Reserve releases were higher in 2011 than in 2010 and 2009 for personal- and commercial-lines companies followed by ALIRT Insurance Research, shaving 2.4 points off of those companies 2011 combined ratio, the firm notes.

Improved building standards spared Mexico more damage and deaths from this weeks magnitude 7.4 earthquakeand U.S. builders can take a lesson from this event, one insurance association says.

Improved building standards spared Mexico more damage and deaths from this weeks magnitude 7.4 earthquakeand U.S. builders can take a lesson from this event, one insurance association says.

The benefits of the surplus-lines-modernization law enacted in 2010 are already being felt through greater efficiency in the marketplace and likely lower premiums for customers, according to an official of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices.

The benefits of the surplus-lines-modernization law enacted in 2010 are already being felt through greater efficiency in the marketplace and likely lower premiums for customers, according to an official of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices.

Insurance-rate increases could extend beyond 2012 as insurers reduce their reserve releases and deal with deteriorating calendar-year underwriting profitability, says a financial analyst.

A 13-month probe into a string of suspicious car crashes culminated Thursday in the raid of two clinics and 12 arrests, including an area physician.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. reports a 2011 fourth-quarter net loss of more than $963 million as a combination of financial factors negatively impacted the companys earnings.