Insurance news

• Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Chaney Re-Elected for Third Term

  05-11-2015 23:36
  
  Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Republican, was reelected to a third term in the office on Nov. 3, according to the Associated Press. A Mississippi native, Chaney is the state’s 11th Commissioner of Insurance and also serves as state …
  
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• KeyCorp Aims to Leverage First Niagara’s Insurance Brokerage Business in N.Y.

  05-11-2015 22:16
  
  Financial services company KeyCorp, which recently announced its plan to acquire First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, New York, said the company would leverage and grow First Niagara’s insurance brokerage business across KeyCorp’s customer base. KeyCorp, a bank-based financial services …
  
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• Hub Acquires Assets of Washington-based Employee Benefits Group

  05-11-2015 21:58
  
  Hub International Ltd. has acquired the assets of Spokane, Wash.-based Employee Benefits Group Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. EBG specializes in providing employee benefits to mid-size and large companies with a focus on self-funded health plans. Marsha Allen, …
  
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• Heffernan in California Names Markuson Assistant Vice President

  05-11-2015 21:30
  
  Heffernan Insurance Brokers has named Jordan Markuson assistant vice president. Markuson’s focus will be on expanding the firm’s presence in the staffing firm market. Markuson early on in his career worked with Assurance Agency, outside of Chicago, Ill. He then started …
  
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• Safety National Casualty Announces Claims Management Changes

  05-11-2015 21:10
  
  St. Louis, Mo.-based Safety National Casualty Corp. is realigning its claims department with management changes. Carl Reynolds, senior vice president – Claims, has retired after a successful 30-year career with Safety National where, as department head, he was responsible for operational …
  
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• Best Agency in West: SES About Community, Employees

  05-11-2015 20:04
  
  SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA Best Agency to Work for – West SES Insurance Brokerage Services Inc. Sharing is caring — that goes for your community and your employees. That’s the attitude at Santa Ana, Calif.-based SES Insurance Brokerage Services Inc., which …
  
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• Florida OIR approves removal of up to 130,534 policies from Citizens for first take-out of 2016

  05-11-2015 19:44
  As of Sept. 23, 2015, 172,351 policies had been removed from Citizens.
  
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• Best Agency to Work For – Southeast: Peel & Holland

  05-11-2015 19:08
  
  BENTON, KENTUCKY Peel & Holland Best Agency to Work For – Southeast Happy Employees That Are Committed to Their Clients Insurance Journal‘s Silver Award winner for the Best Agency to Work For in the Southeast has created a culture of …
  
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• Vermont Reviewing Suspended Driving Convictions

  05-11-2015 19:00
  
  Vermont is reviewing about 900 convictions from the last 16 months for criminal driving with a suspended license to determine how many might have been improperly resulted from incomplete information about a driver’s efforts to erase previous civil suspensions. “Some …
  
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• Dual Commercial Hires Broomfield for Environmental Program in New York

  05-11-2015 18:57
  
  Dual Commercial LLC, a specialty program administrator based in Naples, Florida, has hired John Broomfield as senior underwriter for the firm’s the Environmental Division. He is based in New York City. Broomfield has more than 15 years of insurance experience …
  
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• Illinois Supreme Court Voids $10.1B Philip Morris ‘Light’ Verdict

  05-11-2015 18:55
  
  The Illinois Supreme Court on Nov. 4 threw out a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris USA in a long-running lawsuit accusing the Altria Group Inc. unit of misleading smokers about the health risks of “light” cigarettes. By a 4-2 …
  
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• Louisiana Citizens Looks to Shed Questionable Insurance Deductible

  05-11-2015 18:51
  
  Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. may soon end the longstanding, and apparently unique, practice of selling policies that include a $10,000 deductible for non-hurricane damage. Chief Financial Officer Steve Cottrell tells The Advocate the percentage of personal lines policies with …
  
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• Oil Company Prevails in Suit Against Insurers over Pipeline Rupture

