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Independent insurance agents and brokers are concerned about the future of contingent commissions, according to a recent survey. Channel Harvest Research and sponsored by Insurance Journal sponsored a survey conducted by Channel Harvest Research The survey asked agents to rank five issues within the American Agency System in importance on a scale of 1 to 5. Most of the property and casualty agents made their priorities known: –Loss of contingent commission (4.6 out of 5)–Real-time technology (4.4)–Agency branding (4.0)–Internet sales (3.4)–Reduced coverage in catastrophe-prone areas (3.3) Source: insurancejournal.com

Rejecting the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) call for a 16 percent increase in the benchmark for determining workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner accepted a more moderate 5 percent increase to reflect higher medical and claims adjustment costs to the system. <!–// –> “Last year, experts predicted that loss adjustment expenses would increase dramatically. They did not,” Poizner said. “This year, experts have predicted accelerating increases in medical costs. Given the accuracy of past forecasts, I will wait for clear and compelling data confirming such increases before significantly increasing the Workers’ Compensation Claims Cost Benchmark.” To… Read More »Workers’ Comp Rates in California

The survey, which was conducted online between July 10 and July 21, 2008, by Fidelity Investments, included responses from 1,502 employees working full or part time at employers with 2,000 or more employees. The survey was funded by the NBGH for its members’ exclusive use. Employees say they would like to improve their health status but need their employers to help them do it, a survey by the Washington-based National Business Group on Health has found. However, the demands of work, personal life and overall stress levels are keeping them from pursuing their health improvement goals, said employees responding to… Read More »Employer Should Help With Health Goals of Worker

More than 7,400 independent agents and brokersassessed the performance of over 250 property and casualty carriers in Deep CustomerConnections, Inc.’s (DCC) 6th annual Ease of Doing Business (EDB) survey. DCC isproud to present the top performers in the industry.West Bend Mutual Insurance Company of Wisconsin earned the #1 spot in this year’sindustry-wide Ease of Doing Business Index® ratings. The EDB Index® gauges a carrier’s performance against what independent agents rate as most important when choosing a carrier to write business with. In addition to capturing the overall top spot, West Bend earned a “Top Ten” status in each of the… Read More »Deep Customer Connections, Inc. Announces the 2008 Top Ten Ease of Doing

A top U.S. lawmaker has asked the chief executive of American International Group for details on how the company has used its $123 billion of taxpayer rescue funding so far. Read More

Stamping Fee The services performed by the SLA are funded by a stamping fee assessed for each declaration page, covernote, or other documents bearing premium submitted to the SLA. The fee is based on a percentage of the premium charged. The stamping fee percentage is determined by the Stamping Office and Contact Committee, and approved by the Executive Committee. The stamping fee rate has varied from 1/10 of 1% (or .1%) to 5/10 of 1% (or .5%) over the last 20 years. See below for a schedule of stamping fee rates. Payment of Fee Each month, all surplus line brokers… Read More »Surplus Lines Association of California Increases Stamping Fee

A researcher at the University of Iowa has found that tort reform laws do lower insurance premiums and save consumers money, though it depends on where the consumer lives. Ty Leverty, assistant professor of finance in the Tippie College of Business, recently studied how insurance companies respond to tort reform laws passed by state legislatures. The laws are designed to limit financial awards that can be paid to plaintiffs in liability lawsuits, which saves the insurance companies money and should keep the cost of premiums under control for consumers. But consumer advocates say that insurance companies don’t pass along the… Read More »Tort Reform Lowers Premiums

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is reminding residents who have been evacuated from fire zones in Southern California that they may be eligible for reimbursement for additional living expenses due to mandatory evacuations. Commissioner Poizner also encouraged all Californians to make sure their insurance policies are updated and to conduct a home inventory.Department is offering a free home inventory guide at www.insurance.ca.gov, or by calling the CDI Consumer Hotline at 800-927-HELP.

Colorado employers may be paying lower premiums for workers compensation insurance in 2009, due to the announcement that a significant component of workers’ compensation premiums, known as loss costs, will drop 16 percent, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced.Loss costs are the average cost of lost wages and medical payments of workers injured during the course of their employment.