Latest Policyholder Headlines

All the headlines from our Policyholder Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Insurance Groups Welcome Delay in Liability Insurance Law Restatement

May 24 2017 // Insurance groups breathed a sigh of relief this week after legal scholars delayed a vote on a controversial restatement of liability insurance law. As reported by Insurance Journal, the American Legal Institute (ALI) on...

Update: Insurers Sound Alarm Over Liability Law Restatement; Vote Delayed

May 22 2017 // Liability insurers, their lawyers and their regulators are holding their collective breath that a scheduled vote this week on a proposed restatement of law regarding liability insurance will not happen. If approved, the...

New Louisiana Emergency Rule Extends Flood-Impacted Policyholder Protection

May 15 2017 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says a new emergency rule extends the time in which policyholders affected by August 2016 flooding have to comply with insurance policy provisions. Emergency Rule 33 continues...

State Farm Issues $13.3M in Refunds to California Policyholders

May 11 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced today that State Farm has issued refunds totaling $13.3 million for overcharged premiums to 241,356 California consumers in compliance with his rate reduction order...

Allstate’s Encompass Insurance to Exit Massachusetts This Summer

May 11 2017 // Encompass Insurance, an Allstate Insurance company that sells business through independent agents, outlined in its first quarter 2017 earnings news release its intent to withdraw from Massachusetts as part of its profit...

Louisiana’s Retailers Casualty Reports $1.7M Policyholder Dividend

May 2 2017 // Baton Rouge, La.-based Retailers Casualty Insurance Co., a workers’ comp insurer managed by Summit, has declared a $1.7 million policyholder dividend for the 2015 policy year. Retailers Casualty policies are...

Senate Bill Would Extend National Flood Insurance Program for 10 Years

Apr 28 2017 // U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have released draft legislation to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for 10 years. The NFIP is currently set to expire on Sept. 30,...

Florida House Advances Bill Targeting Claims Abuse, But Senate Battle Looms

Apr 27 2017 // A bill aimed at decreasing insurance claims abuse in Florida has made it through the Florida House, and the industry’s hope for assignment of benefits reform now officially rests with the state Senate. The Florida...

Motorists Mutual, BrickStreet Mutual Finalize Joint Venture

Apr 24 2017 // Ohio-based property/casualty insurer Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. and West Virginia-based workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. Inc., have been granted regulatory approvals to affiliate...

Allied World to Offer Drone Loss Control Services to Policyholders

Apr 21 2017 // Allied World North America has expanded its risk management offerings to policyholders to include access to discounted unmanned aerial systems (UAS) services through DataWing, a UAS service provider led by former U.S. Air...

Texas Mutual Board OKs $260M Policyholder Dividend

Apr 20 2017 // Texas Mutual Insurance Co. announced that its board of directors voted unanimously to approve a company-record $260 million dividend distribution in 2017. Qualifying policyholder owners across Texas will share the...

Maryland Policyholders Affected by Penn Treaty, American Network Liquidation

Apr 20 2017 // Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. has announced that more than 1,700 Marylanders have been affected by the Penn Treaty liquidation that occurred in Pennsylvania. However, the Maryland guaranty association...

Making a Federal Case Out of ‘Legal’ Marijuana Insurance Claims

Apr 11 2017 // Michael Johnston, the great, great grandson of the founder of one of the first Baptist churches in Texas, grew up being constantly warned about sin, including the evils of television and dancing. Thus it is a bit strange...

Pinnacol Issues $50M in Workers’ Comp Dividends to Colorado Employers

Apr 3 2017 // Colorado workers’ compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance is distributing $50 million in dividend checks to its policyholders. More than 53,000 employers throughout the state — roughly 94.2 percent of the...

Florida Property Insurers Avoid Ratings Downgrades From Demotech, For Now

Apr 3 2017 // Ratings company Demotech is holding off on issuing large-scale ratings downgrades of Florida property insurers for now, after a number of insurers heeded its warning about the effects of assignment of benefits abuse and...

Rutgers Law School Project Addresses ‘Use It And Lose It’ in Homeowners Insurance

Apr 3 2017 // A new report by the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at Rutgers Law School in Camden, N.J., in cooperation with United Policyholders, offers recommendations to state lawmakers in terms of how homeowners insurance...

Citizens Posts Net Loss of $27M for 2016; Says Water Losses, AOB Abuse to Blame

Mar 29 2017 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will post a net loss for 2016, its first loss in more than a decade, as water loss claims, assignment of benefit (AOB) abuse and litigation costs increasingly impact the company’s...

Pinnacol Issues $50M in Workers’ Comp Dividends to Colorado Employers

Mar 22 2017 // Colorado workers’ compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance is distributing $50 million in dividend checks this month to its policyholders. More than 53,000 employers throughout the state — roughly 94.2 percent of...

Bank of England to Focus on Insurance Consumer Protections

Mar 20 2017 // The Bank of England will spell out more clearly what insurers should be doing to protect policyholders such as the elderly after a report called for clearer safeguards. The BoE’s Independent Evaluation Office (IEO)...

Pennsylvania Court Approves Liquidation of Two Insurance Companies

Mar 20 2017 // The Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania has approved petitions to liquidate Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Company and American Network Insurance Company, with policyholder claims set to be paid through the state...