The overall health of the excess and surplus lines market could be viewed as a microcosm of the current national condition -- some good news, some bad news, some mixed news, and some lingering questions.

A rate hike for Florida's largest property insurance carrier is expected to take effect early next year, but there is already talk the anticipated rate hike may be insufficient to keep Citizens Property Insurance Corp. afloat in the wake of a big storm.

Asked recently to list some of the biggest factors behind rising insurance costs, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty named the usual suspects, including the rising price of reinsurance and the overall economic downturn.

Utica National Insurance Group has been using Claims Workstation through four different iterations of the product and three different corporate names for the vendor--beginning with Freedom Group, then Fiserv Insurance Solutions, and now StoneRiver.