National Underwriter P&C December-21, 2009
Cover Story
NU's Top-10 Insurance Stories Of 2009
As Editor Sam Friedman scanned all the 2009 editions of National Underwriter, picking candidates for my annual choices as the year's top insurance stories, one thought kept crossing his mind--it could've been worse.
Opinion
-
20-20 Hindsight On 2009
Way back on Jan. 5, I peered into my crystal ball for the likely Top-10 Property and Casualty Insurance Stories of 2009.
-
'Tis The Season To Get A Jump On 2010
During my 35 years in the insurance industry I have repeatedly heard independent agents say that this is typically a slow period in their business.
-
Industry Can Do More To Boost Its Reputation
Earlier this month the property and casualty insurance industry held its annual "love fest" in New York City, honoring its greatest cheerleader, Willis Group Chair and CEO Joseph J. Plumeri.
News
-
P&C Industry Finds Some Positive Points In House Financial Regulatory Reform Bill
House passage of financial services reform legislation is drawing a mixed response from the property and casualty insurance industry.
-
House Bill Includes E&S, Reinsurance Reform Measure
Reinsurance and excess and surplus lines purchases would be governed by the tax policies, licensing and other requirements of the buyer's home state...
-
Side-A Market Competition Heating Up
When Michael Turk, senior consultant for Towers Perrin, pulled together figures for his firm's annual directors and officers liability insurance survey back in 2007, something just didn't seem right.
-
The ABCs of D&O Insurance Clauses
There has been a proliferation of Side-A-only insurance forms to cover directors and officers in recent years, but few know the history of the underlying coverage of the full D&O policy--a policy now more than seven decades old.
-
State Farm Strikes Deal To Stay In Florida, But Will Cut 125,000 Policies, Raise Rates
Florida's year-long, acrimonious battle with State Farm over its threat to leave the state's homeowners insurance market ended last week with the company winning a 14.8 percent rate increase and permission to drop 125,000 policyholders.
-
Social Media Usage Found Lagging With Agents & Brokers
Although less than a quarter of independent agents and brokers responding to a recent survey are using social networking in their marketing plans, almost 20 percent are considering it.
-
Global Warming Talk Heats Up At NAIC
Insurers are increasingly offering products and promoting behavior that address the growing risk of climate change.
-
Insurers 'Going Green' With New Products, Coverage Features
The United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen is a reminder of the range of new insurance products and services available to people interested in "going green," according to the Insurance Information Institute.
-
Regulators Poised To Probe Credit Scoring
Regulators are poised to begin exploring how to gather data on insurer use of credit information to determine premiums, and might even expand their study to examine other rating factors in underwriting.
-
Former Claims Editor Phil Schreiner Passes Away
The insurance and journalism worlds lost one of their best last week when Philip "Phil" Schreiner, former editor of Claims magazine, passed away on Dec. 10 after a short battle with lung cancer at the age of 66.
Market Report
-
#1: Invisible Hard Mkt. Nowhere To Be Seen
Back in January, Brian Duperreault, president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, said the property and casualty industry was entering its "first 'invisible' hard market."
-
#2: P&C Firms Might Dodge Regulatory Bullet
Although the need for a federal bailout of the troubled American International Group created demands for strong federal regulation of insurance, to this point the industry appears to have preserved state oversight for property and casualty carriers.
-
#3: Health Bill Threatens P&C Agency Income
Despite deep divisions within its own ranks and united opposition from Republicans, Democrats appeared to be moving closer and closer at year's-end to landmark legislation reforming the nation's health care system.
-
#4: AIG Reinventing Itself On The Fly
The most prolific headline-generator by far this year was AIG, which struggled to regain its credibility and repay its debt to taxpayers after a massive federal bailout.
-
#5: Greenberg Returns To Center Stage
If the insurance industry had the equivalent of baseball's "Comeback Player Of The Year" award, the winner in 2009 would no doubt be Maurice Greenberg.
-
#6: Chinese Drywall Won't Be Next Asbestos
Amid the rebuilding efforts after the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, and in the midst of a housing boom, domestic drywall was in short supply. Imports from China filled the gap, and that decision has apparently created more problems than it solved.
-
#7: Madoff Might Be Scourge Of Insurers
If there was a listing of individually initiated financial disasters, the depredations of Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff might rank at the top, but opinions may differ on how much of an insurance catastrophe he has created.
-
#8: Calm Winds Leave NFIP Reform Adrift
The quietest storm season in more than a decade prompted Congress to keep postponing permanent resolution of one of the country's biggest insurance challenges--how best to reform the debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program.
-
#9: Contingency Fee Firestorm Reignites
The debate over whether the major brokerages should be allowed to earn contingency fees for delivering a certain volume or quality of business to carriers raged anew this year after Illinois eased restrictions over the practice.
-
#10: Swine Flu Bug Leaves Firms Exposed
Whether the H1N1 virus has run its course is unknown, but the fact is while many organizations have taken precautions, others are still unprepared for a pandemic event in what turned out to be the top risk management story of the year.
21 2-resize-380x300-resize-380x300-resize-380x30050-crop-215x144.jpg)
