Personal Lines

The increasing losses from severe thunderstormswhich include hail, heavy rains and flash flooding, tornadoes, thunder and lightningare a growing challenge for society and insurers alike.

According to Standard & Poor's Rating Services, insurers in many regions will have to deal with tighter capital standards, weak pricing due to excess capital or stricter controls on product design and distribution in some markets.

Sport-utility vehicles, crossovers, and minivans dominate the list, and there's one key reason why.

Dozens of no-no's unrelated to highway safety can get your license yanked.

Not surprisingly, sports cars and convertibles top the list.

It's still too early to tell whether federal health insurance reforms are having any significant impact on workers' compensation costs. But it's fair to say that so far, some of the worst-case scenarios raised as the Affordable Care Act went into effect have not yet come to pass.