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Delaware A budget deficit and a struggling tourism industry are two factors that have made Delaware a tougher state for insurance agents to do business than usual. Like most East Coast states, Delaware is seeing product availability and lower premiums due to the soft market, said Mary Rowland, vice president and manager of personal lines of Willis-Delaware. "In general, agencies have a harder time meeting production requirements, there is a lot of availability and pricing is very competitive," she said. However, in specialty areas, such as D&O, there are some signs of a hardening, related to insurance issues and financial issues of 2008 that are continuing into 2009. This year, Delaware is facing a budget deficit, along with declines in houses built and sold, and the tourism industry. As a coastal state, Delaware's economy depends on tourism, especially in Sussex County on the Atlantic Coast, where many people from nearby states go to retire. Sussex County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. The state of the economy is having its effect on growth. However, there is a silver lining. Due to Delaware's proximity to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., many retirees choose to move from the cities to Delaware to enjoy their later years. As a result, the state's over-65 population is expected to grow by 65 percent, Rowland said, while the rest of the country is supposed to double. "A lot of people move here and retire, and with some forward thinking, the healthcare industry will grow and jobs will be available," Rowland said. Insurers also would do well to take advantage of the many commercial opportunities in Delaware. Delaware's flexible corporate laws, court of chancery and business-friendly regulatory environment means more than 850,000 business entities have their legal homes there. In terms of legislation, the state passed a workers' comp modernization bill last year, which will lower costs. With only 860,000 residents, Delaware is a challenging state for retail agents to grab enough market share from the direct writers, Rowland said. Top companies writing auto insurance in the state include Nationwide and State Farm (with each writing about 20 percent of the market) and Progressive (10 percent). For homeowner's insurance, State Farm and Nationwide dominate the market. Commercial lines offer a larger choice: Travelers, Hartford, Selective, Zurich, CNA and regional insurer Westfield, among others.
Georgia Though there has been a slight firming of rates in Georgia, the market is still not hard, according to Aubie W. Knight, CIC, associate executive director of the Independent Agents of Georgia. "It's really interesting right now because although companies are trying to increase rates, it's an unprecedented time because the rating basis of most companies is decreasing," Knight said. "If you are talking about general liability, sales are not what they were. So even though the rates may be a little higher, we are still in what appears to the consumer to be a soft market because you have an overall decrease in premium." Knight also said the recession has hit Atlanta hard, though it struck later than in many other places in the United States. He noted that though the insurance industry is more recession-proof than most, agents and brokers that dealt heavily in construction are now struggling. Since Atlanta is such a high-growth area, there was a lot of construction going on, but now that has incurred a tremendous slowdown: Construction insurers are concerned whether their top two or three customers are even going to be able to stay in business, Knight said. Since Atlanta is still a growing area, the state's economy is predicted to bounce back faster than the rest of the nation. Atlanta also is a huge convention city, which brings in new hospitality businesses–15 new hotels and 45 new restaurants have recently opened in the area. Knight said that Georgia has a healthy insurance market from a regulatory and legislative standpoint–there are no major legislative issues that would impact the insurance industry in 2009. Georgia attracts most major carriers, including Travelers, Hartford and Safeco, and regional carriers including Cincinnati Insurance, he said. Though there is some coastal exposure in the Savannah, Brunswick and St. Thomas areas, it has been more than 100 years since the Georgia coast has taken a direct hit by a hurricane. Despite this, Knight said that Georgia still faces availability and pricing issues in its coastal areas, though not near the extent that states like Florida do. According to the U.S. News and World Report, the University of Georgia has the No. 2 insurance/risk management program in the country. "Georgia State also has a well-respected insurance program," Knight said. "We do have a pool of young people that are graduating from insurance programs, but it is still runs short of what it is needed to fill lower positions."

Maine With a long coastline and several islands, Maine presents the typical East Coast problem of property exposures, said Gary Blackwell, state national director to PIA for Maine Insurance Agents Assn. And although his agency is located inland, it's still a problem when trying to place and price business, commercial and personal coverage on the coast or on one of the islands. "Today there is very good availability and no problem with pricing, except for coastal and island," he said. Blackwell cited several domestic/regional insurers in the state, including Patrons Oxford Mutual and Maine Mutual Group, Acadia, Concord Group, Patriot Mutual, Peerless, MiddleOak, Union Mutual, Vermont Mutual. The agency also writes with national insurers including Hartford, Chubb, Farmers, Foremost, Hanover, Progressive, Travelers and Zurich. Maine's main industries are fishing, farming, logging/lumbering/paper mills and tourism. General market conditions in the state aren't much different from the rest of the country, characterized by soft markets except for a hint of hardening in homeowners. "I have experienced soft markets before in my 27 years in the business, but this is the first time I can remember it being soft on both sides of the house, both commercial and personal," Blackwell said. "Couple this with a groaning economy, and it makes things challenging
for agents." It's also a challenge to try and guess what's going to happen next on the regulatory front. "We have the threat of federal regulation looming over our heads and I think this battle is only heating up," he said. "On a state level, there is uncertainty as well. Maine's overseeing legislative committee, Insurance and Financial Services, has a new makeup with a new chair and new members creating many unknowns. I understand there are many bills to be put on the floor this year and as the deadline for filing them arrives we should know more." Heading up the Insurance and Financial Services (IFS) committee is Senator Peter B. Bowman (D), and Rep. Sharon Anglin Treat (D). Bills expected to be referred to the IFS committee this year include:
o An act to require the disclosure of insurance policy limits to an injured party
o An act to amend the laws regarding uninsured motor vehicle coverage
o An act to increase mandatory minimum insurance requirements for vehicles for hire
o An act to amend the law governing property insurance on a primary residence
o An act to require insurers to pay the insured value of the contents of a primary residence
o An act to ensure adequate insurance coverage for child day care providers
o An act to require that insurance contracts include a plain language summary
o An act to ensure that construction workers are protected by workers' compensation

