Personal Lines

Property-casualty insurers in the United Kingdom are more optimistic about rates increasing and the future of their operations than three months ago and plan to hire additional workers, according to a consulting firm study.

NU readers answering our first online poll agreed recent clashes between Washington and AIG make federal insurance regulation more likely. This week's poll asks if AIG will be able to repay its bailout funding. Respond at www.property-casualty.com.

Insurance trade organizations said they were successful in fending off proposals to further increase assessments on carriers as part of the proposed New York State budget that state leaders agreed on over the weekend.

Editor In Chief Sam Friedman asks whether carriers and their producers ethically required to help regulators make personal lines insurance widely available. Go to his blog at www.NUSamSoapbox.com

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.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's cautious statements of support for an optional federal charter for insurers is provoking reactions pro and con from property-casualty insurance company trade groups.

The New York State home insurer of last resort said it will expand offerings by offering coverage for a wide variety of additional perils it does not currently insure.

National Underwriter's Property & Casualty Web site has changed.The new URL is www.Property-Casualty.com--complete with enhanced options to give readers more opportunity to access NU content and offer feedback.