Its that time of year for reports on IT investments in the insurance industry. As would be expected, core systems, portals, and business intelligence again rank as the top three spending initiatives.

While the total dollar value of claims may not wind up being catastrophic, the damage done was certainly dramatic during the spree of car bombings that struck Los Angeles over the New Year's weekend.

It probably comes as little surprise that 2011 was significant in terms of insured losses from catastrophes, but the loss figures have less to do with the number of events as where they took place, according to industry representatives.

A Mississippi judge has thrown out a $322 million lawsuit verdict that had been hailed as the largest asbestos award for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.