  05-11-2015 18:45
  
  An Arkansas federal jury has awarded an oil company nearly $72 million in damages from lost income and expenses stemming from a 2012 breach of a pipeline carrying oil from Louisiana to Arkansas. In litigation heard in federal court in the Western …
  
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• 2 Investigates: Drivers say major insurance company uses body shop with ... - WSB Atlanta

  05-11-2015 18:38 via
  WSB Atlanta
  2 Investigates: Drivers say major insurance company uses body shop with ...
  WSB Atlanta
  Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland found unrepaired damage and unanswered questions about a major insurance company and its favored body shop. Candice Prescott's wreck was bad enough, but after seeing the repair work on her Kia ...
  

• Best Agency to Work For – East: Hanson & Ryan Inc.

  05-11-2015 18:26
  
  TOTOWA, NEW JERSEY Hanson & Ryan Inc. Best Agency to Work For – East Building Team Spirit, Opportunities for All Employees Employees at Hanson & Ryan Inc. are proud of their workplace, where everyone feels like part of the team …
  
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• N.Y. Inspections Reveal Many Parents Flunk Child Car Seat Safety Checks

  05-11-2015 18:25
  
  Results from recent child car seat inspections in New York indicate that parents need to do a better job of buckling up their little ones. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office says 931 car seats were inspected at a series …
  
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• ACORD Names 2 Insurance Innovation Challenge Winners: Livegenic, Insurity

  05-11-2015 18:23
  
  A technology that gives claimants more control of the claims process and another that makes data conversion easier for insurers have been named winners of the 2015 ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge. ACORD, the insurance industry’s global data standards and services …
  
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• Best Agency to Work For – Midwest: Powers Insurance & Benefits

  05-11-2015 18:17
  
  CLAYTON, MISSOURI Powers Insurance & Benefits Best Agency to Work For – Midwest Growth, Profitability, Perpetuation   Employees at Powers Insurance & Benefits in Clayton, Mo., are enthused about the agency’s family atmosphere, its team spirit and its vision for …
  
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• Best Agency to Work For – South Central: Rich & Cartmill

  05-11-2015 18:06
  
  TULSA, OKLAHOMA Rich & Cartmill Inc. Best Agency to Work For – South Central Rich & Cartmill Inc: A Package Deal One theme that emerged from employee comments about the Tulsa, Okla.-based agency, Rich & Cartmill Inc., in Insurance Journal‘s …
  
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• Takata braces for exodus of air-bag customers after losing Honda

  05-11-2015 17:48
  
  Takata Corp. is bracing for further defections after Honda Motor Co., its top customer, began turning its back on the distressed Japanese air-bag maker.
  
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• San Francisco Voters Reject Anti-Airbnb Measure, Re-Elect Mayor

  05-11-2015 17:41
  
  San Francisco voters rejected a ballot measure to limit short-term rentals to 75 days a year and require hosting companies such as Airbnb to yank listings that violate the limit. Voters also re-elected Mayor Ed Lee while rejecting the Airbnb …
  
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• Uber Driver Sues Taco Bell Brand Manager Videoed in California Slapping Assault

  05-11-2015 17:33
  
  An Uber driver is suing a California man accused of slapping and hitting the driver in an attack that was recorded on video. KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported Edward Caban filed a lawsuit earlier this week in Orange County against 32-year-old …
  
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• EPIC Brings on Garcia as Broker in California

  05-11-2015 17:18
  
  EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has named Daniel Garcia a property/casualty insurance broker/producer in the firm’s Petaluma, Calif. office. Garcia will report locally to Mike Ryan, the North Bay managing principal. He will be responsible for new business production, the development and management …
  
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• Zurich favors spending its $3 billion on purchases over a payout

  05-11-2015 17:14
  
  Zurich Insurance Group AG would rather invest the company’s $3 billion in excess capital on acquisitions than return the cash directly to shareholders.
  
