Latest Property Casualty Headlines

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

Texas Enforcements for June 2011 Include Nearly $285K in Fines, Restitution

Aug 17 2011 // Enforcement actions taken by the Texas Department of Insurance that became final during June 2011 include seven license revocations, two license denials, and fines and restitution totaling $285,521.An order imposing...

Top 10 Innovative P/C Insurance Products

Aug 15 2011 // Since the beginning of the year, dozens of property/casualty insurers have announced innovative protections for risks involving new technologies, current economic concerns, personal and family relationships, home-based...

PR Catastrophe

Aug 15 2011 // Nobody has time to issue a press release about it but the property/casualty insurance industry is in the middle of a public relations catastrophe. The industry’s PR machine just can’t seem to get people buzzing...

Industry Keeps Pace As America Gets Older, Wider

Aug 15 2011 // Critics have for years complained that the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s employment picture does not reflect the diversity of America.A new report from the Employment Equality Office (EEO) confirms...

Government Reaps Benefit of P/C Insurers’ Excess Profits

Aug 15 2011 // The property/casualty insurance industry reported unexpectedly robust profits in the latest quarter, surpassing all estimates of Wall Street analysts. Gross profits were up more than $50 billion, which meant tax revenues...

Sovereign Debt Pressure Spreads to Insurers’ Balance Sheets: A.M. Best

Aug 10 2011 // Continuing economic weakness in Europe and the debt crisis in the United States have elevated the risk profile of U.S. insurers, stirring insurance rating agency A.M. Best to stress test insurers for how they might be...

Insurance Captives’ Profitability Soars; Dividends Way Up: A.M. Best

Aug 8 2011 // Profitability soared by 49 percent and policyholder dividends were up 73 percent for captive insurance entities followed by rating analysts at A.M. Best in 2010.According to an A.M. Best special report, captives’...

The Hartford Q2 Profit Hit by Asbestos Charges, Tornado Losses

Aug 4 2011 // As it warned earlier, Hartford Financial Services Group saw its profit fall in the second quarter due to large catastrophe losses and a charge to increase asbestos reserves.Overall, The Hartford reported a net profit of...

Swiss Re Posts $960 Million Q2 Net Income; Combined Ratio 78.4%

Aug 4 2011 // Swiss Re reported Group net income increased by 18 percent to $960 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $812 million in the same period of 2010. “All segments contributed to these positive results,...

How Debt Ceiling Politics Impact P/C Insurance Industry

Aug 1 2011 // As they watched Congress struggle to put a debt deal in place by Aug. 2, U.S. insurers worried about their companies’ portfolios, short- and long-term interest rates and a decline in equity markets.The leading...

Organic 100

Aug 1 2011 // It’s that time of year again, when the nation’s leading privately held independent insurance agencies are put in the spotlight. Welcome to Insurance Journal‘s exclusive Top 100 Independent...

Dodd-Frank Anniversary: What About Insurance?

Aug 1 2011 // The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rewrote the landscape of the financial markets and it has permeated all sectors of the global economy.A year after the Dodd-Frank Act was signed, there...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Joseph Waked was named CEO of Buena Park, Calif.-based Freeway Insurance, a subsidiary of New York-based Confie Seguros. He will have responsibility for California, Texas and Arizona.Waked replaces Freeway’s former...

Top 25 Carriers’ Premium Growth Jumps 11.4% Q1 2011 vs Q1 2010

Aug 1 2011 // Property/casualty insurance companies have faced tough economic decisions over the last few years. Experts and analysts have expressed concern over soft pricing exhibited in the underwriting cycle. To avoid the...

Top 100 2011 Privately Held Independent Agencies

Aug 1 2011 // About This Report: Despite lingering economic challenges and the ongoing soft insurance market, the nation’s leading independent insurance agencies fared much better in 2010 than in 2009.Property/casualty premiums...

P/C Commercial Prices Showed Modest Increases in Q2: Brokers’ Survey

Jul 28 2011 // Pricing in the U.S. commercial property/casualty market showed modest increases in the second quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter.That’s according to The Council of Insurance Agents &...

P/C Insurers Still Saddled with Asbestos Reserve Challenges

Jul 28 2011 // Asbestos-related diseases have been falling for a decade, but warnings from a pair of U.S. insurance giants about new claims raise questions about the industry’s ability to put the scourge behind it.While medical...

Moody’s: U.S. P/C Insurers’ Report Meaningful 2010 Reserve Releases

Jul 26 2011 // U.S. property/casualty insurers reported meaningful reserve redundancies in their 2010 earnings, Moody’s Investors Service said, marking the sixth straight year in which the industry has posted a benefit to...

S&P Revises Outlook on Nationwide to Stable; Affirms Ratings

Jul 18 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. (NMIC) and its property/casualty (P/C) affiliates (collectively referred to as Nationwide) to stable from...

As Small Business Shrinks, Small P/C Insurers Lose

Jul 18 2011 // The property/casualty small business sector – those accounts with less than 50 employees – has shrunk substantially since 2007, and there has been a dramatic shift in market share among small, mid-sized and...