defense Bill
Dec 20 2012 // A final version of new U.S. economic sanctions against Iran would give the Obama administration more time to implement measures aimed at its energy, shipping and port sectors, but otherwise was little changed from an...
U.S. Slaps Japanese Company on California Nuclear Power Plant Work
Dec 19 2012 // A Japanese company that manufactured the troubled steam generators at a key nuclear power plant in southern California might be looking for fixes with the wrong test equipment, U.S. federal regulators have disclosed. A...
PartnerRe to Acquire Calif.-based Presidio Re Group
Dec 19 2012 // Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. announced a definitive agreement to acquire California-based Presidio Reinsurance Group, a U.S. specialty accident and health reinsurance and insurance writer. PartnerRe said it would...
Swiss Re Estimates 2012 Economic Losses at $140 Billion; $65 Billion Insured
Dec 19 2012 // According to Swiss Re’s sigma preliminary estimates, economic losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters will likely reach at least $140 billion in 2012, while total insured losses from natural...
Food Borne Illness Cases Present Complex Coverage Questions
Dec 19 2012 // One of the most heavily litigated insurance issues in coverage liability cases related to outbreaks of widespread food borne illnesses is the determination of occurrence where multiple people in multiple states are...
Family of Slain Arizona Border Patrol Agent Sues Officials
Dec 18 2012 // The family of a slain Arizona Border Patrol agent has sued federal officials over the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation, claiming they should have known it created a risk to law enforcement...
Ratings Roundup: Hiscox (U.S.), Bison, Nations
Dec 18 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “a+” from “a” and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) of Chicago-based Hiscox Insurance Company, Inc....
Talbot Appoints Schild as New Political Risk Underwriter
Dec 18 2012 // Talbot Underwriting Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Validus Holdings, Ltd., announced the appointment of Thomas Schild as Vice President, Political Risk Underwriter of Talbot Underwriting Services (US) Ltd. Talbot...
AIG May Raise up to $6.5 Billion through AIA Share Sale – Sources
Dec 17 2012 // American International Group may raise as much as $6.5 billion from the sale of its remaining stake in AIA Group Ltd in Asia’s second-largest block sale ever, exiting a business the U.S. insurer started nearly 100...
Continued Drought, More Tornados Forecasted
Dec 17 2012 // Extreme weather events in 2013 may look much the same as this year — but different. The weather is difficult to predict, but if the weak El Niño forecast for next year holds, it brings with it the promise of continued...
Double-Digit Returns Absent From Year-End, 2013 Financial Forecasts
Dec 17 2012 // Although analysts following the property/casualty insurance industry expect underwriting results for 2012 to be better than 2011 when full-year numbers are tallied, double-digit overall returns-on-equity are still not...
