Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ratings Recap: EMC, Penn Millers, FMH
Jun 3 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” of EMC Insurance Companies (EMC) and its seven property/casualty insurance company...
Iowa-based United Fire & Casualty Files Reorganization Plan
May 26 2011 // Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based United Fire & Casualty Co. has signed an agreement and filed a reorganization plan with United Fire Group Inc. (United Fire Group), a newly formed subsidiary of United Fire, and UFC MergeCo...
Iowa’s First Latino Majority Town Is Sign of Midwest’s Growing Diversity
May 20 2011 // For the first time in decades Iowa has a minority majority town, and a University of Iowa researcher said it shows how profoundly the cultural face of Iowa and the Midwest is changing. According to 2010 U.S. census data,...
United Fire & Casualty Announces New Officers and Directors
May 20 2011 // Iowa-based United Fire & Casualty Co. announced new executive appointments and the election of four new directors for full terms on its 12-member board. Denver Regional Office Underwriting Manager Jolene Grow was...
Iowa Man Accused of Beating up Boss, an Insurance Agency Owner
Apr 21 2011 // A 41-year-old Sioux City, Iowa, man has been accused of beating up his boss before the boss, the owner of an insurance agency, could fire him. Court records say Joseph Sauce faces charges of willful injury and false...
Cleanup of Tornado-Swept Iowa Town to Take Months
Apr 12 2011 // Tom Sanford stepped carefully through his tornado ravaged home in Mapleton, Iowa, his work shoes crunching on broken glass and wood splinters scattered across the floor. In the living room, next to his busted television,...
Wide Tornado Cuts a Swath Through West Iowa Town
Apr 11 2011 // A large tornado flattened a grain elevator and destroyed homes and buildings on its weekend rampage through the small western Iowa town of Mapleton. Authorities reported no serious injuries. “It was huge, just...
Texas Company Sued for Abuse of Iowa Workers
Apr 8 2011 // A Texas company is accused of severely abusing and discriminating against 31 mentally disabled men who worked at an Iowa turkey processor, in a federal lawsuit filed April 6 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Iowa Couple Sues Ex-Landlord Over Fatal Fire
Apr 7 2011 // A Des Moines, Iowa, couple says their former landlord is to blame for the death of their granddaughter and their own disabling injuries in a 2009 fire, according to their wrongful-death lawsuit. Sieh and Annie Toffoi said...
Iowa Couple Sues Ex-Landlord over Fatal Fire
Apr 5 2011 // An Iowa couple says their former landlord is to blame for the death of their granddaughter and their own disabling injuries in a 2009 fire, according to their wrongful-death lawsuit. Sieh and Annie Toffoi said in the...
Midwest Prepares for Massive Spring Flooding
Mar 7 2011 // One of the snowiest winters on record for the Midwest and northern U.S. Plains have crop watchers worried about a repeat of the massive flooding that hit one of the world’s top grain producing regions in...
NRRA Surplus Lines Requirements: The Devil is in the Details
Mar 7 2011 // Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a two-part article on compliance with the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act. Part one appeared in the West region of Insurance Journal’s February 21, 2011...
Iowa Supreme Court: Agent not Required to Suggest Unrequested Coverage
Feb 21 2011 // The Iowa Supreme Court sided with an insurance agent in a case involving whether the agent has a duty to advise clients as to the need for insurance coverage about which the clients had not inquired. In considering an...
Cedar Rapids Seeks $200 Million in State Flood Aid
Feb 17 2011 // Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is seeking $200 million in long-term state financial aid to help pay the costs of a $375 million flood-control project to protect the city from another disaster similar to the floods of 2008. The Des...
Prepareth Not and Doom Your Summer Vacation
Feb 10 2011 // The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), Subtitle B, Part I, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, will usher in a new era of premium taxation and regulation for surplus lines insurance on...
Iowa Supreme Court: Agent not Required to Suggest Unrequested Coverage
Feb 8 2011 // The Iowa Supreme Court has sided with an insurance agent in a case involving whether or not the agent had a duty to advise his clients as to the need for insurance coverage about which the clients had not inquired. In...
Firms Can Avoid Shareholder Lawsuits with Kid Behavior
Feb 8 2011 // When companies are looking at bad earnings news, a new study from the University of Iowa suggests it’s best for executives to remember what they learned as kids. “If a child does something wrong and tells his...
Iowa Commissioner: Wellmark May Increase Rates by 8.5%, not 10.8%
Feb 3 2011 // After completing a review of health insurer Wellmark’s November 2010 rate increase request, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan E. Voss has determined the company will not be allowed to raise individual health...
Agriculture, Energy Help Bolster Mid-America States Economy
Feb 2 2011 // The economy is gaining strength in nine Midwest and Plains states because global growth and continued low interest rates have provided a boost to agriculture and energy businesses, according to a new survey released Feb....
Iowa Employment Agency Owner Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Indictment
Jan 27 2011 // The owner of a Des Moines, Iowa, employment agency has pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges. Dinesh “Dan” Sethi is accused of scheming to defraud insurance companies out of workers’ compensation...
