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Flood Insurance Program Closed; No Policies Until Senate Votes

The Senate last week failed to vote on bills to extend several federal programs including jobless benefits, COBRA subsidies, transportation project funding and flood insurance before these programs expired Feb. 28. A single senator, Jim Bunning, R-Ky., has derailed final …

Abacus Expands Online Personal Articles Floater Program with Allianz

Abacus Insurance Brokers, Inc., a Los Angeles-based program manager, has selected Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty to expand its online Personal Articles Floater program nationwide. The program provides monoline inland marine coverage for schedules of jewelry, fine arts, collections, antiques …

Earthquakes Should Prompt U.S. to Prepare Now, Says Safety Group

The tragedies of the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti serve as a reminder that parts of the United States are highly vulnerable to the devastating effects of this unpredictable natural disaster. While most Americans believe earthquakes are a catastrophe …

Pittsburgh Area Prepares for Snow-Related Flooding

Emergency management officials say the Pittsburgh region will face major flooding in the coming weeks as record-breaking amounts of snow begin to thaw. Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Bob Full said at a meeting in Sharpsburg on Friday that “the …

A Rundown of Anti-piracy Tactics Employed by Bulk Cargo Ships

Somali pirates are likely to increasingly target ships taking coal and other commodities over the Indian Ocean because smaller bulk vessels are an easier target than large oil tankers and trade to Asia is booming. A 75,000 ton vessel carrying …

Appeals Court Reinstates Lawsuit over Hot Sandwich

It’s been nearly five years since carnival operator Frank Sutton bit into a chicken sandwich at a McDonald’s at a truck stop in Virginia. The legal world is still dealing with the ramifications. In February month, a federal appeals court …

Colorado Entering Worst Month for Spring Snow Storms

Coloradans need to brace themselves for winter’s snowiest month, the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association is warning. March 17 marks the seventh anniversary of the state’s most damaging blizzard that rang up insurance costs estimated at $93.3 million (more than …

Buffett Says He Goofed on Geico Credit Card Idea

Warren Buffett is considered expert in many things in the financial world. Credit cards apparently are not among them. The world’s second-richest person often admits when he gets things wrong. He did so on Saturday in his annual letter to …

U.S. Senator Presses Agencies for Information About Illinois Levees

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wants a meeting with two federal agencies to seek information about efforts to certify five levee systems in three southwestern Illinois counties. Durbin and other overseers of the levees in Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties …

Berkshire Net Rises; Buffett Says CEOs Should Pay for Bad Risk Control

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said fourth-quarter profit surged, helped by derivatives bets tied to global stock markets, though operating profit fell 40 percent as the weakened economy weighed on several businesses. Profit rose for a third quarter, as Berkshire …

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