Live Insurance News

Senate Health Committee passes SB 1431 with the praise of Insurance Commissioner Jones

May 1, 2012April 30, 2013

California life Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has announced the passage of a bill for the regulation of stop-loss coverage to small businesses. Jones has given his applause for this change to the California insurance industry, as the state Senate Health Committee passed SB 1431, which places a minimum number of aggregate and individual attachment points and which bans the exclusion of workers on the grounds of health status during the sale of stop-loss coverage for self-insured employers of 2-50 people. The bill passed by a 5 to 3 vote. It was authored…

Indian shipping firms to transport oil despite sanctions

April 25, 2012May 26, 2012 Marc

EU sanctions putting strain on shipping industry As Europe and the U.S. begin to tighten sanctions against Iran, concerns regarding the impact these sanctions will have on the shipping industry have grown. Over the past year, sanctions have caused ripples in the industry because they threatened to prevent shipping firms that transport Iranian oil from obtaining insurance coverage. Pushed forward by the European Union, these sanctions banned maritime insurers from covering ships that carried Iranian oil. Some insurers have been granted waivers allowing them to cover these vessels, but coverage…

The lessons business should learn from 2011 catastrophic insurance news

April 21, 2012April 21, 2012 Marc

Business insurance report highlights the importance of business interruption coverage Following the tremendous amount of insurance news involving catastrophic events around the world last year, it is recommended that businesses take this opportunity to learn from the past and make the right coverage decisions to reduce their risk of financial harm in the future. Marsh has published a report that has shown that the scale of the 2011 catastrophes was greater than what the previous predictions from loss modeling had provided, and has now challenged the standard belief systems regarding…

Travelers makes insurance news by leaving Wall Street estimates in the dust

April 20, 2012 Julie Campbell

The latest insurance news from Travelers shows that it saw earnings far beyond expert predictions. Travelers Cos Inc., a property insurer, left estimates from Wall Street analysts in the dust in terms of predictions regarding its first quarter earnings, and made insurance news when it increased its dividend by 12 percent as the losses from natural disasters fell and as rates continue to rise following several weak years. Shares of the insurer increased to $62.35, an increase of 4.8 percent, reaching their highest level since May of last year. Analysts…

CNA unveils new insurance product for kidnap, ransom, and extortion

April 14, 2012May 28, 2012 Marc

Continental National American Group (CNA) has announced that it is now selling an insurance product for kidnap, ransom, and extortion. The insurer explained that this product is designed to reflect the company’s understanding that events relating to security have broadened and can occur anywhere around the globe. Therefore, this coverage takes a step beyond the traditional spectrum of security-related event coverage in order to include any situations of this nature that can be experienced by any size of company in virtually every industry. The Kidnap, Ransom, and Extortion insurance from…

Utah residents consider cyber liability insurance following massive Social Security numbers breach

April 10, 2012March 23, 2014 Julie Campbell

Cyber liability insurance, a new neccessity for business and personal According to the Department of Health of the Western United States, a Utah Department of Technology Services (DTS) server data breach may have compromised 25,096 Social Security numbers, causing many people to wonder whether they might be wise to consider cyber liability insurance. It is believed that the breach is the work of illegal hackers based in Eastern Europe. The outcome of the attack was the retrieval of the personal information of approximately 181,604 CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Plan) and…

Towers Watson research indicates that inquiries into D&O insurance coverage are growing

March 9, 2012March 9, 2012 Marc

A Towers Watson survey has shown that a growing number of corporate officers and directors are looking into the coverage that their companies have or need for protection against possible lawsuits, which indicates that there is an increasing concern over the broad range of risks to which they are exposed. The annual survey, performed by Towers Watson, a worldwide professional services company, was called the “2011 Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability Survey”. It also determined that many American public, private, and nonprofit businesses and organizations have increased their D&O liability…