Latest Carriers Headlines
All the headlines from our Carriers Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurer Competition Vital for Healthcare Consumers: U.S. Health Official
Jul 18 2016 // The Obama administration’s top health official highlighted the importance of competition to insurance markets, as the Justice Department is poised to decide on two massive deals among four of the health-plan...
Lloyd’s Insurer Chaucer Expects Underwriting Loss During Q2 2016
Jul 15 2016 // The impact of catastrophes, large loss activity and foreign exchange movements are expected to bring an underwriting loss for Chaucer in the second quarter, when it will report a combined ratio in the range of 103 to 105...
P/C Insurers’ Net Income Fell 26% in Q1
Jul 15 2016 // U.S. property/casualty insurers saw their net income after taxes fall to $13.3 billion in first-quarter 2016 from $18.1 billion in first-quarter 2015—a 26.6 percent decline—and their annualized quarterly yield on...
Kenyan Insurers Face New Capital Rules Which Could Lead to Market Shakeout
Jul 15 2016 // A push by Kenyan regulators to clean up the East African country’s insurance industry is poised to trigger stake sales or exits by underwriters unable to meet the new capital requirements, according to an industry...
Industry Balks as Treasury Adopts 2% Formula for Defining Auto Insurance Affordability
Jul 15 2016 // If the average auto insurance liability premium paid by consumers in minority and low-income neighborhoods is more than 2 percent of the median income in those neighborhoods, the auto insurance will be considered...
Insurers Expect Lower Returns in Face of Low Interest Rates, Heightened Competition
Jul 14 2016 // Approximately three-fourths of insurers surveyed have lowered their target return-on-equity expectations to 10 percent or lower, a reflection of highly competitive market conditions remaining and the slow-growth economy,...
Insurers Applaud FAA Reauthorization Provision on Drone Use in Disasters
Jul 14 2016 // Insurers could soon be able to deploy drones for speedier response to natural disasters under a provision in legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration passed by the Senate Wednesday. “The process...
Insurers Lose Bid to Dismiss Suit Over Bear Stearns Financial Crisis Settlement Costs
Jul 14 2016 // A decade ago, Bear Stearns Cos. agreed to pay $250 million to resolve regulators’ claims that it was at the center of a system that allowed clients to break mutual-fund trading rules. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which...
Negative Interest Rates Described as ‘Dirt Sandwich’ for Insurers, Asset Managers
Jul 14 2016 // Central bankers globally need to realize the risks that extreme monetary policies will backfire, according to Voya Financial Inc.’s Karyn Cavanaugh. “Negative rates are turning out to be a dirt sandwich,...
A.M. Best’s ‘A-‘ Rating Not as Good as It Seems: Fitch
Jul 14 2016 // Fitch Ratings this week warned that users of insurance ratings from four large credit rating agencies (CRAs) fail to understand differences in the rating scales – differences that separate A.M. Best from the rest of that...
Heritage Revokes 14.9% Rate Increase Filing for Florida Homeowners
Jul 13 2016 // After review by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and much criticism from Florida stakeholders, Florida-based Heritage Property & Casualty Company has withdrawn its request for an overall 14.9 percent...
Europe Insurers’ Stress Tests Could Lead to Higher Capital Requirements
Jul 13 2016 // European insurers, whose profits are being eroded by Mario Draghi’s* quantitative easing program, face a stress test headache that risks requiring them to set aside more capital, further hurting their ability to make...
Insurers, Banks & Pension Funds ‘Must Address’ Climate Risk Exposures
Jul 13 2016 // The world’s insurers, banks and pension funds are “inherently susceptible” to threats from climate change and must make adjustments, from shifting investment toward environmentally friendly industries to...
Study: 43% of Insurers’ Prescription Payments Going to Specialty Drugs
Jul 12 2016 // The latest study of medicine prices finds U.S. insurers’ spending on expensive prescription drugs nearly quadrupled from 2003 through 2014, when the number of such prescriptions filled tripled. Spending on expensive...
Survey: Agents Value Carrier Underwriting More Highly Now Than 5 Years Ago
Jul 12 2016 // A comparison of independent agent opinions five years ago to today shows how far the agency channel has come while also illustrating that certain fundamentals remain important throughout cycles and market...
Liberty Kenya Holdings Targets Acquisitions of Kenyan Insurers to Bolster Foothold
Jul 11 2016 // Liberty Kenya Holdings Ltd. is considering as many as 10 acquisition targets as part of the insurer’s five-year strategy to increase its foothold in East Africa’s biggest economy. “That is on the cards if...
Texas Insurers Look to Courts for Hope in Stemming Hail-Related Lawsuits
Jul 11 2016 // Following a severe hailstorm in south Texas in 2012, insurers were beset with homeowner property lawsuits – sometimes after claims were paid and repairs were completed, according to an insurer trade group. Since then,...
S&P: Private Flood Insurance Products to Trickle In Slowly
Jul 11 2016 // Opening U.S. flood insurance to private insurers won’t lead to a surge of new market entrants, Standard & Poor’s asserts in a new report. Even if Congress passes legislation to make the change as it is...
Statistical Models for Zika Risk Management
Jul 11 2016 // The Pan American Health Organization first confirmed Zika virus infections in Brazil in May 2015. It took nine months for the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare an international public health emergency. It was then...
Massachusetts Auto Insurers Hiking Rates
Jul 10 2016 // More than a million Massachusetts drivers will see their auto insurance bills increase by as much as 9 percent this year. Insurance companies and industry officials told The Boston Globe that cheaper gas and an improving...
