Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Distracted Driving Stems From More Than Cell Phone Use, Insurers Say
Dec 16 2011 // Using a cell phone while driving is not the only distraction leading to automobile crashes today, says a group of insurance carriers. While the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) call for a national...
U.S. Healthcare Law Keeps More Young Adults Insured
Dec 16 2011 // U.S. healthcare reforms have enabled 2.5 million young adults to join or remain in their parents’ health insurance plans, the U.S. government said this week, up from 1 million reported earlier this year. Federal...
Chinese Drywall Settlement Could Reach $1B
Dec 16 2011 // Owners of thousands of U.S. homes tainted with foul-smelling Chinese drywall agreed to a legal settlement on Thursday with a German manufacturer. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Russ Herman, said the settlement reached...
Fact or Fiction? Insurance Tidbits of Known and Little-Known Information
Dec 16 2011 // Have you ever wondered how modern-day fire departments began? Or why agents buy E&O coverage? What about when the first business owners policy launched? These are just a few questions that Insurance Journal and Claims...
Test Your Insurance News Knowledge
Dec 16 2011 // Are you an insurance news hound? Test your insurance news IQ and find out. The following questions and answers (see bottom of the page) were developed based on news stories published on InsuranceJournal.com and...
Declarations
Dec 16 2011 // Frank Talk “Once (Dodd-Frank) is fully implemented — I think it will be in another year — it is much harder for people to get rid of, because I think it will be popular. The easiest chance you get to strangle...
Family Seeks $56 Million After San Diego Jet Crash
Dec 15 2011 // The U.S. government should pay $56 million to a family that lost four members when a military jet crashed into their San Diego home in 2008, an attorney told a judge Wednesday. “The magnitude of the loss is...
RIMS Tells Treasury: Industry Needs More Uniform, National Regulations
Dec 15 2011 // A major group for risk management professionals sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department, asking for a bigger federal role in regulating insurance. The Risk and Insurance Management Society sent its letter to Michael...
Preparedness Stressed on 200th Anniversary of the New Madrid Earthquakes
Dec 15 2011 // On the 200th anniversary of the first tremors of the New Madrid earthquakes, which were several of the most powerful quakes the United States has ever experienced, an insurance industry-backed group is reminding consumers...
Crop Insurance Rates Skyrocket After Summer Floods
Dec 15 2011 // Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow...
N.Y. Consumer Report Accuses Insurers of Needlessly Raising Rates
Dec 15 2011 // A new consumer advocacy report is accusing P/C insurers of ‘colluding’ and needlessly raising commercial insurance rates at a time when U.S. businesses are still reeling from the slow economy. The report,...
Corps Says It’s not to Blame for Katrina Flooding
Dec 14 2011 // Justice Department lawyers argued at trial on Dec. 12 that there is little evidence a shipping channel dug decades ago by the Army Corps of Engineers contributed significantly to the castastrophic flooding after Hurricane...
Torus Enters U.S. Surety Market
Dec 13 2011 // Torus has entered the U.S. surety market with the launch of Torus Surety and the acquisition of First Sealord Surety Inc. The deal should be finalized in January 2012. Torus Surety will focus on providing contract surety...
SEC Sues Brokerage Insurance Fund Over Stanford Victims’ Claims
Dec 13 2011 // Federal securities regulators have sued a brokerage industry backed fund on behalf of victims who lost money in Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme and have yet to recover any funds. The U.S. Securities...
Bulk of U.S. Data Theft Linked to Few Chinese Hacker Teams
Dec 13 2011 // As few as 12 different Chinese groups, largely backed or directed by the government there, do the bulk of the China-based cyberattacks stealing critical data from U.S. companies and government agencies, according to U.S....
U.S. Court Affirms $50M Verdict for Rice Farmers
Dec 12 2011 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has affirmed a nearly $50 million verdict for farmers who say they lost money because Bayer’s genetically altered rice seeds contaminated the food supply and drove down global crop...
Green Retrofitting Surpasses New Green Construction for First Time
Dec 9 2011 // Green retrofitting of commercial buildings is outpacing the construction of new green buildings, according to a new report issued this week. The trend could mean that more building owners may believe that bringing their...
Fireman’s Fund Bushnell Named to U.S. Green Building Council Board
Dec 8 2011 // Steven Bushnell, a senior director at Novato Calif., based-Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., has been appointed to the U.S. Green Building Council 2012 board of directors. USGBC on Thursday announced the newly elected...
70 Million Drivers Missing Out on Car Insurance Savings: Insurer
Dec 8 2011 // More than 70 million drivers in the U.S. potentially are leaving car insurance savings on the table by not taking advantage of usage-based insurance programs that reward drivers who drive safely and during safe times of...
Lloyd’s Study Finds U.S. Businesses Concerned with Talent, Skills Shortage
Dec 8 2011 // U.S. business leaders are as concerned as their European counterparts over a talent and skills shortage, despite record unemployment levels across much of the U.S. The talent risk was number two in a survey conducted by...
