Adirondack Ins. Exchange Assigned
Demotech Inc. assigned a Financial Stability Rating of “A” (exceptional) to Adirondack Insurance Exchange. Adirondack Insurance Exchange will be owned by its policyholders and managed by Adirondack AIF LLC.
Montpelier Re Unaffected By Dividend
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said its ratings on Montpelier Reinsurance Ltd. of “A” (positive) and Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. “BBB” (positive) are unaffected by Montpelier’s declaration of a $390 million special dividend payable on March 31, 2005, to shareholders …
United Fire and Casualty Co. Revised
S&P revised its outlook on United Fire & Casualty Co., UFCS’s wholly owned property/casualty subsidiaries and UFCS’s life subsidiary to stable from negative. S&P also affirmed its “A” counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on these companies. S&P believes some …
R&SA-USA Downgraded
A.M. Best Co. downgraded the financial strength ratings of Royal & SunAlliance USA Insurance Pool and the Royal Surplus Lines Insurance Co., based in Connecticut to “C++” (marginal) from “B” (fair). The surplus lines company is a wholly owned subsidiary …
Agents Beware: Due Diligence is Now Required on Brokers
Transactions between retail agents and brokers they place business through just became more labor intensive. I recently testified as an expert in a federal case involving a reputable agency’s failure to conduct proper due diligence on a purported surplus lines …
GENERAL RE UNDER SCRUTINY:
General Reinsurance, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has been subpoenaed in an investigation of Reciprocal of America, a former Virginia-based professional liability insurer whose collapse is considered one of the largest insurance fraud cases in that state’s history. The …
$85 MILLION RELIANCE SETTLEMENT:
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken, in her role as statutory liquidator for Reliance Insurance Company, finalized the negotiation of an $85 million settlement with the former directors and officers of the Reliance Insurance Group, the largest settlement ever by the …
N.Y. BILL IMPOSES FIDUCIARY DUTY:
Assemblyman Ryan Scott Karben (D/I-Rockland), a majority member of the New York State Assembly’s Insurance Committee, has introduced a legislative package on agent and broker compensation that would require disclosure and impose a standard of “reasonable care” upon producers for …
FERRY CRASH PROBE FAULTS CITY:
A federal safety board sharply criticized New York City and the Coast Guard in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash that killed 11 passengers, saying tougher medical screening of ferry captains and safer operating procedures were needed. The National Transportation …
TEEN DRIVER FATALITIES DECLINE:
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 law for the good news. …
