Latest Vermont Headlines

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

SEED MAKERS’ LIABILITY SOUGHT:

Apr 18 2005 // The Vermont Senate has approved a bill that would make seed manufacturers rather than farmers liable for damages from genetically modified crops. The measure is designed to help farmers recover losses from the accidental...

Tougher Laws Key to Fight Against Insurance Fraud

Apr 18 2005 // How do you convince overworked state prosecutors to chase down often stale-sounding insurance swindles when their case files already are bulging with high-profile crimes such as drugs, robbery and murder?Insurance-fraud...

Vermont Senate Seeks ‘Strict Liability’ for Seed Makers of Genetically Engineered Crops

Apr 3 2005 // The Vermont Senate last week gave preliminary approval to a bill that would make seed manufacturers rather than farmers liable for damages from genetically modified crops.As the measure heads for a final vote, an amendment...

Vermont Reports Decline in Teen Driver Fatalities

Mar 9 2005 // The number of Vermont teenagers who died in traffic crashes has declined sharply to where the state has one of the lowest death rates in the country. Highway safety officials credit the new “graduated” licenses...

Liberty Mutual Opens First On-Shore Rent-A-Captive

Mar 3 2005 // Liberty Mutual has now received regulator approval to set up captives in the United States through its Vermont-based Liberty Mutual Management LLC office.Liberty Sponsored Insurance (Vermont) Inc. will serve as a...

N.H. Auto Insurance Rates Falling

Feb 8 2005 // New Hampshire drivers are benefiting from increased competition among auto insurers.Seven of the 11 auto insurance companies that have filed rate change requests with the state so far this year have asked for decreases,...

Liberty Mutual Opens Captive Office in Vermont

Feb 4 2005 // Liberty Mutual Captive Services opened its second on-shore office in the past four months on January 20 when it gained approval to establish Liberty Mutual Management (Vermont) LLC in South Burlington.The principal...

AIA Opposes Vt. Underinsured Motorist Bill

Jan 25 2005 // The American Insurance Association on Tuesday called upon the Vermont State Legislature’s House Commerce Committee to reject a bill (H. 79) that would expand underinsured motorist coverage and increase auto insurance...

Consumers Warned Over Alleged Loan, Insurance Scam by Jefferson Financial, Watermark Insurance

Dec 29 2004 // The Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration and the nation’s Better Business Bureaus have issued consumer advisories against companies going by the names Watermark...

From Maine to Virginia … What Happened in 2004

Dec 20 2004 // Leaving aside the insurance brokerage compensation investigations, the World Trade Center trial, the St. Paul-Travelers merger and the UnumProvident settlement, all of which have their roots in this region but grew to...

VT. RULES IN SAME-SEX CUSTODY:

Dec 6 2004 // A Vermont Family Court judge has ruled that both members of a same-sex civil union are the legal parents of a child. Judge William Cohen’s decision is the latest twist in a nationally watched custody dispute that has...

Maine, N.H., Vt. Rules May Spur Attorney Competition

Dec 3 2004 // Despite an agenda that ranged from identity theft to best practices in agency management, the brokerage probe was what had attendees at the recent Independent Insurance Agents of Connecticut (IIAC) midyear meeting in...

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Completes Acquisition of Vt.-based Smith, Bell & Thompson

Dec 2 2004 // Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of the stock of Smith, Bell & Thompson Inc., a Vermont-based managing general underwriter (MGU) with 2003 revenue of...

Pierce Elected PCI Chairman; Whitburn, Tierney Appointed to Vice Chair Positions

Oct 27 2004 // Harvey R. Pierce, chairman and chief executive officer of the American Family Insurance Group was elected chairman of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) at its annual meeting today.Pierce began his...

VT. COURT SAYS TRACTOR IS NO TOY:

Oct 25 2004 // A John Deere lawn and garden tractor is made for work, not for fun. At least that’s how the Vermont Supreme Court sees it. The court ruled in a dispute between an insurance company and the driver of a lawn tractor...

VERMONT WELCOMES ITS 700TH CAPTIVE:

Oct 11 2004 // Helmerich & Payne Corporation, an energy-oriented company engaged in contract drilling, primarily in the U.S. and South America, has established Vermont’s 700th captive insurance company, according to the...

Vermont OSHA Probes Fatal Construction Accident

Oct 5 2004 // The state of Vermont said it will need about 10 days to investigate a construction accident that killed one man and sent a fellow worker to the hospital in Proctorsville.The Vermont Occupational Safety and Health...

Vermont Welcomes Its 700th Captive

Sep 28 2004 // Helmerich & Payne Corporation, an energy-oriented company engaged in contract drilling, primarily in the U.S. and South America, has established Vermont’s 700th captive insurance company, according to the...

State Sets Vermont Hospitals’ Budgets

Sep 17 2004 // In their annual attempt to hold down hospital costs, Vermont officials have pared down rate increases sought by hospitals that averaged 7.7 percent in the state for 2005.The average 7.7 percent average requested increase...

Toronto Bank Buying Majority of Banknorth

Sep 2 2004 // Officials at Banknorth Group, Inc. (NYSE: BNK) of Portland, Maine, and TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) of Toronto announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for TDBFG to acquire 51 percent of the outstanding...