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American International Group Inc. sees China becoming a much larger part of its general insurance business within the next five years, Nicholas Walsh, executive vice-president of the foreign general insurance division, said on Wednesday. Mr. Walsh, a 35-year veteran of the giant insurance company, said he expects a rapid ramp-up of AIG’s business in the world’s most populous country once some key regulatory approvals are in hand, in the next year or so. “Just by following the Chinese economy, I think there is enormous opportunity for anyone who has products to sell,” said Mr. Walsh, speaking to investors at an… Read More »AIG Sees China General Insurance Business Growing

San Francisco regulators have provided further guidance on how to comply with a controversial ordinance that imposes a health care spending requirement on employers. The latest guidance, which was issued in response to questions from employers, clarifies how much employees must earn in order for them to qualify as exempt employees, for whom employers do not have to make the required contributions. Under the law, which was passed in 2006, employers with at least 100 employees must make in 2008 a health care contribution of $1.76 per hour per covered employee, while employers with between 20 and 99 employees must… Read More »S.F. Clarifies Health Care Spending Rules

A commercial liability insurer must defend any claim of physical property damage that occurs during the policy term regardless of when the damage is actually discovered, the Texas Supreme Court ruled last week in a construction defect case on appeal in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal appeals court asked the Texas Supreme Court to define when property damage occurs under Texas law for purposes of an occurrence-based commercial general liability insurance policy. The court also was asked to determine whether an insurer’s duty to defend is triggered when damage is alleged to have occurred during the… Read More »CGL Policy Covers Damage Found After Term

Where do Coloradans spend their insurance dollars? During 2007, Colorado citizens paid over 26 billion dollars in premium to approximately 1,306 companies, with 27 companies accounting for more than 50 percent of that total, according to the Colorado Insurance Industry Statistical Report (for 2007) released by the Colorado Division of Insurance. The report reflects some interesting statistics: Although carrying automobile insurance is mandatory, and purchasing health insurance is not, Coloradans spent more in 2007 on accident and health insurance premiums, which represent 33 percent of the total insurance premiums paid in Colorado. Behind accident and health totals, the second largest premium volume… Read More »Coloradans Spent $26 Billion in Insurance Premiums in 2007

North Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an employer does not have to include contributions to employee retirement accounts when calculating a workers compensation average weekly wage benefit award. The decision in Curry Shaw vs. U.S. Airways Inc. stems from a back injury Mr. Shaw suffered in 2000 while lifting luggage, court records state. The employer and its insurer, American Protection Insurance Co., admitted Mr. Shaw was entitled to workers comp benefits and calculated his average weekly wage to be $826. But that amount excluded the employer’s contributions to a pension plan and a savings plan. Including those contributions would have raised… Read More »Workers Comp. Calculations Need Not Include Benefits

Insurers have a duty to defend Nokia Inc. against several class action lawsuits filed nationwide alleging that radio frequency radiation from wireless phones caused biological injury, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The decision in Zurich American Insurance Co., Federal Insurance Co., and National Union Fire Insurance Co. vs. Nokia Inc. is troublesome for insurers in cases beyond those involving cell phones, said Randy Maniloff, a partner at White and Williams L.L.P. in Philadelphia. The ruling is a setback for insurers because the court said headsets demanded by plaintiffs suing the cell phone maker constitute damages. The insurers are therefore responsible for… Read More »Insurers Must Defend Cell Phone Maker: Court

A proposed federal rule that would grant immunity from product liability lawsuits to drug and medical device makers that fail to warn about their products’ dangerous side effects on certain consumers has drawn objections from a trial lawyers group. The Washington-based American Assn. for Justice yesterday filed an objection with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its wording of a preamble to a proposed agency rule on warning-label requirements. The preamble would pre-empt state product liability lawsuits by women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, even if a warning label fails to disclose the dangerous side-effects for those women if… Read More »Trial Lawyers Protest Warning-Label Rule

Twelve people have now died out of 26 confirmed cases of food poisoning linked to deli meats produced at a plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Canadian health officials said Monday. There are another 29 suspected cases of listeriosis, officials told reporters, and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the government expected more cases in coming days. Maple Leaf Foods, one of Canada’s biggest meat processors, had said it hoped to reopen the Toronto plant associated with the outbreak on Tuesday, but health officials said they will test and hold all meat produced there until they are satisfied it is… Read More »12 Dead in Canada Food Poisoning Outbreak

Surplus Lines Results Remain Strong, Despite Heightened Competition  Surplus lines insurers continued to outperform the property/casualty industry in underwriting and operating performance in 2007, despite the softening market and more aggressive competition. Heightened competition along with the turbulent market, however, caused a slight deterioration in underwriting profitability that led to a decline in the industry’s net income. The impact of the softening market caused an 8.7 percent drop in net premiums written in 2007 for professional surplus lines insurers. Absent a catastrophe that curtails the incursion of standard market insurers and the new offshore market, the surplus lines industry’s market… Read More »Strong Results for Surplus Lines

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has signed an ordinance, believed to be the first of its kind for a municipality, that will require employers to offer employees at least one of three commuter benefit options. Under the ordinance, which is intended to help reduce San Francisco’s 2012 greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% from 1990 levels, employers will have a choice of three transit options to offer to employees: Set up a program under which employees can make pretax contributions to the federal legal limit of $115 a month to pay for mass transit expenses. That option is expected… Read More »Mayor Signs San Francisco Commuter Mandate