Industry Reps Engage With States Over Denial of Hurricane Deductibles

By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com

Insurance companies and trade groups continue to appeal to state regulators over the decision made by nine jurisdictions to prevent insurers from imposing hurricane deductibles for losses suffered from Superstorm Sandy.

Insured-Loss Estimates Climb in Sandy’s Aftermath

By Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com

While catastrophe modelers are still revising their insured-loss estimates for Superstorm Sandy, one thing looks certain: It will rank among the costliest U.S. hurricanes ever. 

NFIP May Need Additional Borrowing Authority to Pay Sandy Claims

By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will likely need to go to Congress for additional borrowing authority to pay claims from Superstorm Sandy, according to two government watchdog organizations.

‘Mind-Boggling’ Business Interruption Losses Mount, Post-Sandy

By Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com

Business Interruption and Contingent Business Interruption (CBI) claims loom as large issues following Superstorm Sandy, as thousands of businesses of all sizes deal with flooding, physical damage, power outages, government orders and supply-chain disruptions. 

State Farm Gets Airborne to Seek Sandy Claims; Total Now at 90,110

By Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com

State Farm says it has received more than 90,000 claims from Superstorm Sandy thus far, and the company took to the sky to get policyholders to report more. 

Sandy Could Cause Loss for Combine Re Cat Bond

By Phil Gusman, PropertyCasualty360.com

Moody’s Investors Service says Superstorm Sandy could, in a worst-case scenario, cause losses for the Combine Re catastrophe bond.

2012 Producer Survey

Our biennial Producer Survey, done in partnership with Flaspöhler Research Group, is a revealing picture of independent agents’ opinions of U.S. commercial carriers. The survey of 407 independent producers consisted of 35 questions about insurer utilization, performance, perceptions of insurers and related topics. A total of 74 insurers and 19...

Best Carriers, by key factors to producers

A core component of the survey is the rating of carriers on the factors most important to producers. Producers were asked to rate only carriers with which they were familiar and only on factors that were important to them—therefore providing highly accurate data.

Best Carriers By Line Of Business

Producers were asked to name the best carriers for the lines of business those producers write. The top carriers for each are shown below (in order) with the most-selected first.

Perceptual Map

In order to easily see how every carrier is perceived relative to other carriers on multiple factors, a Perceptual Map was prepared using some of the key evaluation and selection factors.

Key Step to Growth: Knowing Whether Customers Will Recommend You

By Rick Flaspohler

In 2003, researchers everywhere were stunned by an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “The One Number You Need to Grow” by Frederick Reichheld, a director emeritus of the consulting firm Bain & Co. What Reichheld discovered in a study of more than 4,000 consumers is that a company...

Surety Snapshot

By Michael P. Voelker

In the 1990s, Surety companies were making a lot of money thanks to a booming economy that kept contractors busy and solvent. Insurers flooded the Surety marketplace to take advantage, prices dropped, and excess capacity built up. Predictably, when the recession of the early 2000s hit, contractor defaults led to...

Mounting Losses

By Michael P. Voelker

Despite careful underwriting, economic pressure on contractors is leading to mounting losses. According to the Surety and Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), Surety losses have more than doubled this year compared to the previous year, increasing from $300 million in the second quarter of 2011 to $618 million in the...

TRIA Renewal: No Guarantee

By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com

Working with the new Congress on a renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is one of the primary lobbying goals of the P&C industry in 2013.

Sandy: The Debate Over ‘Hurricane Deductibles’ Begins

By Howard Altschule

Homeowners in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia won’t have to pay “hurricane deductibles” on insurance claims stemming from Superstorm Sandy since officials contend that the deductibles weren’t triggered because Sandy was not classified as a hurricane when it made...