Latest Underwriting Headlines

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

It’s a Surety Thing: Companies Are On the Move in the Surety Market

Jan 15 2001 // For the past decade, the surety market has been profitable and today, competition remains strong. Underwriters come and go while the economy plays a major role in this segment of the industry.Even with big losses in 1999,...

RLI Reports Modest Growth for 2000; Underwriting Results Mixed

Jan 11 2001 // RLI Corp. reported fourth quarter net operating earnings of $6.3 million ($.63 per diluted share), a 15 percent per-share decline over the $7.4 million ($.74 per share) result from the same quarter last year. Year-end...

Lloyd’s Capacity Up, As Three New Syndicates Begin Underwriting

Jan 9 2001 // Lloyd’s announced that three new syndicates have started trading adding £236 million ($355 million) to its underwriting capacity which now totals £11.06 billion ($16.6 billion), 10 percent over year 2000...

A.M. Best Downgrades Amwest to C-

Dec 19 2000 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating of Amwest Insurance Group, Calabasas, California, to C- (Weak) from B (Fair). This rating action applies to Amwest Surety Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Far...

Real-time, Point-of-Sale Insurance Underwriting Launched by Fair, Isaac

Dec 8 2000 // Fair, Isaac and Co., a provider of decision technology, has launched ClickPremium, an “e-Decisioning'” solution for insurance companies. ClickPremium provides insurance underwriters with real-time...

Lloyd’s, IUA, London Brokers Agree on Reforms

Nov 21 2000 // After a seven-month dialogue Lloyd’s, the International Underwriting Association and the Lloyd’s Insurance Brokers’ Committee have reached agreement on basic reforms of the way business is to be conducted...

Minnesota Agents Voice Concern Over Credit Ratings

Nov 21 2000 // A growing number of insurance companies operating in Minnesota are using credit-rating scores to establish premiums for car drivers and homeowners. This means that in certain situations people with poor credit histories...

Target Capital To Acquire Southeast Underwriting Group Corporate Assets

Nov 17 2000 // Avon, Conn.-based Target Capital Partners Inc., a managing general agency and provider of specialty insurance programs, and Southeast Underwriting Group Inc., a specialty agency and underwriting manager headquartered in...

The Evolving Excess & Surplus Lines Market

Nov 13 2000 // The excess and surplus lines, or non-admitted, market is comprised of property & casualty companies that provide insurance that is unavailable to businesses in the standard, or admitted, market due to the unique...

Glamour & Risk: Insuring HollywoodProduction Companies

Nov 13 2000 // For many film lovers, the holiday season is synonymous with the release of Hollywood’s latest screen confections. As production companies scramble to satiate the consumer appetite for thrilling visual effects and...

Commentary: The Rainy Season Arrives as D&O Market Begins to Tighten

Oct 30 2000 // Hopefully D&O policyholders have been putting some premium away for a rainy day, because it has started to drizzle and thunderstorms are just around the corner. The end of the soft market is in sight.The last...

Cincinnati Financial Underwriting Profits Expected to Drop for Q3

Sep 28 2000 // Cincinnati Financial Corp. expects decreased underwriting profitability at its property casualty insurance affiliates in the third quarter due to large losses from fires and commercial liability. The insurer’s...

Chubb, CNA Complete Sale of Aviation Underwriter

Sep 28 2000 // Chubb Corp. announced that it has completed the sale of its ownership interest in Associated Aviation Underwriters, Inc. (AAU) to British Aviation Insurance Group Ltd. (BAIG). Chubb’s partner in the aviation and...

Reverse Soft Market Bad Habits

Sep 25 2000 // Without revealing your age, are you one of those who only faintly remembers the daily exercise regimen? At one time, did you count calories? fat grams? And now, you just count the number of pounds that you would like to...

Insurscape.com Launches Web-Based Workers’ Comp Underwriting Facility; Looking for Additional Agents

Sep 25 2000 // Insurscape.com(TM), a workers’ compensation underwriting program that provides total services via e-commerce, today launched a national web-based workers’ compensation service to select brokers. Insurescape.com...

Unionamerica to Close Underwriting Operations

Sep 19 2000 // The St. Paul Companies has completed a strategic review of Unionamerica Insurance Company, Ltd. and has decided that effective Jan. 1, 2001 the company will cease underwriting and will manage the run-off of its remaining...

Commentary: Reverse Bad Habits Formed During the Soft Market

Sep 18 2000 // Without revealing your age, do you remember the hard market of the mid-’80s? Rest assured, we are a long way from returning to the marketplace of 15-plus years ago. However, the market has bottomed and is beginning...

ICAT Appoints Kempas, Schablitsky to Gulf Coast, East Coast Positions

Sep 18 2000 // International Catastrophe Insurance Managers, L.L.C. (ICAT), announced the appointment of Gregory Kemp to regional vice president for the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard. ICAT also announced the promotion of Cathy...

Best Drops Amwest Group Rating to ‘B’

Sep 18 2000 // On Aug. 28, 2000, the financial strength rating of Amwest Group was downgraded from “A-” (Excellent) to “B” (Fair) by A.M. Best Co. The downgrade, applicable to Amwest Surety Insurance Company and...

Best Drops Amwest Group Rating to ‘B’

Sep 14 2000 // Amwest Group’s parent is the publicly-traded insurance holding company, Calabasas, Calif.-based Amwest Insurance Group Inc., primarily an underwriter of surety bonds which also writes property/casualty insurance...