National Underwriter P&C December-03, 2007
Cover Story
Top-10 P-C Insurance Stories Of 2007 Focus On Soft Market, Poor Reputation
NU Editor's personal picks include TRIA passage, 'Sicko,' Real
Opinion
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20-20 Hindsight
Back on Jan. 1, I peered into my crystal ball for the likely Top-10 Property-Casualty Insurance Stories of 2007. Before you check out my actual Top-10 (see this week's cover story), let's see how my
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Lawmakers Must Be Careful In Managing Hurricane Risks
In 1992, the financial fallout from Hurricane Andrew made it clear to insurers and regulators that natural disasters have a significant impact on the industry's ability to diversify and contain
News
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Ara's Blog: Study Finds User Interface is Critical
A study on application user interfaces has found that, "Enterprise software vendors should make user interface design a higher priority if they want customers to consider purchasing a replacement or
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Florida Gears Up To Sue Property Insurers
Dexter Douglass, one of the attorneys the governor revealed last week had been contacted, said the case would be handled in the same way as the massive government lawsuit against the tobacco
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Wendy Baker Departs As Lloyd's America President
The announcement from Sue Langley, head of Market Operations and North America at Lloyd's, capped a busy week at the market, which also released a new three-year plan emphasizing underwriting
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Industry Profits Rise, But Price Competition Hurts Long-Term Growth
Property-casualty profits remained solid through the first three quarters of 2007, but intensifying price competition--resulting in zero net premium growth thus far--is threatening to undermine the
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ISO Files Forms To Comply With New Terrorism Backstop
The Jersey City-based ISO began to submit form and rule filings on Dec. 19 that revise its terrorism programs in response to the measure approved by Congress to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance
Market Report
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#1: Prices Plummet, With No Letup In Sight
If you were an insurance buyer in 2007, you enjoyed the benefits of a rapidly softening market for all but catastrophe-prone exposures, with no turnaround in sight, given the high profits and deep
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#10: California Wildfires Burn Insurers' Reputation
The last thing insurers expected when wildfires raged in Southern California was to see their already battered reputations as masters of disasters going up in flames. Yet that is exactly what
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#2: Critics Fry Insurers Over Katrina Claims
Insurers were certainly on the hot seat in 2007, mainly because of the lingering fallout over disputed Hurricane Katrina wind-versus-water claims. There were two particularly low moments that jump to
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#3: TRIA Extension Bill Goes To The Wire
Whether or not Washington saw fit to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act beyond its scheduled Dec. 31, 2007 expiration, the fate of the federal reinsurance program had to be considered one of the
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#4: Floridians On The Hook For Billions!
With the property-catastrophe market drying up following back-to-back years of record hurricane losses in 2004 and 2005, Florida lawmakers took a huge leap into the abyss by passing a law to provide
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#5: New York Has A New Sheriff In Town!
When Eliot Spitzer was elected governor of New York, one couldn't blame insurance carriers and brokers for fearing the worst from their old nemesis--who, as a crusading attorney general, had exposed
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#6: Bermuda Sitting Pretty, But For How Long?
Bermuda certainly deserves a spot in this year's top-10 story list, no matter if you're looking back at the fact that players living large on that island paradise again enjoyed record earnings, or
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#7: 'Sicko' Exposes Ills In Health Care System
Michael Moore is the man insurers love to hate. His controversial documentary, "Sicko," exposed huge holes in the health care system--not only for those 50 million or so (and climbing) who lack any
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#8: Real-Time Campaign: It's Now Or Never!
For at least the past 25 years, the Holy Grail for many in a property-casualty insurance industry desperate for greater operating efficiencies through standardization and technology has been
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#9: IRS Attack Blindsides Captive Backers
The captive insurance community was taken off guard by a proposed federal tax regulation that would put captives in the same boat as pure self-insureds, but the alternative risk-transfer sector
E&S Extra
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Insurers, Brokers, Buyers Cheer TRIA Extension
Insurers, agents and risk managers were relieved to hear that terrorism coverage won't be impossible to find or afford for the next seven years, thanks to the vote in Congress last week to extend the
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President Bush Signs
President George W. Bush signed a seven-year extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, adding domestic terrorist events to the program, but leaving out coverage for attacks using weapons of mass
