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Oct31
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A recent study from Conning Research and Consulting Inc. showed “$33 billion in statutory net operating gains in 2005, up from about $31 billion in 2004” in the U.S. life insurance industry according to nationalunderwriter.com.
It looks as if the life industry is gaining momentum as a whole as we enter the last part of the decade. Some of the key findings from the report include:
- Recent gains have enabled the industry to boost overall capital substantially, with surplus rising to almost $281 billion in 2005, up 3.5% from the 2004 figure.
- Conning predicts statutory net gains will rise to $33 billion this year, $35 billion in 2007 and $38 billion in 2008.
 The firm expects operating margins for the industry to fall to about 6% in 2006, from 6.2% in 2005, then rise to 6.1% in 2007 and 6.3% in 2008.
- Net premiums for all lines could rise 4.7% this year, to $553 million, from $528 million last year, Conning estimates.
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Oct30
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According to nationalunderwriter.com the New York attorney general’s office announced that they “have persuaded Oxford Health Plans, a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., to enroll members’ adopted children in the members’ health plans as soon as the children...
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Oct26
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A blog post on the California Estate Planning Practice Blog talks about umbrella insurance policies in light of the recent Jeffrey K. Skilling’s sentencing. Apparently umbrella policies paid for the legal defense of O.J. Simpson and President Clinton.Umbrella liability insurance...
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I came across a blog post on a Providence Rhode Island personal injury blog about protocol for dog bite victims. While this potentially horrific incident doesn’t befall most people it won’t hurt to know some steps to take if you...
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Have you been offered Guaranteed Auto Protection (GAP) insurance from a dealer once you have purchased and financed a car through that dealer? Dealers are making a lot of money off of this type of coverage that you could easily...
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If you have taken the time to purchase life insurance or also own an IRA, 401(k) or other financial product naming the correct beneficiary will prove critical to you and your families future. I came across an informative article on...
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Allstate Corp. (ALL) has been hit with a ruling from federal Judge E. Richard Webber about possible age discrimination against agents 40 and older according to nationalunderwriter.com. Judge Webber has “granted a trial to determine if its actions fall under...
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Oct25
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The Buffalo Public School district has been ordered by an arbitrator “to reinstate four health insurance plans for its teachers and to rehire - with back pay and interest - as many as 66 teachers laid off last year in...
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The Washington Post did a full expose on the federal crop insurance program and exposed the tidy little racket the insurance companies are a part of. According to the online article “Last year, the insurance companies made $927 million in...
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Health and life insurance are the more well-known and generally understood types of insurance in the United States today. However, when it comes to long-term care insurance (LTC) many of us are a little confused considering how a relatively short...
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The insurancejournal.com reported the New York Court of Appeals has ruled 6-0 to make “Catholic Charities and other religious social service groups provide contraceptive coverage through their workplace-sponsored medical insurance programs even if they consider contraception a sin.” The decision...
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In a press release on the North Dakota Insurance Department website Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman announced approval of “an insurance premium refund plan for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.” The reason for the refund stems from the high...
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Oct24
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The earthquake that shook Hawaii over a week ago is exposing some serious problems for property owners. Most property owners in Hawaii have not purchased earthquake insurance and those that suffered damage in the recent quake might get little to...
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Hurricane Katrina did more than just flood New Orleans and many other cities along the Gulf coast it also destroyed and beached hundreds of shrimp boats. According to insurancejournal.com the last of the shrimp boats along the Alabama Gulf Coast...
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A new $8 million grant program, the New York Main Street Flood Relief Program, for property owners in downtown hit by summer flooding has been launched in New York through a partnership between The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) and the...
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I have written previously about identity theft and the rampant scourge it has become in this nation. One of the least talked about types of identity thefts is medical identity theft whereby a person rings up medical expenses and services...
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An online article in the Sun-Sentinel by Patty Pensa talks about the ever-expanding network of “safety-net health providers” that are popping up in response to the many low-wage uninsured citizens. The Palm Beach County Community Health Alliance has started “to...
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Oct23
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Have you or someone you know ever gone to another country for medical care because of the cost difference? According to an article on themonitor.com this approach to medical care is nothing new and is “affecting dental professionals, cardiologists and...
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I’m sure most of us have an idea of a dream job or business we would like to have that might or might not be in the insurance industry. According to Sam Friedman of A View From The Press Box...
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The International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University released a new report on their website entitled “10 Most Vulnerable U.S. Mainland Areas to Hurricanes.” I’m sure the number one area will come as no surprise, New Orleans, as the...
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Living in California one knows the perils facing homeowners that range from wildfires to earthquakes. However, when it comes to the most expensive states for homeowners’ insurance policies California doesn’t even crack the top ten according to an article on...
