While insurance trade groups cite the flood program extension as their top priority this legislative session, they also plan to push for differentiating insurers from banks in the eyes of lawmakers and regulators, among some other key industry issues.

While insurance trade groups cite the flood program extension as their top priority this legislative session, they also plan to push for differentiating insurers from banks in the eyes of lawmakers and regulators, among some other key industry issues.

Personal-lines insurers capital strength and core-underwriting earnings power should offset challenges posed by natural catastrophes; high-frequency, low-severity weather events; and the very competitive nature of the market, according to Moodys Investors Service.

The insurance industry performed poorly for the first half of this year, primarily due to an unprecedented level of catastrophes, and while the results may point to premium-price increases, other factors may keep a lid on them.

Here are the top eight legislative priorities that property and casualty insurance executives, and their lobbyists, should focus on if they hope to get anything enacted on Capital Hill this yearor for the entire 112th Congress that ends next year.

Hurricane Irene turned out to be more of a rain and flooding event than the wind event many had feared, but it still could crack the list of the 10 costliest U.S. storms if it hits the high end of insured-loss estimates.

Joan Falcetta has held a variety of positions within the IT operations of MetLife over her 23-year career with the financial services leaderboth on the technical side and in leadership positionsbut of the technical roles the one she loved the most was that of a data architect.

Joan Falcetta has held a variety of positions within the IT operations of MetLife over her 23-year career with the financial services leaderboth on the technical side and in leadership positionsbut of the technical roles the one she loved the most was that of a data architect.