California insurance regulators target GeoVera Insurance, imposing fines and requiring the company to make changes to underwriting

California insurance regulators have taken action against GeoVera Insurance Co., providers of residential earthquake insurance, this week. Regulators took notice of the company after having received a multitude of complaints from policyholders. According to these complaints, the insurer’s underwriting procedures are not as adequate as they are supposed to be. Regulators have investigated the matter and found that the insurer’s practices were indeed falling short of the state’s standards. GeoVera will be facing major changes as regulators look to make the company more compliant with state laws. The insurer will…

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Insurer santalucía trusts SAS® to help address Solvency II and integrate risk management

MADRID – Building on its successful use of SAS in actuarial activities, Spanish insurer santalucía will use SAS Risk Management for Insurance to help meet Solvency II, Pillar I requirements to manage risks and calculate metrics. SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, is a risk analytics solutions leader for the insurance industry. With 370 agencies, 9,000 employees and 7.5 million clients throughout Spain, santalucía chose SAS to undertake multidimensional risk analysis that includes both the standard model approach and the ability to develop integrated internal models in…

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Connecticut Becomes First U.S. Insurance Regulator to Join International Information Exchange Agreement

Membership Strengthens International Supervisory Cooperation, Promotes Enhanced Consumer Protection Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi and Peter Braumüller, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), today announced that Connecticut has joined an international supervisory cooperation and information exchange agreement, becoming the first U.S. regulator to gain membership. Connecticut becomes the 22nd signatory of the IAIS Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU), a framework that establishes a formal basis for global cooperation and information exchange among insurance supervisors. Commissioner Leonardi and Chairman Braumüller said Connecticut was…

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Paychex Inc. announces new services for business insurance payments

Leading human resource, payroll, and employee benefit solutions provider, Paychex Inc., has unveiled its new Business Insurance Payment Service, which is now being introduced for Paychex Insurance Agency commercial auto, business owner (BOP), and umbrella products that are sold through Guard Insurance Group, The Hartford, and Travelers Insurance companies. This new service will allow policyholders to choose to have their premiums paid for by Paychex using a monthly pay-as-you-go method that will help to decrease the premium deposit that is generally made up-front. The policyholders will also be able to…

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New York regulators to investigate insurer’s rate proposals for accuracy

As complaints regarding insurance rate hikes begin to weigh on regulators in New York, the state’s Financial Services Superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, has announced a new investigation into the matter. Regulators will be investigating the data submitted by insurance companies to justify their premium increases. The goal is to determine the accuracy of the data that these insurers use. These investigations will work alongside the regular rate review process and insurers will not know when they will be investigated. Lawsky notes that any errors made by insurers in their requests for…

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American insurance industry feeling the pinch of weak investments and catastrophes

A new report released by A.M. Best Co. Inc., has stated that the unprecedented number of natural disasters, poor returns from investments, and an economy that continued to struggle in 2011, has made it exceptionally difficult for the American property and casualty insurance industry’s commercial insurance and reinsurance sectors to grow and has caused notable hurt to their operating performances. It’s estimated by the rating agency, based in Oldwick, New Jersey, that last year’s underwriting losses from underwriters in the commercial property and casualty sector were approximately $15.2 billion. This…

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Samsung Life Insurance to invest in distressed assets from U.S. and Europe

As the economies of Europe and America continue to struggle, Asian insurers are seeing great opportunity for investments. Samsung Life Insurance, the largest insurance group in South Korea, has taken a keen interest in distressed assets that banks in Europe and the U.S. have put up for sale. The company had stepped back from investments when the recession of 2008 made a major impact on the global economy. Now, however, the opportunities seem to great to ignore. Samsung has more than $130 billion in assets and is willing to invest…

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