A court in California has ruled that the state did not have a sufficient interest in a workers compensation claim filed by a professional basketball player who had played only one game in California and, therefore, it could not apply Californias workers compensation law to the players claim.

Low catastrophe losses, premium growth and increased competition strengthened the property and casualty industrys bottom line in 2013, but those same factors will create downward pressure on pricing in the coming year and create a continued, if uneven, buyers market, says broker Lockton.

While Berkshires aggressive expansion in the excess and surplus lines space earlier this year through the hiring of top American International Group employees hasn't significantly altered the market yet, Fitch says it expects pricing implications related to this expansion to materialize in coming quarters.