Latest Property Headlines

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

People

Jan 10 2010 // New York-based insurance wholesaler Russell Bond & Co. has promoted Margaret J. Arnold to assistant vice president-controller. She is a 20-year veteran of the firm. In addition, the company has also promoted Derek...

Most Property Reinsurance Rates Down at January Renewal As Capital Rebounds

Jan 10 2010 // Reinsurance rates across most lines of property catastrophe business declined at the Jan. 1, 2010 renewal, according to a briefing by Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC. Guy Carpenter’s World Catastrophe Rate on Line (ROL)...

Lockton Re Adds Executives in Kansas City and New York

Jan 8 2010 // Privately owned, independent reinsurance brokerage Lockton Re has expanded its presence in the United States with the appointments of three new executives – Larry Hunter-Blank, Joe Zuk and Scott D. Polkinghorne at...

Denton to Lead Argo Group’s U.S. Specialty Property Initiative

Jan 8 2010 // Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. announced that its San Antonio-based Excess and Surplus Lines (E&S) business segment has appointed Michael Denton as senior vice president of its specialty property...

Liberty Mutual Receives China Approval to Open Zhejiang Branch

Jan 7 2010 // Liberty Mutual Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary Liberty Insurance Company Limited (LICL), has been granted approval to establish a branch in Zhejiang by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). Liberty...

Zurich Global Corporate in North America Appoints Bergen in Southwest

Jan 6 2010 // Zurich, a property and casualty insurance provider globally and in North America, announced that Doug Bergen has been appointed southwest regional property manager for its Global Corporate in North America (GCiNA) business...

Most Property Reinsurance Rates Down at January Renewal As Capital Rebounds

Jan 5 2010 // Reinsurance rates across most lines of property catastrophe business declined at the Jan. 1, 2010 renewal, according to a briefing by Guy Carpenter & Co., LLC. Guy Carpenter’s World Catastrophe Rate on Line...

Michigan’s H.E.A.T. Recovers $51M in Stolen Property in 25 Years

Jan 5 2010 // Since its inception in 1985, tips to Michigan’s Help Eliminate Auto Thefts (H.E.A.T.) program have led to recovery of more than $51 million in stolen property and arrests of more than 3,300 suspects involved in auto...

Texas Imperial Sugar Settles Property Claim for 2008 Georgia Explosion

Dec 29 2009 // Sugarland, Texas-based Imperial Sugar Co. has settled the property insurance claim for the February 2008 industrial explosion at its Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery for an aggregate of $345 million. A final $45 million...

P/C Industry’s Net Income Up; Combined Ratio at 100.7 for Q3

Dec 22 2009 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $16.2 billion through nine-months 2009, partially recovering from the 91.2 percent decline to $4.4 billion through nine-months 2008 from $49.6...

Best Analyzes AIG; Affirms Most P/C, L&H Ratings; Outlook Negative

Dec 21 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of most P/C life/health insurance subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc., as well as the ICR of “bbb”...

Truth or Lore? Insurance ‘Factorama’ Explores the Known and Little-Known

Dec 20 2009 // It’s the end of the decade that apparently has no name as yet, but that doesn’t stop those of us at Insurance Journal from looking back at the past 10 years and beyond for known and little-known insurance...

2009 P/C Insurance Mergers, Acquisitions Large and Small

Dec 20 2009 // Large insurers AIG, Farmers and The Hartford made moves in 2009, as did large brokers Marsh, Aon, Willis, Gallagher, Brown & Brown, Hub and Wells Fargo. So, too, did, many regional insurers and Main Street agencies....

State Farm Says It’s Paying Too Much in Property Tax to Bloomington

Dec 16 2009 // State Farm Insurance thinks it’s paying too much in property taxes in its hometown of Bloomington, Ill. If the company is right it could cost local schools and government millions of dollars. The Bloomington-based...

Best Affirms Lloyd’s Syndicate 570 & 609 ‘A’ Ratings

Dec 16 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the Best’s Syndicate Rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a+” of Lloyd’s Syndicates 570 and 609, which are both managed by Atrium...

Aon: P/C Market and D&O Market to Further Stabilize in 2010

Dec 10 2009 // Property, casualty and directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance rates will continue to stabilize in 2010, according to Aon Corp.’s U.S. Q3 ’09 Quarterly Market Overview. Highlights of...

Mississippi Attorney General to Target Intellectual Property Theft

Dec 10 2009 // Those behind the sophisticated computer software in Mississippi and elsewhere that tracks down child predators on the Internet are now targeting people who illegally download music and movies. “The good guys are...

Ironshore Names Mammolite New York Region Executive

Dec 9 2009 // Commercial property insurer Ironshore Inc. announced that Anthony Mammolite, currently executive vice president of its U.S. Property unit, has been named to the additional post of regional executive for the entire New York...

Mass. Weighs FAIR Plan Property Insurance Rates

Dec 7 2009 // Massachusetts will begin public hearings next week on a request by the state’s property insurer of last resort to raise rates from 1.9 percent to 7 percent. The hearings are set to begin Dec. 15 on the request by the...

Rate Hikes for Florida Citizens’ ‘High Risk’ Properties Approved

Dec 6 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has approved rates hikes for about 330,000 of Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s so-called high-risk coastal property accounts. The statewide average increases include a...