Articles by Kenneth J. St. Onge

N.H. Supreme Court: State Can’t Take Malpractice Reserves

New Hampshire’s highest court has ruled that state lawmakers cannot raid $110 million in reserves from the Joint Underwriting Association, which underwrites medical malpractice insurance in the state. The Supreme Court decision, released this morning, upholds a lower-court decision that …

N.H. Supreme Court: State Can’t Take Malpractice Reserves

New Hampshire’s highest court has ruled that state lawmakers cannot raid $110 million in reserves from the Joint Underwriting Association, which underwrites medical malpractice insurance in the state. The Supreme Court decision, released this morning, upholds a lower-court decision that …

New Jersey Court: Coffee Break-Injury Gets Full Disability

A New Jersey plumber who was severely injured while driving to a coffee break can collect full workers’ compensation benefits, a Superior Court has ruled. The decision centers on injuries suffered by Jesse J. Cooper Sr., a master plumber and …

Becoming Chris Boggs

In October, 2008, my colleague, Christopher J. Boggs, associate editor of MyNewMarkets.com and frequent contributor to Insurance Journal, wrote: “The beginning of mandated insurance continuing education was the end of the true insurance professional. To be considered a ‘professional’ in …

Will Gay Marriage Bring Marketing Opportunities for Agents?

The Market Is Huge, but Some Independents Say It’s Difficult In business, change brings opportunity. And when it comes to the rapid wave of states that have recently legalized gay marriage, some see a marketing opportunity in selling insurance products …

New York Sees Promise in Own London-Like Market

But Skeptics Question Timing for Revival of U.S. Insurance Exchange A recently announced plan by New York’s governor to boost his state’s financial services industry by recreating the New York Insurance Exchange has drawn the attention of insurance industry executives …

Execs in New York Meet over Insurance Exchange Plan

Key executives from over 50 companies, state agencies and industry groups met with New York Insurance Department officials yesterday to begin hashing out details for reviving the New York Insurance Exchange. The group, comprised of roughly 80 people, included executives …

Business Risk Exclusion Means No Coverage for Toppled Conn. House

The Hanover won’t have to pay $26,000 in claims on behalf of a Connecticut contractor who accidentally knocked over the house he was working on, a Connecticut Superior Court has ruled. The decision comes from a lawsuit by homeowner James …

New York Plans First Steps to Creating Lloyd’s Competitor

New York regulators are aggressively pursuing plans for a reincarnation of the New York Insurance Exchange and expect to finish assembling a “working group” of industry insiders within the next two months who will guide the revival of a Lloyd’s …

A Cup of Contagion

Dhananjay Nayakankuppam, a professor of marketing in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, is an expert in what is known as the contagion effect, an irrational belief that the qualities of something can somehow rub off …