New Hampshire In the recent past, New Hampshire has dealt with legislative issues including a credit-based insurance scoring bill, which has already had a hearing, said Paul Tetrault, Northeast state affairs manager for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). The state is also considering a ban on using education as rating factors. The issue has already been debated in Florida and New Jersey, and neither state has adopted a legislative ban. Another issue is recent legislative reform to the state's workers' compensation laws, which now require some subcontractors to be included for workers' comp benefits on construction work contracts, said Stanley H. Pollack, CIC, president of the PIA of New Hampshire and owner of The Pollack Insurance Agency, Londonderry, N.H. This is an added headache for his agency, which writes a lot of construction business in the region. "It's hard for independent agents to deal with this requirement; we have to advise our contractors to carry workers' comp, but that costs money and small contractors can't afford it, especially in this economy," he said. Pollack, whose agency writes throughout the New England region, hasn't seen any signs yet of a hardening market except in the construction industry. The agency specializes in niches such as blasting contractors and horse farms along with Main Street commercial and personal lines coverage. Much of this business is underwritten by regional insurers such as Preferred Mutual, Peerless, Commerce, Mt. Washington and MiddleOak, as well as nationals such as Travelers, Progressive, Bristol West and Farmers. The New Hampshire economy is hurting from the building slump, although the state has not seen the level of home foreclosures that some areas of the country have, Pollack said. "Industries like Hewlett-Packard and Fidelity have been laying off a lot of people, many of them executives who had good incomes and were spending lots of money," he said. He believes it will eventually have an effect on the economy in the state. However, New Hampshire, with its lack of income or sales taxes, is "still a very good state to do business in," he said.

New Jersey The main thing that has improved in recent years in New Jersey is its auto market, which underwent significant reform in the early 1990s. Effective Jan. 1, 2009, the state is dropping its take-all-comers requirements as a result of the new competitive market, said Ellen Kiehl. New companies have come in, rates have gone down, and the market has turned around. "Homeowners coverage within 5 miles of the coast have become an issue," said Steve Reichman, executive vice president of NIA Group and past president of PIANJ. Some insurers have done blanket nonrenewals in the state's coastal areas, and some barrier island exposures are insurable only through the surplus lines market. As far as rates hardening, Reichman isn't seeing it yet. "We just lost one of our biggest accounts, a plumbing contractor, because it moved to a carrier that was more competitive," he said. "Competition is still cutthroat, especially in personal lines. Geico is still relatively new in New Jersey and we're losing a lot of market share. I keep hearing that the market is hardening, but do not see a lot of indication that it actually is. Normally a soft market means the economy is on an upswing. This market is a disconnect as to why it's so soft." Business now is very difficult in the region, a combination of a soft market reducing pricing and a bad economy, which means payrolls and sales are reduced, affecting premiums in a downward way so there's a double whammy. New Jersey is known for its strong pharmaceutical industry, but this is business for the alphabet houses. "You really have to work on your relationships. Try and make your client a part of your circle of friends. Worst case scenario, they'll give you a last shot at the business," he said. New Jersey does not have a beach plan but its Wind Map operates in the voluntary market to assist homeowners in coastal regions obtain coverage.

Pennsylvania Away from the coastline, coverage availability is stable, although there is still no sign of stiffening of underwriting guidelines or classifications, said J. Stuart Patterson, president of Preston-Patterson Co. in Conshohocken, Pa. The agency, which is licensed in 46 states, writes most of its business in southeastern Pennsylvania, although it writes niche business across the U.S. "Our carriers are trying to price increases of between 3 and 5 percent on renewals, but usually have to scale that back to retain the account, and the insurers are still very aggressive on new business." The agency's top markets are Hartford, Ohio Casualty, Chubb, Travelers and Fireman's Fund. However, the agency does write a "decent amount" of coastal dwelling in New Jersey and Florida, and is seeing a broad availability of excess flood coverage with premiums dropping. "The main issue we have in Pennsylvania is that our tort liability laws are poorly written in favor of the plaintiff," he said. "The plaintiffs basically have no risk in filing a suit for any alleged negligence. Business owners and insurance companies are fighting an uphill and losing battle."

Rhode Island "For the past 18 to 24 months, I've been saying that in my more than 35-year insurance career, I've never seen a market like this one, where there is consistent downward pressure on all rates in all areas," said Robert B. Loiselle, president of Loiselle Insurance Agency, Pawtucket, R.I. "It makes no difference if it is a simple auto policy, home policy, Main Street BOP, medium-size commercial or large commercial–the pressure is for lower rates across the board. It is also perhaps a bit more exaggerated here in Rhode Island, where we have a flat to declining population and very little truly new economic activity." Rhode Island's current unemployment rate is more than 10 percent, "and our personal and corporate taxes are burdensome," he said. Financial services are a significant employer in the state, and are obviously taking their share of hits in the current economic climate. Loiselle's agency, located in an urban area of the state, mostly writes Main Street business in Rhode Island and holds licenses in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. The agency's primary companies are Peerless/Safeco (Liberty Agency Markets Group), Quincy Mutual, Progressive, Travelers and Providence Mutual.