Insurers bracing for potential losses from the installation of defective Chinese drywall in homes in the Southeast may find themselves named directly in lawsuits, according to legal experts.

Property-casualty insurers trying to keep adequate capital levels will face a tough challenge continuing past this year, a rating service said.

The economic slowdown tops the list of risk managers' concerns in a biannual survey conducted by Chicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp.

American International Group announced today it was accelerating the spin-off of its major property-casualty insurance units into a separate company so that it can sell off a minority share to the public.

Insurance broker BB&T Insurance Services said its first-quarter revenue grew by 19 percent, helped by a combination of acquisitions and new market activity, according to the company's chief executive.

Zurich-based PERILS AG, a new company established to aggregate and provide European catastrophe insurance data, announced that Luzi Hitz has been appointed chief executive officer.

Onset of a hard market for the property-casualty insurance industry has been delayed by record 2006 and 2007 surpluses, few impediments to new entrants, and competition with American International Group, a brokerage study found.

A New York inquiry into Allstate operations, provoked by statements in an article written by the firm's chief executive, has sparked some fiery words of controversy.