Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has ordered the state Department of Insurance to determine whether health insurance companies in Missouri are withholding reimbursement payments to health care providers for unreasonable lengths of time. The department said doctors, hospitals and other providers …
Sawgrass Mutual Insurance Co. is now selling residential property insurance coverage to Florida homeowners through independent agents. The company was launched last month with $10 million in initial capitalization. CEO James Esse said the company’s mutual structure is a “proven …
Toronto-based Kingsway Financial Services Inc. has agreed to sell Zephyr Insurance Co., Inc. to Zephyr Acquisition Co., an acquisition vehicle of Ocean Harbor Holding Inc. and MP Holdings LLC, a Hawaiian based investor group. The transaction is expected to be …
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘BBB+’ senior debt rating on W.R. Berkley Corp.’s proposed issue of approximately $300 million senior unsecured notes, which are due in 2019. WRB will use the net proceeds of the issue to …
A Los Angeles court has ruled that surplus lines insurers need not pay California’s 2.3 percent of gross premiums tax that admitted insurers pay, as well as the 3 percent surplus lines-premiums tax the state imposes. In the case, Los …
Insurance claims dollars are helping to rebuild Lower Manhattan even eight years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 9/11 attacks produced the second largest loss in the history of insurance, falling just behind the claims losses left by …
Bermuda-based Validus Holdings, Ltd. Has appointed Charles F.A. Cooper as the Head of North American Property Catastrophe Reinsurance Underwriting of Validus’ wholly-owned subsidiary Validus Reinsurance, Ltd., effective immediately. Validus RE CEO Conan Ward, noted Cooper’s “over fourteen years of international …
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of the Bermuda-based XL Capital Group and its members. Best also affirmed the ICR of “bbb” and all debt ratings …
According to Swiss Re’s new sigma study, “the role of indices in transferring insurance risks to the capital markets”, both (re)insurers and investors benefit when clearly defined and regularly updated indices are used in insurance-linked securities (ILS) and other risk-transfer …
An audit by the North Dakota Department of Insurance found that Noridian Mutual Insurance Company, doing business as Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota (BCBS), racked up tens of thousands of dollars in excessive expenses paid with policyholders premiums. …