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• Pacific Northwest E. Coli Outbreak Threatens Chipotle’s Sales

  05-11-2015 17:09
  
  Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s food poisoning outbreak in Washington state and Oregon threatens to scare diners away from the popular burrito chain and has become fodder for one of its most vocal critics. Health officials are scrambling to identify the …
  
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• OneBeacon Names Garganigo as Senior VP, Professional Liability

  05-11-2015 16:58
  
  Marc Garganigo has joined OneBeacon Insurance Group as senior vice president of Professional Liability. Garganigo will oversee the company’s Design Professional business unit and will identify expansion opportunities into other professional liability customer groups. Garganigo has 23 years of industry …
  
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• Technology Enables Insurers to Verify Garaging Location, Mileage and More

  05-11-2015 16:33
  
  Auto insurance companies now have a tool that lets them verify the garaging address of a vehicle, confirm the driver’s commuting mileage and obtain loss costs and premium differentials for the vehicle, all before binding the policy. GarageConfirm, a new …
  
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• Top 10 Market Conduct Actions Against P/C Insurers

  05-11-2015 15:59
  
  Slow claim handling, the use of unapproved rates and a failure to provide required compliant disclosures top the list of market conduct actions taken against U.S. property and casualty insurers in 2014, according to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Wolters Kluwer …
  
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• Reducing risk by planning ahead

  05-11-2015 14:30
  Training staff to identity and address possible dangers can reduce business risk.
  
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• Cyber insurance coverage, its value, limitations and exclusions

  05-11-2015 14:00
  Trends and issues affecting all things cyber, from coverage to claims.
  
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• Is email killing your sales productivity?

  05-11-2015 13:40
  
  If you want to be a smarter salesperson and get more done in less time, you need to kick the email addiction. Here's how.
  
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• Is e-mail killing your sales productivity?

  05-11-2015 13:40
  
  If you want to be a smarter salesperson and get more done in less time, you need to kick the email addiction. Here's how.
  
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• The verdict's in: Bar owner hit for $60 million

  05-11-2015 13:00
  A 19-year-old was served alcohol. Later, she was involved in a car accident.
  
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• Mexico storm bond likely to pay after record hurricane, S&P says

  05-11-2015 13:00
  
  Bonds sold by Mexico to shield it from the cost of repairing hurricane damage are closer to paying out after the biggest storm ever measured in the Americas struck the country last month.
  
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• Auto insurance pricing: It's time to adopt Travelocity, Zillow models

  05-11-2015 13:00
  
  Four challenges — and solutions — to integrating these type of applications.
  
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• AIG CEO to Employees: Expect Fewer Lifetime Jobs

  05-11-2015 12:44
  
  American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock, who is shrinking the company while fighting off an activist investor, told staff that they can’t all count on lifetime employment with the insurer, according to people familiar with his remarks. …
  
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• Generali Q3 Profit Falls 18% on Decline in Life Insurance Business

  05-11-2015 11:36
  
  Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Italy’s biggest insurer, said third-quarter profit fell 18 percent after operating income declined at its life-insurance business. Net income dropped to 420 million euros [$458.6 million] from 513 million euros [$560.2 million] a year earlier, Trieste-based Generali said in a statement …
  
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• China Asked to Revise Draft Cyber Security Rules Affecting Insurance Industry

  05-11-2015 11:10
  
  Foreign business lobbies have asked China to substantially revise proposed cyber security regulations for the insurance industry, signaling a dispute that started with the publication of similar bank technology rules earlier this year may widen. The draft regulations, announced by the China Insurance Regulatory …
  
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• Update: RSA Reports 1% Rise in NWP Despite ‘Distraction’ of Zurich Bid

  05-11-2015 10:46
  
  British insurer RSA is not looking to be taken over but might consider offers if they are in shareholders’ interests, Chief Executive Stephen Hester said on Thursday after the firm posted a 4 percent rise in net asset value in …
  
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• RSA Reports 1% Rise in Net Written Premiums Despite ’Distraction’ of Zurich Bid

