Latest Policyholder Headlines

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

Royal & Sun Management Buyout Clears Hurdle; Final OK Expected

Feb 5 2007 // A state hearing officer recommended Friday that Delaware’s insurance commissioner approve the proposed management buyout and eventual dissolution of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group’s U.S....

State Farm Won’t Renew 2,600 Policies in Alabama Beach Towns

Feb 5 2007 // Facing hundreds of hurricane-damage lawsuits on the Mississippi coast, State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. cited back-to-back years of storm losses in announcing Friday it will not renew coverage for about 2,600 policyholders...

N. D. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Fargo Insurance Company

Feb 2 2007 // A North Dakota judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to change the way one of the state’s largest insurance companies picks its board of directors.Northwest District Judge Douglas Mattson of Minot ruled against...

LIRC says Citizens can raise rates

Jan 29 2007 // Louisiana’s state-run insurer won approval for big rate increases on Jan. 17, 2007, meaning double- and triple-digit hikes in insurance costs for homeowners and businesses along the coast.The increases for Citizens...

Miss. Could Have Policyholder Bill of Rights by April

Jan 29 2007 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale held a public hearing on a proposed insurance bill of rights, saying the provisions would help policyholders understand exactly what coverage they have.Dale hopes to have the...

Royal & Sun Alliance management buyout faces opposition

Jan 28 2007 // New York Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have expressed concerns that the deal may leave Royal Indemnity unable to meet its obligations.A proposed management...

LIRC says Citizens can raise rates

Jan 28 2007 // Louisiana’s state-run insurer won approval for big rate increases on Jan. 17, 2007, meaning double- and triple-digit hikes in insurance costs for homeowners and businesses along the coast.The increases for Citizens...

State Farm Storm Surge Settlement Could Scare Insurers from Mississippi Market

Jan 26 2007 // A landmark legal settlement with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. promises to jump-start the rebuilding process for thousands of Mississippi homeowners devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but critics warn the deal could...

Calif. State Fund Offers Credit Extension for Cold Snap

Jan 25 2007 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fraud said it will be extending credit terms to policyholders who have suffered a financial loss or business disruption from the widespread freezing weather across the state...

State Farm Settles Miss. Katrina Lawsuits; Agrees to Reopen Other Miss. Claims

Jan 24 2007 // State Farm Insurance has agreed to settle a Mississippi class action brought by more than 600 policyholders involving property claims related to Hurricane Katrina and reopen thousands of additional Katrina claims.There is...

Ex-State Farm Adjusters Tell Miss. Grand Jury of Katrina Claims

Jan 23 2007 // A Mississippi grand jury probing State Farm Insurance Co.’s handling of claims after Hurricane Katrina heard testimony this week from two sisters who turned over reams of internal claims records to investigators...

Royal & Sun Alliance Management Buyout Faces Opposition

Jan 22 2007 // A proposed management buyout and eventual dissolution of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group’s U.S. operations could leave policyholders in jeopardy, according to critics trying to halt the deal that is before...

La.’s Citizens Gets OK to Raise Rates

Jan 19 2007 // Louisiana’s state-run insurer won approval for big rate increases on Jan. 17, meaning double- and triple-digit hikes in insurance costs for homeowners and businesses along the coast.The increases for Citizens...

Judge Orders 83 Katrina Claims Cases, Including Sen. Lott’s, to Mediation

Jan 11 2007 // A federal judge on Wednesday ordered into mediation dozens of lawsuits policyholders filed against insurance companies after Hurricane Katrina.Several of the cases sent to mediation, which accuse the insurance companies of...

Miss. Jury Hears Opening Statements in Katrina Suit Against State Farm

Jan 10 2007 // Even as the Mississippi attorney general negotiates a potential settlement with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., an eight-person jury began hearing opening statements Tuesday in one of hundreds of insurance lawsuits...

A New President – and a New Era – For R.I.’s Beacon Mutual

Jan 5 2007 // James V. Rosati, a banking and investment executive and current chairman of the R.I. Airport Corp., has been selected to serve as president and chief executive officer of Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., Rhode Island’s...

Calif. Announces $295 Million in Additional Distributions to Executive Life Policyholders

Jan 5 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced that the Department of Insurance has won a dispute over the distribution of proceeds obtained through litigation on behalf of policyholders of the failed...

Absence of Hurricane Losses Proves Beneficial to Insurers’ Bottomline

Dec 27 2006 // Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through nine months. The net gain on...

In buying back, what did I buy?

Dec 25 2006 // A look at policy buyback settlementsOver the last decade, I have participated in the drafting of dozens of settlement agreements between carriers and insureds commonly called “buybacks of insurance” or simply...

Insurers Remind Holiday Shoppers about Dangers of Identity Theft

Dec 21 2006 // Des Moines, Iowa-based Hawkeye-Security Insurance and Indiana Insurance, both members of the Liberty Mutual Group, are urging holiday shoppers to raise their awareness of identity theft, the fastest growing crime in...