December, 2007
NEW YORK (Reuters)?Allstate Corp. said Tuesday losses for October and November due to California wildfires and other catastrophes were between $360 million and $400 million. Allstate, the largest publicly traded insurer in the United States, said in a statement it received over 7,000 claims...
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man?Large losses expected at National Grid Insurance Company (Isle of Man) Ltd. are not enough to lower the captive insurer? s financial strength rating. A.M. Best Co. Inc. has affirmed the Isle of Man captive?s A rating on the basis of the insurer?s strong risk-adjusted...
WASHINGTON?The House of Representatives gave its final approval to a bill that would extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop for seven years beyond its scheduled Dec. 31 expiration. The 360-to-53 vote, which came Tuesday afternoon, clears the way for the measure to go to President Bush for...
HARTFORD, Conn.?Lawyers for former General Re Corp. Chief Executive Officer Ronald E. Ferguson are seeking copies of Warren E. Buffett?s communications with two other Gen Re executives at the time the reinsurer entered into an allegedly sham reinsurance deal with American International Group Inc....
BEIJING (Reuters)?A new labor contract law will push up business costs in China next year and could force firms that are already struggling with rising expenses to shift production inland or out of China altogether. The law will increase labor costs markedly and reduce the flexibility that has made...
WASHINGTON?South Florida tops the American Tort Reform Assn.?s ?Judicial Hellholes 2007? report released Tuesday. According to Washington-based ATRA, ?their collective reputation for high awards and plaintiff-friendly rulings make Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties a launching pad for...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters)?California's Assembly on Monday approved Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for universal health insurance, as overhauling health care grows as a prominent issue in the 2008 presidential election. The compromise legislation, which passed by a vote of 46 to 31, was...
Catlin buys cat bond for U.S. exposures HAMILTON, Bermuda?Catlin Group Ltd. has bought catastrophe bond protection totalling $225 million for U.S. earthquake and hurricane exposure. Catlin said that its Catlin Insurance Co. Ltd. unit had entered into the three-year catastrophe protection...
LONDON?London-based brokerage Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group P.L.C. has established an underwriting operation, Thistle Underwriters Ltd. JLT said the move was part of a strategic review undertaken by the brokerage that ?identified that there is a substantial business opportunity for JLT to...
LONDON?Aviation insurers face their first unprofitable year since 2000, but rate increases in the short term are unlikely, according to a report by Aon Aviation, a unit of Chicago-based brokerage Aon Corp. Renewals in the fourth quarter of 2007 and the year to date have seen the aviation...
