June 28, 2007The Insurance Journal"The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry's net income after taxes dipped to $15.8 billion in first-quarter 2007 from $16.7 billion in first-quarter 2006 and $17.7 billion in first-quarter 2005, according to industry analysts at the ISO and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Reflecting the declines in net income, the property/casualty industry's annualized rate of return on average policyholders' surplus (statutory net worth) dropped to 12.9 percent in first-quarter 2007 from 15.5 percent in first-quarter 2006 and 17.9 percent in first-quarter 2005..."
Publication Date: June 25, 2007Advisen -- Insurance MarketSource: BestWire Services"Lloyds expects to see a softening of rates by 5% to 15% in some major lines at it prepares 2008 capacity and keeps a wary eye on regulatory developments in the United States, its largest market..."
Publication Date: June 26, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: BestWire Services"If one thing was made clear at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, it was that new litmus test for crafting model legislation needs some work..."
June 27, 2007Business InsuranceSource: Reuters"WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission told lawmakers Tuesday he disagreed with critics who say U.S. financial markets are at a disadvantage because of burdensome U.S. regulations and costs..."
June 27, 2007The Insurance Journal"California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has dispatched Damage Assessment and Disaster Fraud Response teams to Lake Tahoe to assist consumers with the losses from the Agora fire burning at Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, a state insurance association is saying state laws that were passed in recent years should aid victims..."
Publication Date: June 25, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: BestWire Services"For the second time in nine months, the U.S. House of Representatives has moved unanimously to pass legislation that looks to clarify conflicting state regulations governing the reinsurance and surplus lines insurance markets..."
Publication Date: June 25, 2007Advisen -- Insurance MarketSource: BestWire Services"Property insurers, brokers and major commercial insureds have found in the recently introduced Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act a host of common wish list items -- a long-term extension of the federal terror backstop, elimination of the distinction between foreign and domestic terrorism, lower event trigger levels with no increase in industry retentions, and certainty that industry exposure is capped..."
Publication Date: June 22, 2007Advisen -- CatastropheSource: Market News Publishing US - MCGRAW HILL COMPANIES INC"The increased prominence of predictive modeling tools over the past dozen years has generated reams of data that can help property/casualty insurers set prices, sharpen their underwriting criteria, and get a handle on market dynamics in everything from typhoons to auto coverage. But by itself, a computer model won't turn a weak insurer into a strong one, agreed three insurance executives at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' Insurance 2007 conference, held June 3-5 in New York City. Without pricing discipline, a sound strategy, and an understanding of the market, predictive modeling is just another tool that can be used or misused. 'Discipline may be more important than all the modeling in the world,' said panelist Stephen L. Way, former CEO of HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. and founding partner of SLW International LLC. 'The best modeling is your own experience.'..."
Publication Date: June 24, 2007Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Associated Press Alert"SPRINGFIELD, Ill._Two years after a high-profile battle over medical malpractice costs, state lawmakers again are debating the complex and politically charged issue of how lawsuits are handled in Illinois..."
Publication Date: June 20, 2007Advisen -- CatastropheSource: BestWire Services"In an insurance market buffeted by record loss events, practitioners are convinced that catastrophe modelers must improve their understanding of the effects of complex and changing risk combinations..."
Publication Date: June 19, 2007Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: The Telegraph (Alton, IL)(KRT)"Jun. 19--EDWARDSVILLE -- A new rule to require parties to attempt an early agreement in medical malpractice cases in Madison County got subdued approval from people on both sides of the issue Monday..."
Publication Date: June 19, 2007Advisen -- InsurersSource: By Lavonne Kuykendall of Dow Jones News Service (DJNS, "Broad Tape") "CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--As insurers increasingly cut prices on all sorts of policies to win business in a tough market, the cash reserves insurers keep on hand to pay claims could begin to drop below the levels needed to pay expected claims, according to a study released Tuesday..."
Publication Date: June 18, 2007Advisen -- Management LiabilitySource: San Francisco Chronicle"A hot issue among California lawyers -- whether tens of thousands of them should be required to tell prospective clients that they carry no malpractice insurance -- isn't just a legal abstraction to San Francisco attorney Paul Frassetto or the destitute businessman who recently approached him..."
June 18, 2007The Insurance Journal"Lloyd's said it has met with a 'positive response from a wide range of quality institutional investors' following its 'road show' to explain the terms for its proposed issue of £500 million ($991.6 million) of Tier 1 subordinated debt (See IJ web site June 7). The offering is in fact 'oversubscribed.'..."
Publication Date: June 17, 2007Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Dallas Morning News, The (KRT)"Jun. 17--Four years ago, Texas limited how much patients could win in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Since then, doctors, patients and lawyers have seen many of the changes predicted by both sides in that bitter debate come to pass..."
Publication Date: June 17, 2007Advisen -- InsurersSource: Sunday Telegraph (UK)"THE Windsor-knotted ties at Lloyd's of London could soon be slackened. Richard Ward, the chief executive of Lloyd's, is considering a relaxation of the insurance market's stringent dress code..."
