Publication Date: April 27, 2006Advisen -- Risk ManagementSource: Bestwire Service"WASHINGTON (BestWire) - Large brokers and smaller agencies may disagree over the proper role for the federal government in regulation of insurance, but on the continued need for some form of federal backstop to protect against catastrophic terrorist losses, they are united..."
Publication Date: April 27, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: PR Newswire Europe (inc. UK Disclose)"ROCKVILLE, Md., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Newly released expert research reveals that consumer groups' criticisms of the medical malpractice insurance industry contain systematic flaws and the intentional misuse of industry data..."
Publication Date: April 27, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Palm Beach Daily Business Review"Senate Republican leaders hope to introduce two new versions of medical malpractice liability legislation next week for floor action the following week. But chances of final approval remain weak, agree groups on both sides of the issue..."
Publication Date: April 24, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: US State News"JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Oct. 26 -- The Missouri Department of Insurance issued the following news release:""Medical malpractice insurers recorded a positive underwriting result in 2004 for the first time in five years. That is among the highlights of the 2004 Missouri Medical Malpractice Insurance Report which was released by the Department of Insurance today. It is important to note, though, that non-reporting and underreporting of claims data continue to be a very significant problem. Though the actual number is unknown, the department estimates that between 15 and 20 percent of all medical malpractice claims go unreported..."
Publication Date: April 24, 2006Source: Advisen -- Property"Key Points: The property & casualty insurance industry proved resilient to the record hurricane losses of 2005, and rate levels have generally continued on the downward trend that began in 2004. However, insureds in regions most affected by the hurricanes have seen property premiums rise sharply..."
Publication Date: April 24, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Palm Beach Daily Business Review"Florida's six statutory teaching hospitals, including Jackson Memorial and Mount Sinai in Miami-Dade County, are trying again this year to persuade the Legislature to grant them further protection from medical malpractice suits..."
Publication Date: April 24, 2006Advisen -- PropertySource: Business Wire"HONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006-- Industry Turns Profit for 2005 in the Face of Record Adversity""Although property & general liability insurance rates increased in the first quarter of 2006, all indications point to a continuing soft commercial insurance market according to the RIMS Benchmark Survey(TM), the industry's only comprehensive survey of current policy renewal prices as reported by corporate risk managers..."
April 24, 2006The Insurance Journal"Richard Ward officially took up his duties as Lloyd's new CEO today, replacing Nick Prettejohn, who resigned last December to head Prudential (U.K.)'s domestic insurance operations and taking over from interim CEO Luke Savage..."
Publication Date: April 20, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: PR Newswire"WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans overwhelmingly support the passage of comprehensive medical liability reform legislation, according to an April National Quorum poll conducted for the Health Coalition on Liability and Access (HCLA). The poll results also indicate that seventy-six percent of the people surveyed would favor a law placing reasonable limits on non-economic 'pain and suffering' awards..."
April 20, 2006Advisen -- PropertyBy Lavonne KuykendallOf Dow Jones Newswires"CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Winter storms and spring tornados in the U.S. caused an estimated $1.38 billion in insured losses during the first quarter, according to the Insurance Services Office Property Claim Services unit..."
By Yvonne Teems, DBJ Staff ReporterDayton Business JournalApril 14, 2006"Malpractice lawsuits fell from 111 to 75 in past three years""In the past three years, the number of medical malpractice cases filed in Montgomery County has dropped more than 40 percent, and local litigators are adapting to the slide in business..."
By Randall ChaseApril 17, 2006The Insurance Journal"A bill raising the legal hurdle for medical malpractice plaintiffs was clinically dead after a House committee vote last Wednesday, but was quickly revived with some arm-twisting by the House majority leader..."
By Margie PetersonThe Morning Call OnlineApril 20, 2006"One of the sad things about the medical malpractice crisis is that it has stifled the instinct toward decency..."
Publication Date: April 19, 2006Advisen -- RegulationSource: Best's Review"Three months after President Bush signed legislation allowing a two-year extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, regulators and key members of the U.S. Treasury Department are setting the groundwork for what comes next..."
April 20, 2006The Insurance Journal"Hospitals and physicians in New York now have a new option for obtaining professional liability coverage and physician excess professional liability coverage, through the establishment of the Healthcare Professionals Insurance Company..."
