West

• Wells Fargo, QBE Agree on $19.3M Force-Placed Settlement

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 17, 2013

  Wells Fargo and QBE have agreed to settle a lawsuit dealing with force-placed insurance policies in Florida involving 24,000 borrowers.

• 

  U.S. Questionable Claims Referrals Up, Again

  By Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 17, 2013

  U.S. questionable claims increased 16 percent in 2012, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

• NAMIC Opposes Mandatory Coverage for Gun Owners in D.C.

  By Anya Khalamayzer, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 17, 2013

  Under the proposal, the state’s current 2,000 registered gun owners and all future buyers would have to take out a $250,000 policy covering damage from any gun use, even willful and illegal acts.

• New Medicare Secondary Payer Amendment Proposed

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 16, 2013

  Congress is again being asked to amend the Medicare Secondary Payment Act, just six months after enacting reform legislation dealing with the issue, which took five years to pass congressional muster.

• 

  Top 10 States for Dog Bite Claims

  By Caterina Pontoriero, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 15, 2013

  It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and last year 3,670 State Farm customers were wearing Milk-Bone underwear. Click to see State Farm’s top 10 states for dog bite claims in 2012.

• 

  U.S. Captives’ Headway Mirrors the Free Enterprise System

  By Jim Swanke, Paul Van Zuiden  |  May 13, 2013

  U.S. captive domiciles are healthy and growing, but it wasn’t always this way.

• NFIP Rate Hike Delay Unlikely

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 13, 2013

  Members of the Senate are scrambling in advance of a May 14 vote to craft an amendment dealing with politically-sensitive hikes in federal flood insurance premiums that would retain the rate structure imposed by a previous law to extend the program.

• 

  Alliance Insurance Group: Best Agency Website Finalist

  By Melissa Hillebrand, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 13, 2013

  Alliance connects to visitors with videos, commerce pages and mobility

• Banks in Cyber Heist Face Uncertainty in Getting Money Back

  By Joseph Ax, Reuters  |  May 13, 2013

  Two banks hit in a $45 million ATM heist face an uncertain path in trying to recover their losses, says financial, insurance and legal experts.

• Senate Majority Leader Seeks Compromise on Bill to Delay NFIP Rate Hikes

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 10, 2013

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking extraordinary steps to force a compromise on a proposed amendment to pending legislation that would indefinitely delay politically-sensitive hikes in flood insurance premiums scheduled to go into effect next year.

• Aon: April 2013 Insured Storm Losses Half 2012; Tornadoes Down

  By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 9, 2013

  This year’s April storm losses were significantly lighter than the past two years when record number of tornadoes touched down in the U.S. causing billions of dollars in damage, according to Aon Benfield.

• Oklahoma Bill Partially Privatizes Last-Resort WC Insurer

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 8, 2013

  The Oklahoma legislature passed legislation partially privatizing CompSource, but AIA says it's not a true privatization because the state will maintain substantive control over it.

• AIG May Pursue Fraud Case Against BofA over Countrywide

  By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters  |  May 7, 2013

  American International Group Inc may pursue a lawsuit accusing Bank of America Corp's Countrywide unit of causing billions of dollars of losses by fraudulently inducing it to buy risky residential mortgage-backed securities.

• 

  The 'In-N-Out' Urge and Claims Efficiency

  By Christopher Tidball  |  May 7, 2013

  The In-N-Out Burger phenomenon offers claims lessons in timeliness, quality, and even comparative negligence.

• 

  Will Fracking Be 'Regulated Out of Existence' In California?

  By Christina Bramlet, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 6, 2013

  California is following in the footsteps of New York lawmakers, as the state assembly pushes three bills seeking to ban fracking.

• Wildfire Raging Along California Coast Threatens 3,000 Homes

  By Colleen Jenkins, Reuters  |  May 3, 2013

  A wind-driven wildfire raged along the California coast north of Los Angeles early on Friday, threatening some 3,000 homes and prompting evacuations of a university campus and several residential areas.