People Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners elected 2007 officers during the group’s winter meeting in San Antonio. Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell was named president, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger was chosen as president-elect, New Hampshire Insurance …
New fire science could overturn arson convictions across the nation
The clues were everywhere. A young woman lay dead in a burned cabin at a church camp in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, while her father survived. Most of the lessons taught to budding fire investigators stood out at the scene. The …
News Currents
Miss. art museum relocation awaits FEMA, insurance monies Leaders who run Biloxi’s Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art are reluctantly considering abandoning its incomplete and storm-damaged beachfront site designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry. They could end up moving the museum to …
Figures
55% The rate hike that Florida’s insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., decided to delay a vote on, following requests from lawmakers to wait until after the January special legislative session. 13,000 The number of free home inspections …
Brown & Brown settlement with Florida: no charges, no guilt, no fines
News Currents After being the target of state investigations for more than two years, giant Florida insurance agency Brown & Brown Inc. admitted no guilt and faced no charges but opted to pay $5.8 million to bring the probes to …
Kentucky aids small businesses with insurance
Dan Hayes began working at Purcell’s Business Products, in Campbellsville, Ky., in the 1970s. By 1980, he owned the business selling office supplies and equipment with eight employees. A desire to “do good by our employees” led Hayes and his …
Global warming represents watershed event for insurance industry
At various points in history — the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930s, urban riots of the 1960s, and terrorism today — watershed events or trends ushered in structural changes within the U.S. insurance industry. While entirely different in their …
New Markets
Accident Site and Public Response Nuts & Bolts: AIG Specialty Excess, an umbrella and excess casualty underwriting unit of the AIG Companies, announced the addition of Accident Site Advisor and PublicResponse to its excess liability insurance. The built-in enhancements, catering …
Top 10 Stories of the Year-Midwest
In 2006, the Midwest experienced the impact of contingent commission settlements based on the actions of several attorneys general and a myriad of court rulings on insurers’ use of credit, liquor liability and asbestos. Throw into the mix severe storms …
Editor’s Note: Illinois counties listed as ‘Judicial Hellholes’ – deja vu
Just last year at this same time the 2005 ranking of the worst court systems in the country was released by the American Tort Reform Foundation. Illinois had three of the six listed then and unfortunately, we have the same …
