Latest Underwriting Headlines

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

Growing Market for Ski Insurance Faces Some Slippery Slopes

Dec 10 2001 // Owners of ski retail and rental shops and ski resorts may see some tougher conditions this year, as the ski insurance industry faces the overall hardening of the property/casualty market. More scrutiny in underwriting and...

Planet Salvage Inc. Signs Deal with Universal Underwriters Group

Nov 27 2001 // Kansas-based Planet Salvage, Inc., an online marketplace for the automotive recycled parts and salvage vehicle industries, announced that the company has signed a one-year contract with Universal Underwriters Group (UUG),...

Progressive Corp. Notes Improved Underwriting

Nov 19 2001 // Ohio-based Insurer Progressive Corp. said its underwriting performance – measured as the ratio of claims paid out to premiums received – improved for the month of October compared with last year. Progressive,...

Warren Buffett Explains $679M Loss, Gives Shareholders Update

Nov 15 2001 // In a letter to shareholders posted on Nov. 9, Warren Buffett did his best to explain to shareholders the recent unprecedented loss at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., calling the results of the third quarter “anything but...

S&P Comments on the Reinsurance Business

Nov 5 2001 // Standard & Poor’s recently announced that reinsurers are reducing their emphasis on long-standing client relationships and adopting a more clinical approach to underwriting, as both the insurance and reinsurance...

Swiss Re Says Profitability Requires Improved Underwriting Results

Nov 5 2001 // Major reinsurer Swiss Re released findings from its latest sigma study, “Profitability of the Non-Life Insurance Industry: It’s Back to Basics Time,” which showed that the slumping non-life insurance...

Lloyd’s Underwriters, London Market Win Case

Nov 2 2001 // Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London and London Market insurance companies won an important reinsurance case recently when the New York Court of Appeals ruled that Travelers Casualty & Surety Company could not...

CNA Surety Corp. Third Quarter Net Income Down From 2000

Oct 31 2001 // Chicago-based CNA Surety Corporation reported net income for the third quarter of $12.0 million, or 28 cents per share, compared to $13.3 million, or 31 cents per share, for the comparable quarter in 2000.Operating...

Will Reinsurance Rebound from Terrorist Strikes in the U.S.’

Oct 29 2001 // If the nautical term best applied to the reinsurance industry last year this time would have been “Steady as she goes,” after the catastrophe that struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, the French term “sauve qui...

SAFECO Reports 3Q Results, Strengthens Reserves by $240M

Oct 23 2001 // SAFECO reported third-quarter income, before charges, of $7.8 million or $0.06 per diluted share. Including $240 million in reserve strengthening and previously announced restructuring charges, SAFECO posted a net...

Aon to Underwrite Direct Property/Casualty, Reinsurance Coverages

Oct 16 2001 // Aon Corporation will expand its underwriting operations to include direct property and casualty insurance and reinsurance policies, the company announced on Oct. 12. This coverage will be provided in addition to existing...

AIR Releases New Web Application for Underwriters

Oct 16 2001 // AIR, the Boston-based catastrophe modeling company, has announced the availability of AIRProfiler™, a web-based application that provides a quick and cost-effective means to assess the natural catastrophe hazard facing...

Triad Guaranty Insurance Opens Cleveland Underwriting Office

Sep 25 2001 // Triad Guaranty Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Triad Guaranty Insurance Corporation, has opened a Cleveland, Ohio underwriting office. The new office will serve customers in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. It is...

Unique Coverages: A Hard Market Look at How Programs Are Meeting Needs of Challenging Risks

Sep 24 2001 // Underwriting tough risks can be particularly troublesome in a hardening market. Where do you turn when rates skyrocket, exclusions multiply or worse, when carriers begin to shut their doors to classes that no longer...

Progressive Redistributes August Underwriting Results

Sep 20 2001 // Mayfeld Village, Ohio-based Progressive Corporation is redistributing its August underwriting results, originally released Sept. 14, now that the markets are reopened to ensure complete dissemination. Progressive reported...

S&P Downgrades QBE’s Underwriting Units

Sep 19 2001 // The underwriting entities which make up Australia’s QBE Group became the first insurers to be downgraded by Standard & Poor’s following its assessment of the group’s exposure to the World Trade...

Unique Coverages, A Hard Market Look at How Programs Are Meeting Needs of Challenging Risks

Sep 17 2001 // Underwriting tough risks can be particularly troublesome in a hardening market. Where do you turn when rates skyrocket, exclusions multiply or worse, when carriers begin to shut their doors to classes that no longer...

Environmental Pollution Insurance: A Fluid and Ever-changing Market

Sep 10 2001 // Environmental pollution policies – they’re not just for oil industry giants and radioactive waste depositories anymore.Even the most seemingly benign businesses may carry the risk of producing, storing or...

Universal Underwriters Lowered

Sep 10 2001 // S&P lowered its FSR on Universal Underwriters Insurance Co. and its fully reinsured subsidiary, Universal Underwriters of TX, to “BBBpi” from “Api.” The rating action is based on the...

2000 Surplus Lines Premium Report

Sep 3 2001 // Processing at the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas this year confirms what underwriters, agents, and risk managers already know – the hardening of the Property/Casualty market continues.Through August, the...