Latest Property Headlines

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

Wortman Retiring as CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Jul 6 2010 // John Wortman, CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens), the state’s property insurance of last resort, has announced plans to retire. “John Wortman has been a tremendous asset to Louisiana...

People

Jul 5 2010 // Donald D. Larson has been named president and chief operating officer of the Great American Property and Casualty Group and Great American Insurance Co. Larson is the 16th president in Great American’s history. He...

Florida Court Says Fishermen Can Sue Polluter; Is BP Next?

Jul 5 2010 // With BP’s offshore oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop, the Florida Supreme Court recently ruled that commercial fishermen may sue a company that discharged pollutants into Tampa Bay for lost income and...

People

Jul 5 2010 // Donald D. Larson has been named president and chief operating officer of the Great American Property and Casualty Group and Great American Insurance Co. Larson is the 16th president in Great American’s history. He...

Actuarially Sound Rates Remain Elusive Along Texas Gulf Coast

Jul 5 2010 // Insurance company interests have long held that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association charges rates that are not actuarially sound for the risks it insures, making it impossible for private insurers to compete for...

People

Jul 5 2010 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) elected David Wood, vice president and partner at Bogan, Dunlap & Wood Insurance in Odessa, to serve as the association’s president for 2010-2011. Other newly...

Construction Claims: Understanding Colorado’s Statutory Notice of Claim Process

Jul 5 2010 // In the construction industry, it is almost inevitable that at some time contractors and design professionals will receive a notice of claim (NOC) letter. This is the first step in the claims process that may lead to an...

Willis Re Appoints Byng to Lead New Property Resource Group

Jul 1 2010 // Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of Willis Group Holdings announced the appointment of James Byng Property Resource Group Leader for its International and Specialty reinsurance business. He will assume this new position on...

Neal Bill, HR 3424, Proponents and Opponents Trade Salvoes

Jun 29 2010 // When U.S. Representative Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced, or more properly reintroduced, HR 3424, a bill aimed at closing what its proponents describe as a “loophole” in the U.S. tax code, he ignited, or more...

Homeowners Offered Few Insurance Choices in Hurricane States

Jun 28 2010 // In most hurricane-prone states, homeowners have few choices of insurance coverage, with just eight property and casualty insurers in each state controlling up to 77.2 percent of the market share, according to Weiss...

California Violent Crime Rate Falls for Third Consecutive Year

Jun 28 2010 // California’s violent crime rate has declined 6.6 percent in the past year, according to the California Department of Justice’s annual crime report for 2009, recently released by Attorney General Edmund G. Brown...

More U.S. Firms Buying Terrorism Insurance; Prices Decline: Marsh

Jun 24 2010 // U.S. terrorism insurance purchase rates continued to climb in 2009 as companies of all sizes and across all industries continued to buy terrorism coverage, according to a report by global broker Marsh. Sixty-one percent of...

Florida Court Says Fishermen Can Sue Polluter; Is BP Next?

Jun 23 2010 // With BP’s offshore oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that commercial fishermen can sue a company that discharged pollutants into Tampa Bay for lost income and profits...

P/C Insurers Return to Profitability in Q1 With $8.9B in Net Income

Jun 23 2010 // The property/casualty industry returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2010 despite continuing declines in both written premiums and earned premiums. Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income...

MGAs Key to Florida’s Property Market, Say Officials, Execs

Jun 21 2010 // Several of Florida’s insurers with affiliated managing general agencies (MGAs) have come in for criticism recently but there is no widespread problem with the MGA model, regulators and insurance executives agree. In...

FAIA’s Grady: Florida Needs to Improve Its Insurance Reputation

Jun 21 2010 // The following are excerpts from a wide-ranging interview by Insurance Journal’s Andy Simpson with Jeff Grady, president and CEO, Florida Association of Insurance Agents, from Grady’s Tallahassee...

Florida Chief McCarty Calls for ‘Substantive Change’ in Property Market

Jun 21 2010 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty thinks the time has come for the private insurance industry and public leaders to move beyond debating regulation of insurance rates and “be open and willing to make...

How to COPE with Apartments

Jun 21 2010 // COPE is generally associated with property underwriting rather than as a risk class-based underwriting acronym. However, the traditional use and definition of COPE can be broadened to highlight the top concerns of...

Squatters Taking Over Abandoned Homes in Florida

Jun 18 2010 // Imagine going to a house or condo you own and finding a stranger living there who claims the property no longer belongs to you. It’s happening across Florida and other parts of the country through what authorities...

Utah Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Chapter Installs Officers

Jun 17 2010 // The Utah Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters has installed officers for the 2010-2011 term. Officers include: President Melanie Hamilton of Hamilton Insurance Associates Inc. in Salt Lake City; Vice...