E&S/Specialty

As a one-year mandatory medical malpractice rate freeze is set to expire at the end of June, interested stakeholders wait to see if state leaders will come up with a plan to address the state's worsening market.

In spite of the impact of an economic recession and the unraveling of one major competitor, the property-casualty insurance business--and the specialty insurance market, in particular--remain strong, according a specialty carrier executive.

ACE Private Risk Services, part of the ACE Group of Companies, announced a specialized personal umbrella policy with up to $100 million in limits for high-net-worth customers in early March, to sit above their homeowners and auto policies.

Establishing a national regulator responsible for overseeing solvency and insurance pricing and products would help fix the "critical shortcomings" in the property-casualty insurance industry's current state-based regulatory structure, a report says.

A lawyer for American International Group told a Connecticut legislative committee yesterday that attempts to cancel controversial AIG Financial Products unit bonuses would cause marketplace confusion.

Insurers are not currently contesting directors and officers' legal defense claims related to the Bernard Madoff pyramid scheme, but carriers are examining proceedings to see if they can stop payments, legal experts said.