Latest Property Casualty Headlines

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

N.Y.’s Serio Defends States as Federal Oversight Debate Begins

Oct 11 2004 // State insurance commissioners stood their ground last month at hearings in Washington where they opposed an expanded federal role in insurance regulation and withstood a withering attack on their performance from a leading...

Best Reports 28% Increase in Direct Premium Volume for Surplus Lines

Oct 11 2004 // A special report released by A.M. Best Co. concludes that at the end of 2003, direct premium volume for the surplus lines industry increased by about 28 percent over the prior year, which followed an estimated 62 percent...

The Aloha State – More than Beaches and Rain Forests

Oct 11 2004 // The United States Census Bureau’s Census 2000 estimated the population of the state of Hawaii at 1,211,537. Approximately 85 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and about 26 percent had...

ING to Acquire Most of Allianz Canada, S&P Puts Insurer on CreditWatch

Oct 10 2004 // The Netherlands’ ING Group and Germany’s Allianz announced that they have concluded a definitive share purchase agreement for the acquisition of Allianz’ property and casualty (P&C) insurance...

S&P Sees Limited Impact of Typhoons on Japanese P/C Insurers’ Ratings

Oct 7 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services indicated that the impact of damage caused by typhoons in 2004 on Japanese non-life insurers is likely to be limited, owing to reinsurance indemnities and catastrophe loss...

Fitch Affirms Chubb’s ‘AA’ IFS Ratings

Oct 7 2004 // Fitch Ratings announced that it has affirmed the ratings of The Chubb Corporation, notably the “AA” insurer financial strength ratings (IFS) of Chubb’s P/C insurance subsidiaries.Fitch noted that these...

P/C Insurers’ Loss Reserves “Remain Deficient” Says Best Report

Oct 6 2004 // A special report from A.M. Best Co. confirms that “a key driving factor of property/casualty rating downgrades over the past several years has been the impact of significant adverse loss and loss-adjustment expense...

HRH Appoints Crowley National Director for P/C

Sep 30 2004 // Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. announced that its board of directors has appointed F. Michael Crowley to the position of executive vice president and national director for property/casualty effective immediately. “HRH...

S&P Raises If P&C Ratings to ‘A-‘

Sep 29 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Sweden’s If P&C Insurance Ltd. and Finland’s If...

S&P Comments on Hurricane Jeanne’s $7 Billion Impact on U.S. P/C Insurers

Sep 28 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a comment on the state of the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry and its short- and intermediate-term prospects in the wake of Hurricane Jeanne, the fourth...

S&P Bulletin on P/C Holding Company Analysis Method

Sep 27 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has published an article on its Website (www.standardandpoors.com) presenting the rating agency’s approach as to how it evaluates P/C insurance holding companies.Such...

Safeco Announces New Leadership Structure

Sep 27 2004 // Seattle-based Safeco announced a new leadership structure for the company, reflecting its evolution from a turnaround concern to a profit-and-growth enterprise.The cornerstone of the structure is the newly created...

S&P Affirms Co-operators General ‘BBB-‘ Rating; Outlook Raised to Positive

Sep 22 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its outlook on Guelph, Ontario-based Co-operators General Insurance Co. (CGIC) to positive from stable, and has affirmed its long-term...

Best Reports P/C Insurers “Post Solid Results;” $9 Billion Profit for 1st Half of 2004

Sep 21 2004 // According to a new special report from A.M. Best Co., the U.S. P/C industry recorded an underwriting profit of nearly $9 billion during the first six months of 2004, a substantial gain from the comparable period of...

Best Reports 28% Increase in Direct Premium Volume for Surplus Lines Industry By End of 2003

Sep 21 2004 // A special report released by A.M. Best Co. concludes that at the end of 2003, direct premium volume for the surplus lines industry increased by approximately 28 percent over the prior year, which followed an estimated 62...

ATLANTIC AMERICAN CORP. UNVEILS Q2 REPORT:

Sep 20 2004 // Atlanta-based Atlantic American Corp. announced net income of $1.1 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004, compared to net income of $1.2 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for...

P/C INSURERS REPORT FIRST UNDERWRITING PROFIT SINCE 1997:

Sep 20 2004 // Dramatic improvements in underwriting performance by the nation’s property/casualty insurers led to the first underwriting gain in nearly seven years, according to the Jupiter, Fla.-based financial analysis firm...

Insuring the Cornhusker State

Sep 20 2004 // The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 census estimated Nebraska’s population at 1.7 million. About 87 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and about 24 percent had earned a bachelor’s...

Surplus Line Carriers

Sep 20 2004 // First RespondersOnce upon a time, the excess and surplus line market was the safety valve of the insurance industry—the more lightly regulated, more financially shaky little brother to the admitted market. It was said to...

Fitch Estimates Ivan May Become Second Costliest Hurricane For U.S. P/C Insurers

Sep 17 2004 // Chicago-based Fitch Ratings has issued some preliminary comments on the extent of the losses from Hurricane Ivan’s destructive rampage through Alabama, Florida and other Gulf Coast States.Fitch noted that “Ivan...