  05-11-2015 10:46
  
  RSA Insurance Group Plc, the target of a now abandoned 5.6 billion-pound ($8.6 billion) takeover, increased net written premiums 1 percent in the first nine months of the year. Net written premiums climbed to 4.4 billion pounds [$6.8 billion], the company said …
  
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• Mexico Catastrophe Bond Likely to Pay on Hurricane Patricia’s Losses: S&P

  05-11-2015 10:14
  
  Bonds sold by Mexico to shield it from the cost of repairing hurricane damage are closer to paying out after the biggest storm ever measured in the Americas struck the country last month, Standard & Poor’s said. S&P cut its …
  
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• Zurich Insurance Q3 Profit Falls 79% on Losses from Tianjin Port Explosions

  05-11-2015 10:03
  
  Zurich Insurance Group AG said profit fell 79 percent in the third quarter after it booked $275 million in losses from the Tianjin disaster and set aside $367 million more in reserves to cover mainly North American auto and construction liabilities. Net …
  
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• Munich Re Q3 Profit Declines 29% on Investment Earnings

  05-11-2015 09:47
  
  Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, said third-quarter profit slumped 29 percent on a decline in earnings from investments. Net income declined to 520 million euros [$567.8 million] in the three months through September from 733 million euros [$800.4 million] a …
  
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• ANBTX Insurance Services Promotes Payne to EVP

  05-11-2015 08:25
  
  ANBTX Insurance Services has promoted Jeri Payne to executive vice president, agency operations and services. Payne joined ANBTX Insurance Services in 2010 as vice president, commercial lines department manager. Her new role as EVP, agency operations and services will include additional …
  
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• Zurich Insurance Posts Sharp Fall in Profit - Wall Street Journal

  05-11-2015 07:47 via
  Wall Street Journal
  Zurich Insurance Posts Sharp Fall in Profit
  Wall Street Journal
  ZURICH— Zurich Insurance Group AG ZURVY -0.07 % on Thursday reported a 79% decline in net profit for the third quarter, a period in which the firm had to call off a significant acquisition intended to bolster its financial performance. The Zurich ...
  Zurich Insurance Q3 Profit Falls 79% on Losses from Tianjin Port ExplosionsInsurance Journal
  Zurich Insurance suffers a sharp drop in profitsFinancial Times
  Z
  

• Ironshore Launches Product Liability Endorsements for Manufacturers

  05-11-2015 06:48
  
  Ironshore Specialty Casualty has created a new suite of endorsements to address the products liability exposure of manufacturers and distributors. Coverage is underwritten on a primary basis with limits available of up to $5 million on an occurrence or claims-made …
  
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• A.M. Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Auto Club Insurance Company of Florida

  05-11-2015 06:43
  
  A.M. Best has upgraded the issuer credit rating (ICR) to “bbb+” from “bbb” of Auto Club Insurance Company of Florida (ACICF) in Tampa. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed ACICF’s financial strength rating of B++ (Good). The outlook for both ratings …
  
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• Study: Workers Harmed in Alabama Restaurants that Allow Smoking

  05-11-2015 06:36
  
  Workers in Florence, Ala., restaurants that allow smoking are exposed to a greater amount harmful air particles than those working in non-smoking environments, a new air quality study said. The study said workers in smoking-allowed restaurants are exposed to a …
  
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• Distillery Sues University Over Word ‘Kentucky’

  05-11-2015 06:27
  
  Kentucky Mist Moonshine is suing the University of Kentucky over use of the word “Kentucky” on clothing. The company filed suit Nov. 2 in U.S. District Court. The Lexington Herald-Leader says the suit was filed in Pikeville but later reassigned …
  
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• Ex-Instructor Gets Nearly $5M Award in Missouri Discrimination Case

  05-11-2015 03:57
  
  A St. Louis County jury has awarded nearly $5 million to a former Harris-Stowe State University instructor who argued the historically black school discriminated against her because she is white. Jurors returned the $4.85 million verdict favoring Beverly Wilkins on …
  
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