Fitch Ratings has just announced the results of the analysis of their data for revenue and earnings increases for American insurance brokers in 2012, and that they have shown that their figures will likely equal or top those that were reported from January through September 2011. However, they also indicated that the basic nature of competition of the marketplace for property & casualty insurance, and the lukewarm recovery of the global economy will continue to provide a struggle for more significant growth and operating performance. Top-line increases may be able…
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Increase expected for commercial insurance rates
Though consumers have been seeing steady increases in rates for casualty, property, home, and auto insurance, companies have not seen any notable raises in their own insurance costs. Yet. The sensitivity of businesses to increases for insurance rates runs much deeper, and some new competition has brought some of the business for commercial insurance to Canada. Those two factors have allowed the price of those plans and policies to remain relatively steady over the last few years. However, according to RSA Canada’s chief executive, Rowan Saunders, this trend will not…
Read MoreNICB announces Q3 increase in questionable claims by 7 percent
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has released its third quarter 2011 results from its referral reason analysis of questionable claims (QC). This report investigates six different types of claim referral reason categories. They are: workers’ compensation, casualty, property, commercial, vehicle, and miscellaneous. It compared the results among the third quarters of every year from 2009 to 2011. Questionable claims are those that are made to member insurance companies of NICB which must be referred to the bureau for closer review and potential investigation as a result of certain red…
Read MoreInsurers spend billions on large weather events from 2011
Insurance companies are continuing to make payments to policyholders who suffered damage from large severe weather events earlier this year. Officials in Missouri have now named the tornado that ripped through Joplin’s center earlier in 2011 as the most expensive insurance event in the history of the state. It has been estimated that insurers have already spent approximately $1.13 billion on claims related to this occurrence, and that when all claims have been made and paid out, that number will have grown to almost $1.9 billion. According to John Huff…
Read MoreNAPCO study shows that the U.S. property insurance market is under stress
A new study from NAPCO LLC, a wholesale broker of commercial property insurance coverage, suggests that the national catastrophe property market is quickly moving away from the soft market conditions that have governed insurance prices for several years. While this is typically good news for some insurers, the study shows that a low demand for insurance coverage may restrict the pricing power of insurers. David Pagoumian, CEO of NAPCO, says that property insurers are under heavy pressure to make profits in the current climate and may face even greater pressures…
Read MoreNationwide Insurance reports losses in the third quarter due to natural disasters and poor investment results
Nationwide Insurance has reported its third quarter financial results for this year. The report details a turbulent third quarter, which has been wracked by severe storms and other natural disasters along with costly investment mishaps. Overall, the report shows that the insurer has lost billions in investments and millions in claims relating to storm damage. While Nationwide has an optimistic outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, there can be no doubt that recent events will encourage changes to be made to the company’s policies. Nationwide reports that its…
Read MoreHealth insurers eye climate change as a major concern for the future
Climate change is often a controversial issue, especially when the federal government is concerned. The insurance industry, however, is beginning to take the matter more seriously, as a new report shows that purely environmental factors may be causing the high costs seen in the health care system. The report comes from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an international environmental advocacy group based in New York. The report suggests that natural disasters that have struck the U.S. in the past decade may be having a significant impact on the health of…
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