A South Carolina woman pled guilty to insurance fraud after a trip to the grocery store ended in a fiery blaze.

With the Deepwater Horizon disaster still looming over the industry, insurers must be able to better deal with losses and damages arising from offshore drilling operations, Munich Re said in a press conference here.

Despite severe losses during the 2010 first quarter, reinsurance rates are expected to remain soft through Jan. 1 renewals, but much depends on loss activity during the course of this year, two recent reports said.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) is making clear that it believes it was Congressional intent for the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) created under the financial services reform