The U.S. property and casualty insurance industry's net income after taxes rose 29.1 percent to a record $30.9 billion in the first half of 2005, from $23.9 billion in first-half 2004.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has developed a central online location to report suspected fraud.

The United States Government Accountability Office has released a report on federal and state laws restricting the use of Social Security numbers.

Insurance swindles could raise the costs of rebuilding the areas damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud warns.

The National Flood Insurance Program has announced that it will modify the way that it settles claims in order to expedite the response to policyholders in storm-stricken areas.

Insurance commissioners of several states will hold a summit in the middle of this month to develop a National Catastrophe Insurance Program.

Statistics covering verdicts over the last decade reveal that 59 percent of the plaintiff awards in product liability cases involving transportation products exceed $1 million.

In mid-October, NOAA began tracking Tropical Storm Vince, the second to the last name on its list for this year.