Claims

Last year was a costly one in terms of dollars and human life as insurers saw catastrophe losses increase by 59 percent from the previous year, according to a Swiss Re report.

A climate nuisance liability case to be heard by the Supreme Court may be the environmental case of the decade, according to William F. Stewart, a coverage attorney, who details the implications of Conn. vs. AEP.

Standard and Poor’s has revised its outlook on nine Japanese insurers due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, while Moody’s says current loss estimates by two reinsurers are credit negative for that sector.

Over the next five years, we should expect dramatic changes in insurance underwriting, claims handling and fraud detection. What are the key trends, and what will be their impact on the claims-handling and fraud-fighting workflow between now and 2016? Here are some predictions.

Circumstances surrounding David Sokol’s recent resignation from Berkshire Hathaway are credit negative for the company, Moody’s Investors Service says, due to an appearance of conflict of interest and, more broadly, management succession risk at the company.

A jury in New York found that Toyota is not responsible for a 2005 crash in the first trial related to the car manufacturer’s recall of eight million vehicles due to unintended acceleration.

Despite its devastation, Japan’s earthquake will not have a global impact on insurance rates, but the cumulative effect of a series of catastrophes and changes in modeling will likely produce rate increases in some sectors, according to a report from Towers Watson.

Insurers are the only entities who are required by law to investigate and help in the prosecution of criminals seeking to defraud the insurer.