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…
Read MoreSamsung 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…
Read MorePennsylvania insurance regulators move to liquidate First Sealord Surety Insurance
The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has announced that it will be liquidating First Sealord Surety Insurance. The state’s Commonwealth Court yesterday approved a petition from the department that was filed last year regarding liquidation of the insurer. Insurance Commissioner Michael Consedine cites the insurer’s inability to pay off its debt and meet the needs of its policyholders as the reason for the liquidation. The insurer saw steep drops in its surplus capital in recent years, sealing its fate in an unforgiving regulatory environment. The approval of the petition allows the Department…
Read MoreFederal Insurance Office anticipated report on modernizing insurance regulations delayed
The Federal Insurance Office was supposed to submit its much anticipated report on the modernization of insurance regulation to Congress in January, but the agency has missed that deadline. The U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees the Federal Insurance Office, claims that there must be more work done on the report before it can be released. This delay could mean that the report will not be released for week or months; news that insurers were not happy to hear. The report is meant to show Congress how the country’s insurance regulations…
Read MoreWillis Group claims captive insurance companies could be key to future of insurance industry resiliency
The global insurance industry is undergoing extreme change. The change is brought on by the rapidly evolving risks that the industry is facing. As risk changes, insurers are feeling pressure to become more adaptive and resilient against emerging threats. The Willis Groups, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, believes that captive insurance companies could be the key to weathering the storms of the future. Joe Plumeri, CEO of the Willis Group, attending this year’s World Captive Forum in Miami, Florida, highlighted the usefulness of captives to insurers around the…
Read MoreNew risk management tool could fill in the gaps left by conventional catastrophe models
Karen Clark & Company, a catastrophe management firm serving the insurance industry, has developed a new tool that could help insurers manage their risks in a changing world of natural disasters. The past two years have been the most catastrophic years in history in terms of insurance. Natural disasters from both 2010 and 2011 have cost the industry billions and have left it staggered. Insurers are hoping that 2012 will not be as disastrous as its predecessors. If it is, however, they will have a new risk management tool at…
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