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Allstate Corporation (ALL) forgot to read up on their Maryland state law and paid the price with a $100,000 fine according to an article in nationalunderwriter.com. In addition to the fine Allstate has been “ordered to refund more than $17.5...
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Oct18
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MetLife Inc. has brokered a deal to sell two large residential real estate developments that MetLife built in the late 1940’s according to nationalunderwriter.com. Tishman Speyer Properties Inc. and Black Rock Inc. “have formed a joint venture that has agreed...
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Oct17
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Deer-vehicle collisions are a fact of life in Ohio that lead to thousands of injuries a year and even a handful of deaths. Thankfully for Ohio residents new figures from the Ohio Insurance Institute deer-vehicle collisions decreased in 2005 according...
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Oct16
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During a recent forum put on by the National Academy of Social Insurance, a nonprofit think tank, a researcher said “The number of job injuries that go unreported in the nation may exceed 50 percent” according to nationalunderwriter.com. Stating the...
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Oct15
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Divorce insurance? Unfortunately divorce insurance doesn’t exist as far as I am aware of but the idea is an interesting one. Take Sara Evans as an example. Her situation is especially interesting considering she was in the middle of Dancing...
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Adding to the already tragic accident with the plane Cory Lidle was piloting is that his family may not receive insurance benefits from the Major League Baseball (MLB) Players Association.According to a blurb on the Star-Telegram website from the Associated...
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I am more than aware that purchasing life insurance can be confusing and lead to severe headaches especially if you are not sure how to go about the process. With your welfare in mind I am going to try and...
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Oct14
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I stumbled upon a very interesting blog post on the Embrace Pet Insurance Blog about Homeowners Insurance And Dogs. Apparently insurance companies are creating a list of unacceptable dogs that pose too much of a liability for the insurance companies...
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In Chelmsford, Massachusetts disgruntled retired town workers are making a stink about a proposed action to reduce the town’s health insurance costs by switching eligible retirees to Medicare according to reporting on lowellsun.com. Some of the retirees feel “singled out...
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The Insurance Journal magazine’s Oct. 9, 2006 edition revealed the results of an exclusive E&O online survey of almost 460 agency principals from 42 states. According to the survey “Over the past three years, premiums for insurance agency E&O policies...
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Claims magazine released its 16th annual survey of claim managers and adjusters’ in the most recent issue according to nationalunderwriter.com. Some of the complaints included extended work hours and sub par technology.The survey touched upon numerous areas including “an analysis...
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Are you reluctant to file a workers compensation insurance claim? According to Edward Welch, director of the Workers Compensation Center at Michigan State, in an article in nationalunderwriter.com “Injured workers face a difficult landscape in seeking compensation and should be...
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Oct13
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A recent study, Exit Strategies of Women and Men Business Owners, by the Center for Women’s Business Research found “Women owners of larger businesses are just as likely as their men counterparts to have a long-term strategy for selling, handing...
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The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) Group Inc. has decided to change the way it does business according to an article on nationalunderwriter.com. MIB is behind the scenes when a person applies for life, health or disability insurance. Insurers use MIB...
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Another insurer is cutting jobs for the sake of streamlining their operations. Aetna Inc. (AET) announced it will be cutting 650 jobs in order to “trim expenses and reduce the number of management layers coming between it and its customers”...
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If you are a New Yorker you might already be familiar with the New York Fire Patrol. Considering I have never lived in New York I was not aware of the existence of an insurer funded fire patrol in New...
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Homeowners in Florida continue to face high property insurance rates with little relief in site. Fortunately the Florida Insurance Commissioner has stepped in to help homeowners that were insured by the insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens),...
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Oct12
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I came across a blog post on InsureBlog about the dangers of not understanding your long-term care insurance policy benefits and limitations. The following story is an all too common one about consumers not indulging in some due diligence before...
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New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer is slaying giants again with the recent settlement between ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company and his attorney general office. The agreement “will set new national standards for transparency in the marketing of retirement...
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Fulbright & Jaworski released the results of the Third Annual Litigation Trends Survey in a press release on their website fulbright.com. Topping the list by a huge margin for most pending litigations was the insurance industry. I can’t think of...
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The State Labor Commissioner of Georgia, Michael Thurmand, announced a major tax cut beginning in January 2007 in a press release on the Georgia Department of Labor website. Thurmand will implement a $100 million unemployment insurance tax cut that he...
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When it comes to workers compensation insurance benefits paid to injured workers California is at the head of the class with 22.3 percent of all benefits paid in 2004 according to nationalunderwriter.com. The National Academy of Social Insurance released these...
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Oct11
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There was a touching and important blog post on The Insurance Word Blog from a young woman that lost her father last year on Valentines Day. Laura Diss, 20 writes the post in support of Life Insurance Awareness Month, which...
