Latest Trends Headlines

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

‘Lost’ Rolex Watch Turns Up at Washington Jeweler, Owner Faces Fraud Charge

Oct 18 2021 // Christopher Michalke, of Seattle, Wash., was charged in King County Superior Court with one felony count of filing a false insurance claim for a $14,753 Rolex watch after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike...

The Future of Insurance

Oct 18 2021 // Amidst all the acquisitions and insurtech startups and disintermediation discussions, a bigger issue is being missed. The result is that all these firms are fighting over a dying industry.The reason the insurance industry...

How Agents Can Help Clients with the State of the Insurance Market

Oct 18 2021 // One of Oak & Associates’ key clients in Oregon, Blake Schellenberg of RPIS wrote a newsletter to their clients outlining all of the rate increases they were seeing by line of business. RPIS’ management sent...

Adapting and Evolving to Meet Future Demands

Oct 18 2021 // Automation, artificial intelligence, IoT and other advancements are disrupting the insurance industry, creating a wealth of possibilities for digital transformation and evolution.Savvy insurers are embracing these new...

Agencies Made Progress With Technology During Pandemic but Data Issues Remain Obstacle to Digital Future

Oct 18 2021 // It’s difficult enough keeping up with the latest trends in agency technology let alone trying to do it during a global pandemic. But industry technology experts say independent agencies made progress, with many...

Aon Projects Health Costs for Large Companies to Rise 5% in 2022

Oct 14 2021 // Costs for large U.S. employers that pay for their employees’ medical care will increase on average five percent to more than $13,000 per employee in 2022, predicts insurance broker Aon.This increase would be slightly...

Life Insurance Sector at Risk if Bond Yields Rise Sharply: IMF

Oct 14 2021 // The life insurance industry is at risk if there is a sharp rise in bond yields, with an extreme situation potentially causing insurers to liquidate investments reaching $1 trillion in the United States and Europe, the...

Idaho’s Workers’ Comp Rates Decreasing 7% for 2022

Oct 13 2021 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance recently submitted its annual rate recommendation.NCCI’s recommendation is based on claims volume, claims utilization, workforce, and wages, as well as any changes in...

Top 10 P/C Insurance Market Conduct Issues

Oct 13 2021 // The U.S. insurance industry’s top compliance shortcomings relate to claims handling noncompliance, including timeliness, required disclosures, payments and grievance and appeal processes—as well as underwriting,...

Following Last Year’s Rate Hike, Alabama DOI to Hold Hearing on Comp Decrease

Oct 12 2021 // The Alabama Department of Insurance will hold a hearing Nov. 16 on a proposed, significant decrease in workers’ compensation loss costs and rating values. A filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance...

Looking to 1918 Pandemic for Clues on Emerging From COVID-19

Oct 12 2021 // Karen Baldridge rolled up her sleeve to get her covid-19 booster vaccine.“I’m trying to baby myself and (am) doing everything that I can to keep healthy,” she said this past week while at Excela Square at...

J.D. Power Agents’ Survey Reveals Top-Ranked P/C Carriers (Story in Charts)

Oct 8 2021 // Neglected no more. Independent agents are feeling the love from property/casualty insurance carriers—and the scores they are giving carriers are moving higher, J.D. Power reports.According to results of the J.D. Power...

What’s New in Agency E&O? Participate in This Year’s Survey Today

Oct 8 2021 // Insurance Journal invites buyers of agency errors and omissions insurance to participate in this year’s Agency Errors & Omissions Survey.The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete, and will...

Florida Regulators to Hold Hearing on Comp Rate Decrease

Oct 5 2021 // Florida insurance regulators are set to hold two hearings in the next three weeks to examine workers’ compensation rates and worker notification issues.On Oct. 14, the Office of Insurance Regulation will host a...

Rates to Rise for Millions of Homeowners Under National Flood Insurance Program

Oct 4 2021 // The federal government Friday rolled out a flood-insurance program revamped to reflect worsening climate change, a program that will raise rates for millions of homeowners in wealthy coastal areas and humble inland...

U.S. Surplus Lines Industry Grew Premium 17.5% in 2020

Oct 4 2021 // The U.S. surplus lines market experienced direct premium growth of 17.5% in 2020, the largest year-over-year premium increase since 2003, according to an AM Best report.The 2020 increase in direct premium written comes on...

Private Flood Insurance Market Small But May Grow With New NFIP Rating: AM Best

Oct 4 2021 // The country’s flood insurance market is slowly transitioning toward private insurers providing additional options to the federal government’s program for those seeking coverage, according to a new AM Best...

Middle Market Firms Miss Out on Agents as Risk Management Resource: Survey

Oct 4 2021 // Many middle market companies are failing to use a key risk management resource: their insurance agents and brokers.According to a survey sponsored by insurer Chubb, only 15% of middle market companies rely heavily on an...

Why This Is Not a ‘Standard’ Hard Market and Other Views on Today’s Insurance Market

Sep 29 2021 // Interesting. Fluctuating. Moderating. Fun.Those are the words that Patrick M. Gallagher, chief executive officer of Gallagher Global Brokerage for the Americas, used to respond to a question about the state of the...

Annual Financial Crime Compliance Costs Rise to $49.9B for Financial Institutions

Sep 28 2021 // Financial crime compliance costs for the U.S. and Canada are at nearly $50 billion in 2021, a rise of almost 20% from the year before, according to a new LexisNexis study.Labor costs, more regulations and evolving crime...