It Figures

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The number of new homeowners insurance companies entering Texas since 2003, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. In addition, the state has gained 28 new auto insurance providers during that time. The ICT said Texas Department of Insurance data shows that rates for both homeowners and private passenger auto coverage have fallen every quarter for the past three years. Homeowners rates have fallen by 11.7 percent or $134; auto rates have fallen by 8.9 percent or $100, ICT said. The data on auto and homeowners rates is available from TDI’s Quarterly Legislative Report on Market Conditions, which is located on the department’s Web site, www.tdi.state.tx.us/.

$10 Million
The amount for which the smile of actress America Ferrara, who plays the lead on the popular television show “Ugly Betty,” is insured with Lloyds of London. In announcing the news, Lloyds also reminded the world that it has issued coverage on “Keith Richards’ fingers [but unfortunately not his head], Marlene Dietrich’s legs [as well as Betty Grable’s] and Santa’s beard.” According to one history book, actress Bette Davis even once insured her waistline against expansion.

120,000
The number of residents that would have to be evacuated from Texas’ Rio Grande Valley if a major hurricane hits the lower Texas Gulf Coast, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. At the recent State Hurricane Conference in Galveston, coastal officials questioned whether wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have siphoned off too many of the state’s National Guard, leaving it without necessary troops and equipment to help evacuate, protect and shelter hundreds of thousands of Texans fleeing a major hurricane. State officials sought to reassure conference participants, but acknowledged that the state has only about 14,000 of the 20,000 National Guard troops normally available,The Associated Press reported.

96.5%
The calendar year combined ratio for workers’ compensation insurance, according to NCCI Holdings Inc.’s annual “State of the Line” workers’ compensation market analysis. NCCI says it is the best underwriting result in at least 30 years and the first underwriting profit for the line since 1995. The 2006 workers’ compensation calendar year combined ratio showed a 6.5 point improvement over 2005 and a 25.5 point improvement from the current cyclical peak of 122 percent realized in 2001. NCCI estimates the combined ratio for the 2005 and 2006 accident years at 87 percent and the 2004 accident year at 88 percent. This is more than a 50-point improvement since the 140 percent combined ratio earned in 1999.