Premium rates for commercial property and casualty insurance continued to fall in the fourth quarter of 2009, the latest Market Index Survey by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers found.

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) said it will host a free webinar Feb. 11 titled ""Formulating a Social Web Strategy & Policy for Your Agency."

Insureds may retain the services of public adjusters due to the perception that insurers do not fully disclose and fulfill the promises of the insurance contract. As the author points out, the first step to resolution is cooperation amongst parties.

Arbitration Forums Inc. dispute resolution service said it resolved more than 520,000 inter-company claims disputes valued at nearly $2.5 billion in 2009.

Property and casualty insurers could easily be trapped in the "wave of political populism" sweeping the country in the wake of the nation's economic and leadership crises, an insurer association leader warned.

Had the U.S. government not taken action to bail out AIG, it would have proven to be an economic catastrophe for the nation, said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his predecessor, Henry Paulson.

President Obama has proposed a budget for 2011 that reopens the volatile issue of taxing offshore insurers, especially those based in Bermuda.

This year's insurance market prices should remain soft but relatively stable, just as they were in 2009, officials from Marsh predicted in a report released last week.