Publication Date: June 16, 2007Advisen -- Insurance MarketSource: Evening Standard"IT IS normally quite easy to tell when the Lloyd's of London insurance market is doing well..."
Publication Date: June 15, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: BestWire Services"House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., will introduce legislation extending the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program 'in the next couple of days' and the committee could take up hearings on the legislation as early as June 21, representatives of both insurers and commercial policyholders said during a panel discussion hosted by the Risk and Insurance Management Society..."
Publication Date: June 13, 2007Advisen -- BrokersSource: InsuranceNewslink.com"Chairman of Towergate, Peter Cullum, said at the recent BIBA Conference that broker commission transparency was inevitable in the UK insurance market and 'would happen over time.'..."
Publication Date: June 13, 2007Advisen -- Risk ManagementSource: The Intelligencer"HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania hospital officials agree that their facilities need to reduce the incidence of infections contracted by patients under their care. But they are opposing efforts to require all hospitals to report infections electronically using a single, statewide system..."
June 13, 2007The Insurance Journal"The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents has criticized a statement issued by the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), saying the group's position on incentive compensation undermines the free enterprise system..."
Publication Date: June 12, 2007Advisen -- EarningsSource: Market News Publishing US -- MCGRAW HILL COMPANIES INC"2007, But Less Robust Than In 2006""The property/casualty (P/C) sector of the insurance industry has had it good. Both 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 were prosperous for the industry, as most insurers generated underwriting profits, investment income remained strong, and pricing stayed disciplined..."
By Raymond J. KeatingJune 11, 2007The Insurance Journal"Do policy changes like deregulation and tort reform really matter?..."
June 11, 2007The Insurance Journal"Lloyd's announced that it has reached a settlement with brokers Aon and Benfield of litigation centering on the placement terms of the New Central Fund insurance policy, issued in 1999. Benfield made a similar announcement..."
Publication Date: June 10, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: Associated Press Alert"BATON ROUGE, La._Florida and Louisiana are hurricane-prone states with similar property insurance problems, but their governors are taking wildly different approaches to fixing the insurance headaches..."
Publication Date: June 6, 2007Advisen -- Insurance MarketSource: Business Insurance"Commercial property/casualty insurers continue to harvest the fruits of the past hard market, despite a softening market that eventually will affect results, observers say..."
Publication Date: June 7, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: Dow Jones News Service (DJNS, "Broad Tape") -- By Lavonne Kuykendall"CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--With the 2007 hurricane season underway, Florida's lawmakers are doing little to encourage the best-financed insurers to continue to do business in the state..."
June 7, 2007Insurance Journal"Sexual harassment training does not invite lawsuits, according to a study by Caren M. Goldberg, a management professor at American University's Kogod School of Business..."
Publication Date: June 5, 2007Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: Pittsburgh Tribune Review"Melanie Richman drives more than two hours each day on a round-trip to Youngstown, Ohio, to work as an emergency room physician..."
Publication Date: June 5, 2007Source: Advisen -- Insurance Market"Lloyd’s Market Association Elects New Chairman" "Paul Jardine, Chief Executive, Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited, to Champion Market Issues""London, England – 5 June 2007 – Paul Jardine, Chief Executive, Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited, has been elected Chairman of the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA), the body which represents the Lloyd’s underwriting community..."
Publication Date: June 6, 2007Advisen -- RegulationSource: BestWire Services"With the notion of keeping one step ahead of Capitol Hill, a group within the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is considering creating an interstate compact to provide uniform regulation of excess and surplus line transactions..."
June 4, 2007The Insurance Journal"Experts say market conditions in the property/casualty insurance and reinsurance sector indicate the hard market, however short, is now over, and the industry is witnessing the beginning of the pricing cycle's downside..."
Publication Date: June 2, 2007Advisen -- Medical MalpracticeSource: San Antonio Express-News"When Texas voters in 2003 approved a state proposition capping lawsuit awards for medical malpractice cases, only four insurance companies even offered malpractice policies to Texas doctors..."
June 4, 2007The Insurance Journal"Last Friday marked the first day of hurricane season, but the only 'storm' guaranteed to be on the horizon is the flawed way government regulators deal with insuring against catastrophes, according to researchers at a Washington, D.C. think tank that advocates lower taxes, fewer regulations and a smaller government..."
Publication Date: June 3, 2007Advisen -- Risk ManagementSource: Chicago Tribune"Meteorologists' predictions for an above-average number of storms aren't denting investor optimism in insurers as the U.S. hurricane season gets under way..."
Publication Date: June 4, 2007Advisen -- CatastropheSource: Miami Herald"Mostly beneficial but a tad beastly, Tropical Storm Barry sliced through Florida en route north Saturday, leaving behind desperately needed rain, scattered damage, and depressingly reminiscent power outages and insurance claims..."
