It Figures
1 in 6 The approximate ratio of drivers across the U.S. expected to be driving uninsured by 2010, according to the Insurance Research Council. The group says the economic downturn is expected to trigger a sharp rise in the uninsured …
Business Moves
Liberty Mutual, Wausau Liberty Mutual Group, which sells insurance both direct and through independent agents, is discontinuing direct distribution to mid-sized businesses and now plans to distribute its commercial property/casualty insurance products in the middle market exclusively through independent agents …
People
Former Iowa Insurance Commissioner Therese M. Vaughan, Ph.D., has been named chief executive officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), effective Feb. 18, 2009. Vaughan replaces Catherine J. Weatherford, who left the NAIC in July 2008. Andrew Beal, …
Dream Agents
We Insurance Journal writers are fortunate in that we get to speak with a lot of good folks from company CEOs and agency principals to state regulators and experienced underwriters. They come in all accents, ages and attitudes. Most of …
Declarations
No Scapegoats in Mississippi “We will continue to work with all companies in providing an available, accountable and affordable market in Mississippi, and look for solutions, not scapegoats, in solving the insurance crisis we are all facing.” —Mississippi Commissioner of …
State Farm to Florida Property Owners: Farewell
Florida is losing its largest property insurance company. On Jan. 27, State Farm Florida Insurance began the process that will allow it to non-renew policies and halt all sales of homeowners or other property-related policies in the state within two …
Florida’s Andy Norman (l) and Kevin VanDyke (r), who launched their St. Augustine-based independent agency last November.
Georgia Governor Seeks to Limit Product Liability Exposure for Biotech Firms
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is proposing tort reform legislation intended to protect Georgia-based biotech companies from product liability claims. The proposed legislation would provide that Federal Drug Administration approval is sufficient to protect against design defect and failure to warn …
State Farm to Resume Selling Renters, But Not Homeowners, in Mississippi
State Farm said it will resume selling renters insurance in parts of Mississippi away from the Gulf Coast. Company spokesman David Majors said that State Farm will still not be selling new homeowners policies anywhere in the state, but will …
Areas with Flood Insurance Policy Sales Potential
GAO compared the number of NFIP policies in a given area, as of September 2006, with the total number of county flood declarations from January 1980 to June 2008, cumulative flood claims payments from January 1978 to April 2008, and …
