Monthly Archives: <span>March 2006</span>

N.Y. FARMER ARRAIGNED ON ARSON THAT KILLED 24 COWS

A Worcester, N.Y., farm owner has been arraigned on charges in connection with a fire that killed 24 cows. Peter Mravlja was charged with arson, insurance fraud and witness tampering following a nearly three-year investigation by local authorities and the …

VT. WORKERS’ COMP RATES MODERATE

Vermont workers’ compensation rates are moderating for the third year in a row, Commissioner John P. Crowley of the Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration announced. Crowley approved a loss cost increase of 1.4 percent for the …

GEICO’S BLUE-COLLAR RATES CAUSE STIR

Education and occupation matter when it comes to what customers of New Jersey’s fourth-largest auto insurer pay, according to a published report. Geico considers professional and college-educated customers less of a risk than blue-collar workers, so those drivers pay less, …

New Markets

Miscellaneous Medical Malpractice Nuts & Bolts: NAS Insurance Services’ miscellaneous medical malpractice insurance program has several new features including deductibles under $2,500. The coverage can now be underwritten with greater rate flexibility and is available combined with GL and professional …

Doctors, agents, and an antique dealer defraud Pennsylvanian

An antiques dealer, an auto mechanic and even a couple of insurance agents are among the dishonored on 2005’s Top Ten Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud cases list, released by the Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority. This year’s list shows that the people …

Enron case demonstrates reliance on professional advice as defense

A month into the Houston fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, their defense teams were hammering away at a consistent theme: Complex financial structures and deals that prosecutors allege hid …

Law blocks federally insured doctors from disaster aid

Dozens of federally insured medical providers have been blocked from helping the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Katrina because their liability protection doesn’t apply outside their own states. Doctors and nurses from community health centers across the country who encountered …

Inside looking out

Most insurance agencies and companies, probably most businesses, think they know what their customers think when in reality they don’t. They have stopped looking and listening to their outside world. “Although most companies start out with a strong focus on …

Fort Dearborn Life Names James A. Wiseman, Vice President, Chief Actuary

Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, has named James A. Wiseman as vice president and chief actuary. “We know that the high, attainable goals we have set for ourselves …

Houston’s Ben H. Moore Agency Joins Alpha Omega Group

Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP announced that Ben H. Moore Insurance Agency has joined the Alpha Omega Insurance Group LP, a Dean & Draper Company. Ben H. Moore started the Houston agency in 1939, and his son, Bill Moore, …