Latest USA Headlines

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

People

Oct 8 2007 // The Insurance Marketing Communications Association named its 2007/2008 slate of directors and officers, with Cora Barran of Farmers Insurance Group continuing as IMCA president for her second year.Barran is director of...

People

Oct 8 2007 // Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC) promoted Jamie Bourg to claims manager for the company’s large accounts team.Bourg will manage and direct the claims department, including claims handling and...

Figures

Oct 8 2007 // $55.5 millionThe tally for disaster aid to Texas residents and businesses affected by June 16 – Aug. 3 severe storms, tornadoes and flooding comes to $55,541,143, according to state and federal officials. The aid...

News Currents

Oct 8 2007 // Proponents push plans for natural catastrophe insurance solutionsFederal backstop proposals aired at NAIC public hearing in Alabama The need for solutions to address insurance costs and availability in natural...

Fraud Roundup

Oct 8 2007 // Former Los Angeles agent sent to prisonA former Los Angeles insurance broker surrendered himself to authorities after being convicted of two fraud counts, the California Department of Insurance reported. Gurjeet Singh of...

News Currents

Oct 8 2007 // The offshore reinsurance tax debate resurfaces in Congress againDomestic-owned insurers claim Bermuda-based companies hold an unfair tax advantage An industry executive, representing a coalition of 14 large U.S.-based...

Class Action Suit Filed Against N.J. Meat Plant, Markets

Oct 5 2007 // As government scientists searched for the source of a multistate E. coli outbreak linked to frozen hamburgers, a class-action lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the New Jersey producer of the patties and supermarkets that...

Possible Salmonella Prompts Kraft to Recall White Chocolate

Oct 5 2007 // Kraft Foods announced it is recalling white chocolate distributed in the United States because of possible salmonella contamination.Kraft said consumers who purchased its six ounce, Baker’s Premium White Chocolate...

Best Affirms Catlin’s Ratings; Outlook Now Stable; Company Comments

Oct 4 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings of “A” (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Bermuda-based Catlin Insurance Company Limited (CICL), Catlin Insurance...

Casey Joins Catlin US in Scottsdale

Oct 4 2007 // Catlin Group Ltd., an international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, announced that William P. Casey has joined Catlin US as managing director and senior vice president of Catlin Scottsdale, Ariz. Catlin...

With Its Food Repuation Battered, China Showcases 3 Model Exporters

Oct 3 2007 // First comes the “wind shower.” Wearing overalls and rubber boots, employees at Fusheng Food Co. in Qingdao stand in a narrow room as air jets in the walls blow away any dust on them. They wade through...

U.S. Risk Expands Brokerage Operations in Australia

Oct 3 2007 // Dallas, Texas-based U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., the seventh largest managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler in the nation, expanded its operations by opening a brokerage operation in Sydney, Australia.The...

Canada’s TD Banknorth to Buy N.J.’s Commerce Bank; Sell Insurance Unit

Oct 2 2007 // Canada’s TD Bank Financial Group reports that it will acquire the Mid-Atlantic regional bank Commerce Bancorp Inc. in a 25 percent cash and 75 percent stock deal valued at $8.5 billion.If approved, the purchase would...

U.S. P/C Insurers’ Reserving Likely To Remain Prudent, S&P Says

Oct 1 2007 // Will increased competition and lower pricing lead U.S. property/casualty insurers to skimp on reserves? Not according to a report published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.The article, “For U.S....

Regulators Move to Align U.S. Reinsurance Regulation with Foreign

Sep 30 2007 // The nation’s insurance regulators are moving to modernize reinsurance regulation in the United States.The proposal — developed by a subgroup of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC)...

Scruggs Asks Alabama Judge to Throw Out Katrina-Related Charge

Sep 30 2007 // Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs has asked a federal judge to throw out a charge accusing him of criminal contempt in a dispute related to insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina.In court papers made public last...

Texas Receives More Than $55M in Disaster Aid After Summer Storms

Sep 28 2007 // Disaster assistance to Texas residents and businesses affected by June 16 – Aug. 3 severe storms, tornadoes and flooding has reached $55,541,143, according to state and federal officials.The aid comes from the U.S....

The Offshore Tax Debate – Déjà vu – All over Again

Sep 28 2007 // At least that’s how Yogi Berra might describe it. On Sept. 25 William R. Berkley, chairman and CEO of the company of the same name, gave a detailed indictment before the Senate Finance Committee of the iniquities...

Soft Market Isn’t Hard for Surplus Lines Industry, A.M. Best Reports

Sep 28 2007 // After a flat year in 2005, U.S. surplus lines premium volume rebounded in 2006 and carriers again posted strong underwriting results.In 2006, surplus lines carriers generally stuck to their guns on pricing in lines where...

Study Claims ‘Perverse’ Incentives Causing U.S. Disability Costs to Soar

Sep 27 2007 // The number of workers receiving disability in the U.S. is growing so rapidly that these benefits are now the fastest rising component of Social Security spending — growing at nearly twice the rate of retirement...