U.S. insured losses in June totaled about $200 million due to hail and flooding in the Northern Plains and tornado damage in the Midwest and Ohio Valley, Aon Benfield reports.

Brown & Brown said it has acquired Meridian Group of New York Inc. and Eberhart & Company Insurors Inc. of Roswell, Ga. Financial terms of the transactions were not released.

The new federal Affordable Care Act could potentially have a positive effect on medical malpractice liability, actuaries were told at a recent Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Seminar on Reinsurance.

Although the improvements in the construction market are slight, there are some signs of growth, even in these tough times.

I think it's time for states, cities and other municipal governments to have their public risk managers elected by popular vote, rather than appointed by those who might see the post as something of a non-entity, politically speaking.

Reader response to my June 14/21 column about the latest brouhaha over disclosure of producer compensation ("Don't Ask, Don't Tell?") was fast and furious.

For those of you who would rank NU Editor Sam Friedman's blog among the best in the insurance industry, find out how you can comment on his nomination for a spot among the elite by going to www.NUSamSoapBox.com.

Hurricane Alex is expected to have caused no more than $200 million in insured losses because insurance sales in Mexico are low and the area is not densely populated, according to risk modeler AIR Worldwide.