As workers’ compensation premiums continued to decline in 2009, the combined ratio jumped nine points in 2009. According to recent report on the state of the workers’ comp market, the combined ratio rose to 110, compared to 101 in 2008. The recession and drop in workforce numbers took its toll on the overall workers’ comp market, analysts said.
“The workers compensation insurance industry had a trying year in 2009,” said Steve Klingel, president and CEO of NCCI Holdings Inc.
A jury in Las Vegas ordered two drug companies to pay a combined $500 million in punitive damages in the first of hundreds of civil cases stemming from a hepatitis C outbreak two years ago.
The Clark County District Court jury ordered Teva Parenteral Medicines to pay $356 million to Henry Chanin and his wife, Lorraine. Baxter Healthcare Corp. was ordered to pay the couple $144 million.
“We’re hoping that it sends a message to these drug companies that they need to come here to Las Vegas with the right people and sit down and get these cases resolved,” Chanin’s lawyer, Robert Eglet, told The Associated Press.
United Guaranty Corp., the mortgage insurance subsidiary of American International Group Inc., reported first-quarter earnings of $73 million — its first quarterly profit in three years.
United Guaranty cited improving levels of delinquencies and defaults. I Full Article…
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may have just received an important nod he needs to be able to sign a homeowners insurance bill headed towards his desk.
In a letter, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is urging Crist to sign the latest property insurance bill, SB2044, sponsored by Sen. Garreett Richter, R-Naples, which lawmakers passed on the final day of the legislative session.
“This bill strikes an appropriate balance that will have lasting benefits for the people of Florida,” McCarty wrote to Crist this week.
McCarty said reports that the bill would mean automatic 10 percent price hikes are wrong.
Violent storms that tore through the southern Plains on May 10 killed five people and injured dozens more, leaving behind flattened homes, toppled semitrailers and downed power lines.
Several tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma and Kansas as the storms moved through the area, dumping hail as big as baseballs, splintering mobile homes and leaving thousands of people without power.
“The kids and I got in the closet and prayed,” said Jamie Keyes, of Norman, an Oklahoma City suburb that is home to the University of Oklahoma. “I heard a hiss.
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WINDSOR, Conn., May 10, 2010 — The majority of financial advisors feel guaranteed income products are too complicated and seek materials and support from wholesalers and companies to help explain the products to their clients, according to a recent study conducted by LIMRA.
“Most advisors said that retirement income planning is taking a more prominent role in their practices,” said Matthew Drinkwater, associate managing director, LIMRA Retirement Research. “The
Sports, leisure and entertainment risks insurance provider Francis L. Dean & Associates Inc. has opened a new location in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Francis L. Dean & Associates of Indiana LLC is the company’s sixth location. It will provide underwriting, product development, marketing and policy issuance on a national basis.
The company is managed by Dale Johnson and will be assisted by Tami Eliason. They each have a vast knowledge of the sports, leisure and entertainment industry with more than 30 years of combined experience.
The Indiana office will specialize in fairs and festivals as service on all other Francis L.
align=”justify”>The Amrita Life Settlement Index results in April showed a surprising turnaround from the previous month’s steep decline. The index climbed 92.8 points, from 324.6 to 417.4. The 28.6 percentrise was due to a sharp increase in market activity and renewed bullish expectations.
Surveys received from life settlement providers gave several indications of a strengthening secondary life insurance market. Providers reported a month over month increase in the number of cases in which they made offers. I