April 18, 2006The Insurance Journal"Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's recent comments comparing the insurance industry to Nazis are "hysterical and irresponsible," claims an insurance trade group leader..."
April 10, 2006 PropertyandCasualty.com"Chicago – Although the difficulty of achieving tort reform can be seen in the recent defeat of HB 3120 in Oklahoma, there are positive signs that meaningful reforms are having an impact across the country, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI)..."
By Andrew G. Simpson, Jr.April 13, 2006The Insurance Journal"A federal judge in Mississippi has upheld the water damage exclusion in homeowners insurance policies in a ruling welcomed by insurers..."
April 11, 2006The Insurance Journal"Speaking to an international group of officials from the insurance and finance sector, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' President Alessandro Iuppa delivered the keynote address at the 22nd Progres International Seminar of the Geneva Association..."
April 10, 2006The Insurance Journal"The property/casualty insurance industry will report an increase in its capital base and an overall profitable performance in 2005, enabling it to meet the insurance needs of the growing U.S. economy, according to preliminary financial results compiled by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Insurers achieved these results despite catastrophe losses totaling a record $57.7 billion before reinsurance recoveries, according to ISO's Property Claims Services unit..."
Publication Date: April 10, 2006Advisen -- Management LiabilitySource: Bestwire Service"CHICAGO (BestWire) - The technology and telecommunication sectors combined account for the highest frequency of lawsuits within the directors and officers insurance marketplace, placing them among the toughest classifications of risk for carriers, experts say..."
Publication Date: April 9, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Associated Press Alert"OLYMPIA, Wash._Ask a trial lawyer who handles medical malpractice cases, and you're likely to hear a version of this old war story: the really terrible doctor who never got punished by the state medical board..."
Publication Date: April 6, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Belleville News-Democrat"Thousands of Illinois doctors will see some relief in their malpractice insurance rates after the state's major malpractice insurer announced it will reduce its average premiums..."
Publication Date: April 7, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (KRT)"Apr. 7--A new report by the Pennsylvania Medical Society found that more doctors are working part time and fewer stayed in the state after training here, creating a dynamic some say could ultimately limit patients' access to care..."
April 6, 2006Insurance Journal"As the old saying goes, 'Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.' While Lloyd's 2005 £103 million ($180.6 million) loss estimate may not be the absolute best, it's certainly a lot better than it could have been after last year's disastrous hurricanes. By comparison Lloyd's posted a £1.367 ($2.4 billion) profit in 2004..."
April 5, 2006The Insurance Journal"United States Senators John Sununu (R-N.H.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) are scheduled to outline their proposal to allow life and property/casualty insurers to choose federal rather than state charters under an "optional federal charter" regulatory system at a press conference at noon today..."
Publication Date: April 4, 2006Source: Advisen -- Property"COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY HURRICANE FORECAST TEAM PREDICTS ANOTHER VERY ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON FOR 2006""FORT COLLINS - The United States faces another very active Atlantic basin hurricane season in 2006, but with likely fewer landfalling intense hurricanes than in 2005 - the costliest, most destructive hurricane season ever - according to a report issued today by Philip Klotzbach, William Gray and the Colorado State University forecast team..."
Publication Date: April 4, 2006Advisen -- InsurersSource: Irish Times"Lloyd's insurers will have to be able to withstand a hurricane inflicting up to $100 billion (82 billion) of claims on the global insurance industry, it was revealed yesterday, as it prepares to report its first financial loss since 2001..."
Publication Date: April 3, 2006Advisen -- PropertySource: UPI Business News"Strong and frequent hurricanes are predicted for New England over the next five years, necessitating loss insurance increases of up to 30 percent..."
Publication Date: April 2, 2006Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO) (KRT)"Mar. 31--JEFFERSON CITY -- Lawmakers took a step yesterday toward giving the state veto power over medical malpractice insurance premiums that are too high -- or too low..."
Publication Date: April 2, 2006Advisen -- PropertySource: The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA)By Scott LindlawAssociated Press"SAN FRANCISCO When Charlie Bott got an offer in the mail recently for earthquake insurance, he stared long and hard at the bottom line. Then he threw it away..."
