Latest USA Headlines

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

Survey: Private Firms More Exposed to Liability Risks, But Less Protected

Jul 30 2008 // More than one-third of U.S. businesses do not purchase any type of management or professional liability insurance. Yet, two out of three U.S. private companies have experienced some type of event related to management or...

World Trade Talks Stall as Troubles Grow

Jul 29 2008 // Progress towards a global trade deal ground to a halt on Monday as the United States clashed with China and India over access to their rapidly growing markets and key European Union states demanded better terms.Negotiators...

Newt Gingrich to speak at Eighth Annual Target Markets Summit

Jul 28 2008 // Target Markets Program Administrators Association – Wilmington, DE, July 2008. The Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) has announced that Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of...

Threat of Flooding Persists After Dolly Downgrades to Tropical Storm

Jul 25 2008 // Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, July 23 lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph (161 kph) and dumping heavy rain that flooded some low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated...

Chubb Q2 Premiums Flat; Cat Losses Adversely Impact Financial Results

Jul 25 2008 // Catastrophe losses in the second quarter adversely impacted financial results for The Chubb Corp., which reported net income in the second quarter of 2008 fell $213 million over the same time period in 2007, or $469...

Shift to Smaller Cars Raises Safety Questions, Insurance Group Says

Jul 24 2008 // An accelerating U.S. consumer shift from sport utility vehicles and pickups to more fuel-efficient cars should reduce rollover, but safety experts worry a lighter fleet poses serious risks despite air bags, anti-collision...

Flooding Feared Along U.S.-Texas Border from Hurricane Dolly

Jul 24 2008 // After Hurricane Dolly unleashed a fury of damaging winds and wicked rain on the U.S.-Mexico coastline and diminished to a tropical storm, widespread flooding along the populous Rio Grande Valley became the top concern...

U.S. Insured Losses from Dolly Estimated at $300 Million to $1.2 Billion

Jul 24 2008 // Insured loss estimates from Hurricane Dolly are starting to roll in. AIR Worldwide estimates U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Dolly at $300 million to $1.2 billion with an expected (mean) loss of $600 million. Meanwhile,...

Texas, Mexico Prepare for Dolly, Residents Board Up, Some Evacuate

Jul 23 2008 // Residents along the Texas-Mexico border kept a watchful eye on Tropical Storm Dolly, stocking up on plywood, generators and flashlights as forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen into a hurricane by later...

Study: U.S. Entrepreneurs More Optimistic on Taking Risks

Jul 23 2008 // Despite a weakened economic market, a new study from Hiscox shows that 46 percent of American small business owners still feel that they can make more as entrepreneurs than the traditional corporate world. The Hiscox...

Tokio Marine to Acquire Philadelphia Insurance for $4.7 Billion

Jul 23 2008 // Japan’s Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. reported that it has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Philadelphia Consolidated, a U.S. property/casualty insurance company offering specialty commercial property and...

Medically Unfit Truck, Bus Drivers Still on U.S. Roads, Study Finds

Jul 22 2008 // Hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver’s licenses despite also qualifying for full federal disability payments, and some of those drivers have suffered...

Report: U.S. Cedes More Than $58B Offshore in 2007

Jul 22 2008 // The United States ceded $58.4 billion in premium to offshore reinsurers in 2007 — compared to $54.7 billion in 2006 — an increase of 6.8 percent. Net recoverables totaled $113.0 billion, a decrease of 1.1...

ACE Limited Now a Swiss Firm; Redomesticates from Cayman Islands

Jul 22 2008 // ACE Limited reported that it has completed the previously-announced re-domestication of the company from the Cayman Islands to Zurich, Switzerland.ACE said it continues to be registered with the Securities and Exchange...

Former Louisiana AG’s Katrina Lawsuit Stays in Federal Court

Jul 21 2008 // A former Louisiana attorney general’s lawsuit that contends major insurance companies manipulated prices on hurricane damage claims will remain in federal court, an appeals court ruled.In a 2-1 decision, a panel of...

U.S. P/C Insurers’ Catastrophe Losses for Q2 Double to $6 Billion; Average Claim $5K

Jul 21 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $6.025 billion for second quarter property losses resulting from a total of 16 catastrophes in 27 states, which is nearly double...

Credit Seen Drying Up for Main Street Small Businesses

Jul 21 2008 // As losses mount at American banks and the pain of the credit crisis spreads from housing and finance to the broader economy, many small companies complain it is increasingly difficult to obtain loans.Tighter credit could...

Midwest States High on List for Numbers of Tornadoes

Jul 21 2008 // While a rural area to the northeast of Denver, Colo., tops the nation when it comes to metropolitan areas most prone to tornadoes, Texas leads the states in the average total number of tornadoes per year in the continental...

Forecast: Tropical Storm Dolly to Become Hurricane, Hit Southern Texas

Jul 21 2008 // Tropical Storm Dolly churned toward southern Texas Monday, and forecasters said they expected it to grow into a hurricane before hitting land near the Mexican border later this week.The storm, with sustained winds of...

Reynolds Named President of United National Group

Jul 18 2008 // United America Indemnity Ltd. (UAI), based in the Cayman Islands, appointed Scott Reynolds as president of United National Group, one of UAI’s three U.S. divisions. The appointment is effective July 28, 2008.Reynolds...