Mississippi News

Mississippi Rejects Allstate Rate Hike

Mississippi’s insurance regulator, as he earlier indicated he would do, has denied a request from Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co. for a statewide home insurance price hike of about 60 percent. The increase would have affected about 50,000 policyholders. …

Sen. Durbin: FEMA Delaying Flood Insurance Maps in Illinois

Property owners in three southwestern Illinois counties who worry they’ll have to get sharply higher flood insurance once new Mississippi River flood maps are drawn are getting a bit of a reprieve. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois says the Federal …

Louisiana Homeowners Insurance Pricey; Texas, Florida More Expensive

Louisiana remains the third most expensive homeowners insurance market in the nation behind Florida and Texas, according to newly released data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The average premium in Louisiana for a standard homeowners policy in 2007, …

States Get Tough on Distracted Drivers in 2010

Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire and Oregon will bring in the new year with new state laws aimed at cracking down on distracted driving, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Of the four states with stronger laws …

Mississippi to Block Coast-Only Insurance Rate Filings

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he’s taking steps aimed at discouraging companies from seeking higher rates for the Gulf Coast or other specific areas of Mississippi. Chaney said he will require insurance companies initially file requests for rate increases …

Mississippi Stabilizes Wind Pool Insurance Premiums with $19 Million

Property owners insured in the Mississippi wind pool may soon find some relief from rising premium costs with the transfer of $19 million from the Mississippi Insurance Department to the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, the official name for the wind …

Ratings: Catholic Knights, Direct General, Progressive Motor, Prime, Pathfinder, National Contractors, Seven Seas

A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘B’ (Fair) from ‘B+’ (Good) and issuer credit rating to “bb+” from “bbb-” of Catholic Knights of Milwaukee, Wisc. And has placed the ratings under review with negative implications. “These …

Store Shooting Case Tests Mississippi Cap on Civil Damages

Before Mississippi lawmakers passed tort reform that limited damages in civil litigation, Ronnie Lee Lymas’ lawsuit against the store where he was shot wouldn’t have gotten much attention. That’s anything but true now: The case is being characterized as a …

2009 P/C Insurance Mergers, Acquisitions Large and Small

Large insurers AIG, Farmers and The Hartford made moves in 2009, as did large brokers Marsh, Aon, Willis, Gallagher, Brown & Brown, Hub and Wells Fargo. So, too, did, many regional insurers and Main Street agencies. Here are the headlines …

State Farm Rate Hike Not Easy But Necessary, Says Mississippi’s Chaney

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he was not happy about granting a 19.5 percent homeowners rate increase to State Farm, but he had little choice. “Would you want me to have 26,000 policies canceled on the Gulf Coast with …