A year without hurricanes and the improving financial picture of the property-casualty insurance industry topped the list of the top 10 stories of the year, according to the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
PCI's picks for the year:
o 2006 was the first year since 2001 that a hurricane did not make landfall in the U.S. - a welcome respite for consumers, insurers, and government.
o The financial picture for the industry improved during 2006. Third quarter results indicate that the U.S. p-c insurance industry is on track for a very good financial year, driven largely by the absence of major catastrophe losses during the year.
o The Democrat's sweep of Congress can bring fundamental changes in the federal and state regulatory landscape with their new clout from the elections.
o Insurers won an important victory this year when the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi upheld the clear insurance policy language excluding coverage for water damage caused by flooding or storm surge.
o Challenged with pressure to lower rates and reinvigorate the property insurance market, lawmakers in Florida and Louisiana struggled to find compromise legislation that in the long run will help consumers and insurers and revive the market.
o Coastal insurance concerns spread to the eastern seaboard. In 2006, as insurance markets started to adjust to the increased risk of catastrophic events, states as far north as New England began to take note of the impact this will mean for coastal properties.
o Oregon voters resoundingly rejected the nation's first referendum on insurer use of credit information, defeating Measure 42 by a vote of 66 to 34 percent.
o The resignation of Ernie Csiszar as president and chief executive officer of PCI at the end of September caught many in the industry by surprise.
o Insurers and California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi clashed over auto insurance rating factors, prior approval of insurance rates, auto body repair labor rates, fair claims settlement practices and homeowners rates, to name a few issues.
o State legislators worked on modernizing insurance regulations. Legislation improving existing statutes affecting commercial lines was enacted in Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. Advances in personal lines modernization were made in Connecticut. Hurricane-related legislation approved by Florida created a new flex-rating law for residential property insurance in a "competitive" market.
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