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In a new service A.M. Best is providing consumers with a way to learn which companies scored highest in consumer satisfaction among new car insurance buyers. All an interested party has to do is visit a new multi-media feature available at A.M. Best Co.’s Consumer Insurance Center at www.ambest.com/consumer. Best said this latest report at its “ongoing consumer-orientated Web center explores a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey of new car insurance buyers. Consumers may be surprised to hear that among 18 large car insurers, regional company, Erie Insurance had the happiest customers.” Upcoming features will discuss what’s new in… Read More »A.M.Best Makes Results of Car-Insurance Buyer Survey Available

The trend of decreasing insurance rates continues, according to a recent survey by MarketScout, which reported that rates were down 11% in July.The Dallas-based insurance exchange, which has more than 35,000 members, reported that nearly every coverage category associated with commercial insurance registered moderate rate decreases in July, compared with rates in July 2007.For the month of July, commercial property rates dropped 14%, general liability rates dropped 11%, and workers compensation dropped 9%, according to MarketScout.“The subprime crisis continues to create concerns despite massive equity write-downs by major insurers,” Richard Kerr, chairman and chief executive officer of MarketScout, said in… Read More »Rate Decreases Continued

The first read on insurance companies’ second-quarter earnings shows they’re taking hits from the same kinds of mortgage-backed investments as other financial firms, but so far, most companies haven’t had the severe losses that banks and investment firms have seen. The Travelers Cos., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and MetLife Inc. have all reported profit declines and Genworth Financial Inc. posted a quarterly loss driven by credit-related investments. This week, investors will get more clues about the damage insurers have suffered when American International Group Inc., Ambac Financial Group Inc. and Marsh & McLennan Cos. issue their reports.AIG will be… Read More »Big Q2 Mortgage Losses Escaped So Far

A New York contractor and the sub-contractor he hired are both facing charges of workers’ compensation fraud following their arrests by New York State Police. Police arrested Phillip Gish, 70, of East Aurora, N.Y. on July 22, charging him with insurance fraud for allegedly concealing the hiring of Michael Hanson, who was collecting workers’ compensation benefits from the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF).Investigators said Gish, owner of Gish Construction, hired Hanson as a home remodeler, but allegedly concealed his employment as a sub-contractor during a NYSIF audit.NYSIF’s Division of Confidential Investigations found that Hanson collected workers’ compensation benefits for… Read More »Workers’ Comp Fraud – New York Contractors Face Charges

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In San Francisco, all employers are required to provide paid sick leave. But elsewhere in the country, your profession determines how likely you are to receive paid time off for illness.ProfessionPercent of workers with paid sick days Food prep/service 15%Construction 18Protective services 22Personal care & service 31Production 41Building service & maintenance 53Arts, entertainment, sports 62Education 62Office & administrative support 68Architecture/engineering 81Management 83Legal 84 As many as 5.4 million working Californians don’t get any paid sick days – and they tend to be both sicker and poorer than employees who do receive sick leave, according to a report released Wednesday. The… Read More »Who gets paid sick leave?

Moderate California Quake a Drill for ‘Big One’. Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the “Big One” that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their emergency preparations. The quake, which rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday, caused only limited damage and minor injuries, and served as a reminder of the seismic danger below sprawling freeways and subdivisions. Homes and businesses reported widespread but minor damage, such as fallen ceiling tiles, cracked walls and windows, and warped door frames. The… Read More »EarthQuake: Be Prepared

An Albany, New York woman who removed all her belongings from her home the day before it mysteriously caught fire has pleaded guilty to insurance fraud.Kim M. Laporte, 39, later filed a $38,000 claim under her renter’s insurance policy.Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. Insurance investigators also found that Laporte had falsified an earlier claim for damages stemming from a garage collapse on the same property.“The Insurance Department is committed to prosecuting cases of insurance fraud and we will continue to do so to protect the citizens of New York and discourage those who would commit fraud… Read More »Insurance Fraud Scheme

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has proposed a far-reaching new plan – one that includes mandatory flood insurance, IRA-like catastrophe accounts, subsidized premiums for homeowners and a federal reinsurance program – that it says would better protect coastal homeowners and their insurers against major weather catastrophes.To help right that maket, The Hartford’s proposal would:– Mandate flood insurance for all coastal homeowners– Create a federal and state-level reinsurance programs to backstop losses by private insurers– Establish untaxed savings accounts (“supplemental catastrophic security accounts”) to pay for property insurance– Create state subsidies for some coastal homeowners read more

Workers compensation claim frequency continued to decline during 2007, although at a slower rate than during the previous two years, NCCI Holdings Inc. reports.While a 2.5% decrease in 2007 claim frequency continues a trend that started during the 1990s, it is “more modest” than the 7.0% drops during each of the previous two years and was the smallest decrease in eight years, the NCCI said.And while claim frequency continues to decline, indemnity costs and medical severity continue to rise, Boca Raton-based NCCI noted in its latest review.Average indemnity costs per claim rose 4.0% in 2007, up slightly from the average… Read More »Workers Comp claim frequency falls according to NCCI