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The American Insurance Association released a report on the impact of the property-casualty insurance industry on the U.S. economy according to nationalunderwriter.com. The report reveals the p-c industry employs over 580,000 people and pays $34 billion in wages and salaries. ...
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I just read a interesting article in nationalunderwriter.com about Takaful insurance or insurance based on Islamic principles. I did not know this type of insurance even existed. The article is about an analysis done by Moody’s Investors Service that comments...
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A disability reinsurance, consulting, and research firm, JHA, published the results of the 2006 JHA U.S. Group Disability Mid-Year Market Survey in a press release on their website. The survey from JHA, a subsidiary of General Re Life Corporation (a...
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A post from last week on the blog RiskProf poses the question, “Does the insurance industry have a responsibility to help reduce the effects of global warming?” The post also asks, “Should people who drive hybrids get an insurance price...
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Oct10
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An article in orlandosentinel.com by Humberto Cruz touches upon a little known service provided by some homeowners insurance companies. Contact your insurer to see if they offer a free inspection service for your house in order to keep you premiums...
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I’m sure you have read articles in personal finance magazines that focus on a specific families financial situation and then ask financial advisors and planners how that family should allocate their money, what investments, insurance etc. I found a similar...
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I know insurance companies do not cover breast enhancement surgery because it is elective cosmetic surgery. I didn’t know that most insurers are reluctant to cover breast reduction surgery and make the process sufficiently difficult and tedious. According to a...
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Michigan is the only state with a law, The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, that bans discrimination on the basis of weight. According to detnews.com a former employee of Continental Rentals Inc. Steve Pasanski was fired because he was obese. Pasanski...
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A recent post, “A Question Of Ethics”, on the blog A View From The Press Box by Sam Friedman discusses what an agent or broker should do when dealing with a “questionable” claim.Friedman writes: An insured calls to report a...
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Oct 9
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I think all of us modern consumers have been faced with the decision of whether or not to purchase an extended warranty for various products. In the same vein as insurance, extended warranties typically provide coverage for your product up...
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A Hendersonville Tennessee couple is still fighting with State Farm Insurance six months after a tornado “split rafters, pullestatefad windows away from walls, made lights fall from ceilings, destroyed sheds and ripped the liner in their pool because of flying...
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A new report from the Illinois state Department of Healthcare and Family Services reveals the cost burden for the medical care of uninsured low-wage workers. According to cbs2chicago.com the cost to Illinois for the “health care of low-wage workers was...
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When I first saw the title for this nationalunderwriter.com article I was under the assumption workplace violence was referring to violence between employees, I’m sure we have all wanted to tackle our boss or put more than a few people...
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An article in nationalunderwriter.com reports that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) will start “offering $4 prescriptions for generic drugs throughout Florida starting Friday.”The program was tested in Tampa Bay, Fla. With 36,000 $4 prescriptions filled since the program began on Sept....
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Oct 8
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If you are nervous about health care costs you are not alone according to a study done by Aflac Inc. (AFL) Nationalunderwriter.com reports that researchers from Aflac Inc. “have published an assessment of that fear in a summary of results...
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An article on seniorjournal.com reports that, “residents in many states will be able to purchase special long-term care insurance policies that allow them to qualify for Medicaid even if their assets exceed the prescribed limits.” This new law stems from...
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State Farm has lost a case in the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division First Department in Manhattan. The case, Deborah Lee vs. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. involved “State Farm denying a claim stemming from the collapse...
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Although not always helpful ideas on how to improve health care are welcome. From the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), a coalition of 250 large employers, comes three recommendations in a press release on their website. These recommendations are...
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While I don’t think affluent women will suffer much if they are not sure how to locate family financial documents when their parents die they still should at least have a clue. A study was done on 987 U.S. residents...
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Oct 7
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Have you ever been forced to sit near a smoker or smelled smoke drifting around you? One of my biggest pet peeves is inhaling smoke from a smoker. According to an article on nationalunderwriter.com a researcher at the American Academy...
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The Million Dollar Round Table Foundation, an affiliate of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), “has raised a total of $575,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi” according to nationalunderwriter.com.The foundation was able to gather...
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A new study from Buck Consultants, an Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) company and a leading human resource and benefits consulting firm, reveals a slowing down of premium increases for employer-provided health care. Buck Consultants released these findings in a press...
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Scholarships of $5,000 were awarded to four college students that are pursuing a career in risk management and insurance as announced in a press release on the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) website. The Foundation for Agency Management...
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This week was a busy one in the insurance fraud and scam business. If you know of any insurance related scams from this week or any other week please leave a comment. The more we are aware of potential scams...
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Oct 6
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Tom Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer of Florida, announced this past week ina press release “new partnerships between 12 non-profit organizations and the My Safe Florida Home program” that will benefit “4,000 low-income homeowners be safer from hurricanes.” These partnerships will...
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