P&C Companies News

Best Affirms ‘A’ Ratings of QBE Insurance Group and Subsidiaries

A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of UK-based QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited, Australia-based QBE Insurance (International) Limited and QBE Reinsurance (Europe) Limited, …

How Will TARP Bailout Plan Be Remembered?

It may have staved off a financial system meltdown, but the U.S. Treasury’s $700 billion bailout program is so reviled by the public that its distaste may rub off on incumbent Democrats in November elections. What goes into the history …

Calif. Governor Vetoes Workers’ Comp Measure

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a workers’ compensation measure that would have required a physician who conducts a utilization review of workers’ comp medical treatment to be licensed in California (AB 933). “Such a requirement would be inconsistent with …

Ratings Recap: Alterra (notes), Gulf Ltd., Barents Re, Middle East Insurance

A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of “bbb” to the recently issued $350 million 6.25 percent senior unsecured notes due 2020 of Delaware-based Alterra Finance LLC. The senior notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Alterra Capital Holdings …

Tennessee Court Makes It Easier to Sue Employers Over Illegal Firings

In a decision that some legal observers found surprising, the Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed precedent and made it easier for workers to sue their employers when they believe they were fired illegally. The court ruled 3-2 last week that …

Munich Re Highlights Climate Change Link to Extreme Weather Events

A bulletin from Munich Re underlines the “exceptionally high” incidence of “weather-related natural catastrophe losses in the first nine months of 2010,” both in “number and scale.” The floods in central Europe, wildfires in Russia and widespread flooding in Pakistan …

AIA Begins Premarketing for IPO; More Details Released

American International Group Inc will be required to hold a 30 percent stake in its Asian life insurance business, AIA Group Ltd, for a year after AIA’s listing next month, the term sheet showed on Monday. AIA’s share offering is …

Michigan County Hopes Insurer-Gifted Dog Sniffs Out Arsonists

With big, liquid brown eyes and a mouth that seemed to stretch into a smile, Gunner has the look of a family pet ready to run after a stick and curl up at the foot of a bed. But while …

S&P Affirms AXA UK’s ‘AA-‘ Ratings; Removed from CreditWatch

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has removed its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on U.K.-based non-life insurer AXA Insurance U.K. PLC (AXAI) from CreditWatch with negative implications and affirmed them at ‘AA-‘. The outlook is stable. S&P …

Insurers Blast New York Coastal Homeowners Insurance Reform Plan

Insurers are blasting a proposal by New York regulators to reform the state’s coastal homeowners insurance market, a plan one exec called “a solution in search of a problem.” “The insurance industry is scratching it head,” said Ellen Melchionni, president …