Marine (Inland and Ocean) News

New Markets

The following markets were selected from the MyNewMarkets database of 25,000 coverages and programs. To find additional markets, or to submit markets, go to www.MyNewMarkets.com. Pizza Delivery Program Market Detail: IPC offers hired and non-owned auto coverage for food delivery …

Georgia’s Insurance Chief Oxendine Wants to be Governor in 2010

Georgia’s insurance commissioner said he’s running for governor in 2010, making him the first to enter what could be a crowded field of Republican heavyweights jockeying to replace Sonny Perdue. John Oxendine said gridlock in the recent legislative session helped …

California Earthquake: Damage Predictions of ‘Big One’ Get Bigger

A new report is predicting that a repeat of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake would damage more than 90,000 buildings and cost $150 billion to repair. According to the report, “When the Big One Strikes Again,” prepared for the 100th Anniversary …

Colorado Motorcycle Fatalities Reach Record High

Motorcycle fatalities are on the rise in Colorado, doubling from 45 in 1995 to an all-time high of 90 deaths in 2007, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). In the past five years (2003-2007) in Colorado, 402 riders …

Simple Successful in a Complex World

Woodruff-Sawyer and Co., ranked #16 in the Insurance Journal Top 100 Independent Agencies, continues to grow, handling complex commercial risks here in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Since the agency’s founding 90 years ago, it has kept things simple …

Heffernan Insurance Appoints Olivan Fleet Transportation Practice Leader

Heffernan Insurance Brokers, an independent brokerage based in San Raphael, Calif., has appointed Andre Olivan leader of its new fleet transportation practice. Olivan will work out of the company’s Walnut Creek, Calif., office. He will oversee new business development in …

Demand For Food, Fuel Creating Ample Need for Agribusiness Insurance

The need for agricultural insurance is growing like a weed. “This is the greatest time we’ve had in our business,” said Christopher Leliaert, vice president at Towers-Perrin Reinsurance, in his assessment of the state of the agricultural insurance market. Speaking …

Business Moves

Hull & Co., Big Sky Underwriters, Powers & Co. Hull & Co. Inc. acquired substantially all of the assets of Missoula, Mont.-based Big Sky Underwriters Inc. “The people of Big Sky are well respected in the Northwest marketplace,” said Bob …

AAA Study Pegs Cost of U.S. Traffic Crashes at $1,051 Per Person

Traffic crashes cost American motorists more than $160 billion a year while inflicting a staggering per-person toll on small cities such as Little Rock, Ark., Columbia, S.C., and Pensacola, Fla., according to an American Automobile Association (AAA) research report. The …

Declarations

A Speedy Slow-Down “Clearly the statistics are going in the right direction. I realize it’s just one year, but it’s pretty dramatic.” —Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen, commenting on the year anniversary of the Commonwealth’s Junior Operator License Law. Since …