Commercial Lines

A round of storms in late June and early July has amounted to the third costliest insurance event in Ohio history with estimated insured losses of at least $433.5 million.

A round of storms in late June and early July has amounted to the third costliest insurance event in Ohio history with estimated insured losses of at least $433.5 million.

Despite rising rates and second-quarter performance that met or beat estimates for most insurers, the outlook for the industry is considered challenging, according to one analyst firm, as loss trends are picking up in personal lines and investment income is worsening across the industry.

A hardening market and exposure growth in Nationwides commercial lines segment has led to a 19 percent growth in policy sales during the first half of 2012.

About 60 percent of public companies surveyed by Chubb say cyber-liability insurance is not a part of their incident-response plan for a cyber attack.

A unit of insurer MBIA Inc challenged Stockton, Calif.'s eligibility for bankruptcy, saying the city had not negotiated with creditors in good faith and had given preferential treatment to the California Public Employees' Retirement System.