Latest Commercial Lines Headlines

All the headlines from our Commercial Lines Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Supreme Court to Hear Stanford Ponzi Lawsuits, Workplace Bias Case

Jan 21 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court last Friday agreed to hear four new cases, addressing matters as diverse as the reach of a law designed to combat chemical weapons, and whether lawyers could be sued for having once represented...

2012 Landmark Year for Workplace Class Action Litigation: Study

Jan 14 2013 // When it comes to complex employment-related legal disputes, 2012 will be considered a landmark year, according to a new report on employment class action litigation.Many of the key rulings of 2012 in class action cases...

The Dilemma of Tiny Commercial Accounts

Jan 14 2013 // Many advisors suggest agents simply jettison small commercial accounts. But sometimes small is good. When small accounts are processed and serviced efficiently, these books can be much more stable in tough times than a few...

Bridges Joins RSI International as Commercial Underwriter

Jan 4 2013 // Texas-based RSI International Inc. announced that Brian Bridges has joined the firm in the role of commercial underwriter. Bridges brings 10 years’ experience in commercial property/casualty insurance, specializing...

270,000 Ohio Employers Win Workers’ Comp Ruling

Dec 31 2012 // A judge’s ruling against the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation may end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars.The ruling issued Friday also could mean that more than 270,000 Ohio employers are...

Most Commercial Insurance Buyers Accept Coverage Changes, Price Hikes: Survey

Dec 28 2012 // The vast majority of commercial insurance buyers renewing their policies appear willing to accept coverage adjustments, moderate price increases, or both, according to a new survey.Still, the survey of risk managers and...

U.S. Apppeals Court Revives Workplace Cybertheft Claim

Dec 27 2012 // In a decision that could make it easier for businesses to police cybertheft in the workplace, a U.S. appeals court revived a chemical company’s lawsuit accusing a former Toronto-area employee of using her home...

Workplace Deaths Rise In North Dakota Oil Patch

Dec 26 2012 // North Dakota’s workers’ compensation agency is offering safety training to companies in the state’s booming oil patch, an effort to decrease job-related deaths and injuries happening most often to...

Montana Company Accused of Workplace Safety Hazards

Dec 26 2012 // Federal safety regulators have proposed $75,600 in penalties for a Montana manufacturing company over alleged workplace hazards.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Fiberglass Structures, Inc. of Laurel...

NIP Launches Business Insurance Program for Restaurant Industry

Dec 19 2012 // NIP Programs — a division of Woodbridge, N.J.-based NIP Group Inc. that designs and manages specialty business insurance programs — introduced a business insurance program targeting owners and operators of...

Foremost Insurance to Take Over Zurich’s Small Business Insurance Program

Dec 18 2012 // Beginning January 2013, Foremost will introduce business insurance into its portfolio of products. Foremost is a part of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies. Zurich North America is ending the Zurich Small Business...

Conn.-Based Business Risk Partners Appoints Senior Underwriter

Dec 14 2012 // Business Risk Partners (BRP), a Windsor, Conn.-based managing general underwriter, appointed Jayne Downey as a senior underwriter overseeing the firm’s technology errors-and-omissions (E&O) and data...

Hiscox, Rocket Lawyer Partner to Provide Resources to Small Businesses

Dec 12 2012 // Hiscox has partnered with Rocket Lawyer, an online legal service, to provide small businesses with both insurance and legal advice. In addition to Hiscox’s insurance policies for small businesses, Hiscox customers...

Main Street America Launches Commercial Lines in Mississippi

Dec 12 2012 // The Main Street America Group has announced it will start offering commercial line products in Mississippi through 50 independent agents that represent the insurer’s affiliate, Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Co. The...

Commercial Insurers Continue Raising Rates, Improve Loss Ratios: Towers Watson

Dec 10 2012 // Commercial insurance prices in aggregate increased by six percent during the third quarter of 2012, the seventh consecutive quarter that aggregate prices for all commercial lines rose.The latest Commercial Lines Insurance...

Alabama Court Changes Standard for Commercial Vehicle Total Loss

Dec 10 2012 // The Alabama Supreme Court has changed a 57-year-old standard on how commercial vehicle owners get compensated when their vehicle is totaled in an accident. The court held in 1955 that an owner who recovered damages for the...

Texas Legislator: Extend Tax Break for Small Businesses

Dec 7 2012 // Texas state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, of Kerrville, has filed legislation to promote small business development in Texas by permanently extending a tax exemption for companies that earn less than $1 million a year.In 2009,...

Commercial Lines Rates Up 5% in November: MarketScout

Dec 6 2012 // The overall composite rate for insuring commercial accounts in the United States ticked up 5 percent in November 2012 compared to the same month in 2011.According to MarketScout’s Commercial Lines Market Barometer,...

Small Business Owners Face Health Insurance Dilemma

Dec 6 2012 // Rose Wang looks at her staff of 70 employees and wonders if she’ll have to lay off some of them to comply with the health care law.The owner of Binary Group Inc., an information technology firm based in Alexandria,...

Employers Hopeful for California Workers’ Comp Reform

Dec 3 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013.Looking forward...