May 18, 2009
‘We are lucky.’ —Warren Buffett, as he addressed thousands of shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in his hometown of Omaha, Neb., on May 2. He said insurance, along with utilities, another big business for Berkshire, are sectors “relatively unaffected …
May 18, 2009
Obesity Weighs Heavy on Workers’ Compensation Claims It’s time to face facts about our nation’s fat. About a quarter of our nation can be characterized as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And while that …
May 18, 2009
The 2009 wildfire season may be just beginning, but what lessons can be learned from California’s November 2008 wildfires? The Tea Fire, the Sayre Fire, and the Freeway Complex Fire that burned in Southern California last year provided risk modeling …
May 18, 2009
Yet Uncertainties Continue to Face the Business The workers’ compensation insurance industry experienced a year of mostly solid results in 2008, according to Dennis Mealy, NCCI Holdings Inc. chief actuary. In its annual “State of the Line” report, the NCCI …
May 18, 2009
Despite what you may think, the insurance industry has not changed much in the past century. The industry was regulated as interstate commerce in 1945 with the passage of the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Little has changed the past 25 years, and …
May 18, 2009
Areas Where Agents Might See an Increase in Fraud Does a bad economy increase crime? Analysts have debated that question for years, according to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. While it’s too soon for …
May 18, 2009
64% The percent of consumers who said they were “very or extremely likely” to keep their current vehicle longer than they normally would due to economic conditions, in a poll from R.L. Polk & Co. Additionally, Polk reported that the …
May 18, 2009
Some Needed Relief “By raising the revenue exemption, small businesses will get some needed relief to help deal with the terrible aftershocks of the economic crisis.” —Texas State Rep. Bill Callegari (Katy) comments on a bill passed by the Texas …
May 18, 2009
The Texas Senate honored James Langford, vice president of compliance, regulatory and government affairs for Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies, in a Senate Resolution. The Resolution was read on the Senate floor honoring his retirement. Langford worked 40 years with …
May 18, 2009
The Woodlands Financial Group Texas-based The Woodlands Financial Group Inc. (TWFG), a retail and managing general agency specializing in property/casualty and life/health insurance, and financial planning, established new branch locations in Florida and Maryland. Maricela Scheller opened a new branch …