It Figures

$600 Million

All 16 private insurance companies that participate in a federal crop insurance program have signed off on the new federal reinsurance agreement that cuts the subsidies they get by $600 million per year for the next 10 years. The insurers reluctantly signed the 2011 Standard Reinsurance Agreements (SRA) with an overall $6 billion funding reduction. The USDA has contended that reductions are warranted because crop insurers have been making hefty profits. Industry groups argued that the companies need the subsidies to maintain high reserves in case of widespread crop disasters. The agency says $4 billion of the savings will go toward reducing the federal deficit, while $2 billion will support risk management and conservation programs for farmers.

4.3%

A recent National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) workers’ compensation insurance loss cost filing showed Louisiana with a 4.3 percent drop in loss costs, which was approved by the Louisiana Department of Insurance and was effective May 1, 2010. This reduction marks an overall drop of 40 percent in rates since 2005, according to the LDI. The 2010 reduction follows a 17.4 percent decrease in workers’ comp rates in 2009, an 8.6 percent reduction in 2008 and a 15.8 percent reduction in 2007. Louisiana has had the second highest reduction of the 35 states NCCI analyzes since 2006.

9%

The number of home burglary claims for Allstate Insurance customers in Texas jumped 9 percent last year. In a survey of police departments across the state, Allstate found flat screen televisions are typically the No. 1 target in home burglaries, followed by laptops, jewelry and cash. Some surveyed departments reported an increasing number of home burglaries that are tied to organized criminal activity, like street gangs. Stolen items often end up at an organized fencing operation where they are transported to other cities, states and across the border.

Of the major cities in Texas with an uptick in home burglaries, Austin saw a 47 percent increase; Dallas/Ft. Worth, 7 percent; Houston, 8 percent; Lubbock, 1 percent; Rio Grande Valley, 55 percent; San Antonio, 6 percent; and Waco-Temple-Killen, 5 percent. El Paso saw a 16 percent decrease in home burglaries.