A Los Angeles jury has awarded more than $200 million to the wife of a retired Department of Water and Power worker who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer apparently caused by washing her husband’s asbestos-contaminated work clothes.
The jury found that Rhoda Evans’ mesothelioma was caused by exposure to asbestos dust from CertainTeed asbestos cement water pipes. Her husband, Bobby Evans, was exposed to asbestos while working with pipes manufactured by CertainTeed at the DWP.
A lawyer for the couple says a jury awarded $8 million in compensatory damages against the DWP and CertainTeed Corp., and $200 million in punitive damages against CertainTeed.
Calls for comment to CertainTeed and the DWP were not immediately returned.
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Grass Valley, Calif.-based Networked Insurance Agents, a subsidiary of Strongwood Insurance Holdings Corp., has announced its acquisition of AmCom Insurance Services Inc.
AmCom, established in 1996, is a full service managing general agency located in San Ramon, Calif. James Furey, who has been president of AmCom, remains with the firm in a similar capacity as president, sales development.
AmCom focuses on commercial automobile programs, including artisan contractors, inland marine, intermediate trucking and sand and gravel.
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The insurance industry employment outlook for 2010 is guarded, but cautiously optimistic, according to a new survey that also revealed 74 percent of the nation’s top insurance companies are currently hiring.
“In fact, we found nine companies that indicated they will hire at least 2,000 employees in 2010, and 21 companies predicting they will hire more than 500 employees,” said Scott Kotroba, president and co-founder of GreatInsuranceJobs.com.
The survey results echo the conclusions of a National Association for Business Economics survey found that the outlook for employment was improving, with 37 percent of the 67 members who took part expecting to increase payrolls.
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The California Office of Self-Insured Plans is revoking the certificate of the Contractors Access Program of California (CAP), a self-insured group of contractors, as requested by the group.
According to OSIP spokeswoman Erika Monterroza, the group, which has had as many as 266 members over its life, requested in October 2009 the revocation at the end of its insured term, which ended on Dec. 31, 2009. “The order for revocation was not finalized until March 29, 2010, but was approved effective Jan. 1, 2010, because the order isn’t issued until all members show proof that they are covered by other insurance or are no longer in business,” she explained.
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Airports in Ireland and parts of Britain were closed again for some hours on Tuesday because of the cloud of volcanic ash drifting south from Iceland that wreaked havoc on European air travel last month.
Flights in much of continental Europe were operating as normal and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it would allow flights to resume from Irish airports from 1200 GMT after a closure lasting six hours.
However, the IAA said northerly winds forecast for the coming days could bring more clouds of ash from the Icelandic eruption and disruption for passengers this week.
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A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a-” and senior debt ratings of ACE Limited, based in Zurich, Switzerland, and ACE INA Holdings Inc.
In addition Best affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and ICRs of “aa-” of ACE Bermuda Insurance Ltd. and ACE Tempest Reinsurance Ltd. , both domiciled in Bermuda, as well as ACE American Pool and its members, ACE INA Insurance (Canada) and ACE European Group Limited (UK), the “core property/casualty operating companies.
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Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. announced preliminary estimates of expected claims, relating to the recent explosion of the Deepwater Horizon Drilling Platform in the Gulf of Mexico, as in “the range of $60-$70 million.”
The bulletin added that these “losses are expected to be contained primarily within the Global Specialty and PARIS RE sub-segments.”
PartnerRe cautioned, however, that “the ultimate insured loss for this event is unclear given the multiple parties involved and the on-going situation regarding control of the oil spill.
“The Company estimates that insured losses from the explosion have the potential to exceed $1 billion.
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The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. reported first quarter 2010 net income of $319 million.
Property and casualty net income rose $145 million, to $257 million for the first quarter of 2010, compared with $112 million for the prior year period.
The Hartford’s P/C operations reported the first quarter 2010 combined ratio for ongoing operations, including prior year development and catastrophes, was 91.7 percent, compared with 89.9 percent in the prior year period. Excluding catastrophes, the current accident year combined ratio for ongoing operations for the first quarter of 2010 was 92.1 percent, compared with 90.0 percent for the prior year period.
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