Insurance news

• United Fire closes $280mn sale of life unit

  30-03-2018 23:04
  A United Fire Group subsidiary has completed the sale of its
  life insurance unit for $280mn in cash, the property and casualty
  insurer said today.
  Buyer Kuvare US Holdings agreed to pay United Fire &
  Casualty 1.2x Gaap book value for the life unit, called United Life
  Insurance Company, according to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based group.
  Kuvare is an investment management company in Chicago that focuses
  on life and annuity operations.
  The transaction announced in September leaves United Fire Gro
  
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• FM Global tumbles to $835.8mn loss for cat-hit 2017

  30-03-2018 23:04
  Mutual FM Global fell to an $835.8mn operating loss last year as
  hurricanes and earthquakes drove claims to a level that "far
  surpassed projections", the commercial property and casualty
  carrier has reported.
  The insurer's loss ratio added 47.9 points to reach 100.8
  percent and helped drive the combined ratio to 129.9 percent from
  an indicated 83.2 percent in 2016, when the Johnston, Rhode
  Island-based insurer had operating earnings of $919.0mn.
  A significant portion of the company's catastrophe
  
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• Demotech affirms Florida Specialty after Sirius deals

  30-03-2018 23:04
  Demotech has affirmed the A financial stability rating of
  Florida Specialty after the homeowners' carrier arranged a loss
  portfolio transfer and additional reinsurance with Sirius.
  Florida Specialty was the only one of the carriers Demotech rates in
  the state that was not affirmed on Wednesday (28 March) when the
  agency published the outcome of its review of the sector's
  annual statements.
  At that point the ratings agency said it had left its A
  financial strength rating on the insurer in...
  
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• Chubb backs Bunker to develop 'gig economy' insurance

  30-03-2018 20:16
  Chubb has invested about $2mn in InsurTech startup Bunker as it
  develops on-demand insurance products for freelance or contract
  workers in the emerging "gig economy".
  The global insurance giant began working with San
  Francisco-based Bunker last year, offering usage-based insurance,
  Bunker co-founder and CEO Chad Nitschke said. He said Chubb's
  subsequent investment gave it a non-controlling equity stake in the
  company.
  Bunker focuses on the small business market to provide on-demand
  general and p
  
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• Brown & Riding to launch Privett-led NYC office

  30-03-2018 20:16
  Expansive US wholesaler Brown & Riding has hired industry
  veteran Donald Privett to head a newly opened New York office,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  According to market sources, Privett will take the position of
  managing director of the new office.
  He is expected to work with Brown & Riding's president
  and CEO Jeff Rodriguez and chairman Chris Brown as the firm looks
  to build out its footprint and offerings in the Northeast.
  The executive launched New York-based Privett Special...
  
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• Opinion: Demotech pivots

  30-03-2018 17:35
  To the casual observer, the Florida homeowners' market does
  not look so different from a year ago.
  Its carriers survived a storm that could have been the big one
  (but wasn't) and a threat of downgrades below the crucial A
  range from their ratings agency (that didn't materialise - at
  least not for now).
  And another legislative session ended without an inch of
  progress towards much-needed legal reforms, particularly to address
  the assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis.
  But read through...
  
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• Investors still waiting to be wowed by AA and Saga

  30-03-2018 13:00
  Neither household name has done well since stock market flotation in 2014
  
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• Georgia passes 'division' model for run-off deals

  30-03-2018 11:39
  Georgia legislation that lets insurers divide and opens a path
  for run-off transactions involving legacy books of business will
  become law by 1 July, even if Governor Nathan Deal fails to sign
  the measure.
  The state's legislative session ended yesterday, meaning
  Deal can sign HB 754 between now and the end of June to enact the
  bill as law. But legislative sources said that under Georgia law,
  it will go on the books on 1 July even if he doesn...
  
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• Blog: How to stop silicosis becoming the new asbestos

  30-03-2018 07:00
  Silicosis could result in claims if employers don't manage risks correctly, explains Andy Miller, technical risk control manager at Allianz UK, wondering whether a tougher approach might be needed.
  
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• A Chaucer deal may make Hanover a target: analysts

  30-03-2018 06:05
  The Hanover's move to explore a sale of its Chaucer unit
  could be the prelude to the acquisition of the whole company,
  analysts said today in notes and comments reacting to the
  development, first revealed by this publication.
  While the parent company has only said selling London-based
  Chaucer is an option it is weighing, analysts including Janney
  Montgomery Scott's Larry Greenberg said a sale could make The
  Hanover itself a more appealing acquisition candidate.
  The Worcester, Massachusetts-based
  
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• USI expands brokerage operations with KeyBank deal

  30-03-2018 01:47
  USI Insurance Services has agreed to buy a 350-employee
  insurance operation from KeyBank to bulk up its brokerage
  operations in Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.
  KeyBank, based in Cleveland, acquired the unit when it bought
  First Niagara Financial in a $4.1bn deal announced in late
  2015.
  Key Insurance & Benefits Services has eight offices spread
  across the three states, led by president Kirk Jensen.
  Jensen will join Valhalla, New York-based broker USI along with
  other Key Insurance emp
  
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• Citizens reopens 37% of Irma claims in Florida

  30-03-2018 01:47
  Florida's Citizens Property has reopened about 37 percent of
  claims stemming from Hurricane Irma, either to provide supplemental
  payments or to let policyholders provide additional information on
  a loss, the state-backed homeowners' insurer of last resort
  said yesterday.
  Out of roughly 66,400 Irma claims, Tallahassee-based Citizens
  said it has reopened over 24,500, including some in which
  policyholder representatives were allowed to provide added
  information, the insurer said.
  Initial payments o
  
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