Latest Policyholder Headlines

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

Lower Medical Liability Rates

Sep 5 2011 // Texas Medical Liability Trust announced a rate reduction for TMLT policyholders and an 18.5 percent dividend for renewing policyholders, effective Jan.1, 2012. The average rate decrease will be 6.9 percent, but will vary...

Customer Satisfaction with Home Insurers Improves, Says J.D. Powers

Sep 1 2011 // Customer satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies this year is up from 2010, but still remains below levels achieved in 2009.Overall satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies averages 769 in 2011—improving...

Insurance Lawsuits to Follow Irene

Aug 31 2011 // As the water recedes from Hurricane Irene, lawyers are expecting disputes over insurance coverage to pour in.The biggest fights will stem from arguments over property damage and whether it resulted from wind or water,...

California Regulator Wins Case Involving Sale of Life Insurer

Aug 26 2011 // A California state appeals court has upheld a state regulators’ refusal to approve the sale of a California insurance company to a French-owned company.The decision upheld Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’...

Texas Medical Liability Trust to Reduce Rates, Pay 18.5% Dividend

Aug 25 2011 // Texas Medical Liability Trust announced a rate reduction for TMLT policyholders and an 18.5 percent dividend for renewing policyholders, effective Jan.1, 2012.The average rate decrease will be 6.9 percent, but will vary by...

Florida Regulator Taking Citizens Sinkhole Rate Bid on the Road

Aug 16 2011 // South Florida residents will have their say over the state-backed insurer’s proposed triple-digit increase in sinkhole rates as regulators announced they will hold a public hearing on the issue in Tampa on September...

Farmers Settles Medical Reimbursement Class Action Suit

Aug 9 2011 // Farmers Insurance announced late last week that it had agreed to settle a nationwide class action lawsuit regarding the medical bills of persons involved in car accidents.The settlement may affect Farmers policyholders, or...

Florida Officials Weigh Next Step in Citizens’ Rate Hikes

Aug 8 2011 // While state officials are trying to digest Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s proposed triple-digit sinkhole rate increase, other elected officials are taking their case to the public.Senator Mike Fasano, R-New Port...

Mitigation Reviews Hike Premiums for Insureds of Florida Citizens

Aug 1 2011 // Florida property owners who purchased coverage from the state- run property insurer have seen their premiums increase by an average $476 as a result of the insurer inspecting their property.Citizens Property Insurance...

Texas Mutual Distributes $155M in Policyholder Dividends

Jul 29 2011 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. announced it is distributing to policyholders $155 million in workers’ compensation dividends.Texas Mutual estimates that about 77 percent of its policyholders will earn a dividend based...

Florida Citizens Proceeds with Bid for 400% Sinkhole Rate Hike

Jul 28 2011 // Florida residents who purchase sinkhole insurance through the state-back Citizens Property Insurance Corp. could be looking at increases of more than 400 percent for the optional coverage next year.By a 4-0 vote, the...

GEICO Reduces Auto Rates in California

Jul 22 2011 // California’s insurance commissioner today announced that a rate reduction of 10.7 percent has been approved for GEICO’s California auto insurance policyholders.The GEICO rate decrease will come into effect on...

Florida Returns $12 Million to Policyholders

Jul 20 2011 // Some Florida insurance policyholders stand to recover more than $12 million in refunds thanks to state insurance investigators looking into complaints about unpaid claims and questionable sales.The Division of Agents and...

Mitigation Inspections Hike Premiums for Insureds of Florida Citizens

Jul 18 2011 // Florida property owners who purchased coverage from the state’s run property insurer have seen their premiums increase by an average $476 as a result of the insuring inspecting their property.Citizens Property...

California Court Expands Policyholders’ Right to Sue Insurers

Jul 7 2011 // An uptick in consumer protection lawsuits against California insurance companies is widely expected in the wake of a state appellate decision allowing a policyholder to sue The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies over...

Florida Officials Fret Over Home Insurance Assessments

Jul 4 2011 // Two weeks into a new hurricane season, Florida officials are continuing to express their concerns over possible policyholder assessments by Citizens Property Insurance despite the relative financial strength of the...

2 Insurers Refund $1 Million in North Carolina

Jun 28 2011 // North Carolina residents insured by two companies are going to receive refunds totaling more than $1 million after state regulators found they overcharged their personal lines policyholders.SAFECO Insurance Co. of America...

Missouri Governor Extends Order Protecting Insurance Policyholders in Joplin

Jun 27 2011 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has extended his executive order providing emergency protections for the insurance coverage of Joplin-area residents.Executive Order 11-20 ensures that residents and business owners in Jasper and...

P/C Insurers’ Profits Fell in Q1 as Underwriting Losses Grew

Jun 22 2011 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes dropped to $7.8 billion in first-quarter 2011 from $8.9 billion in first-quarter 2010, with insurers’ annualized rate of return on average...

Court Approves Majestic Insurance Rehabilitation Plan

Jun 20 2011 // A San Francisco Superior Court has approved California Insurance Commissioner’s rehabilitation plan for Majestic Insurance Co., a failed workers’ compensation insurance carrier.Under the plan, Majestic’s...