Declarations

The Final Straw?

“It’s only a large U.S. event that can turn things around. The U.S. is the biggest insurance market with the biggest exposures.”

—Amit Kumar, an analyst at Macquarie in New York. The insurance industry took another multi-billion dollar hit from U.S. tornadoes in April and May, and analysts say an additional big hurricane loss could be the final straw that forces it to hike prices in order to preserve capital and rebuild profits. The property and casualty industry has been forced by stiff competition and excess capacity to cut or hold prices since 2008. The hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30. (Reuters)

Transparent Appeal

“Regulation 194 is a costly and unnecessary burden on law-abiding insurance agents and brokers. We are going to appeal the ruling because our members expect us to and because it is the right thing to do.”

—Richard A. Poppa, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York, which has renewed it’s legal fight with the state over so-called “transparency” regulations that have forced insurance agents to reveal their commissions to their clients. (See page 14 for full coverage.)

Safe and Tiny

“The list of cars with the best fuel economy now includes those with the highest crash test ratings in their class… At a time of high gasoline prices, consumers have never had a bigger selection of small cars that earn a Top Safety Pick.”

—David Zuby, chief research officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), commenting on new crash test results that show many small cars are now among the safest on the road. Six of 13 small cars tested by IIHS earned the group’s top safety pick award, and none earned a poor rating. It’s a big turnaround from a few years ago when small cars struggled to earn top safety ratings.