A.M. Best to sponsor Annual Self-Insurance Institute of America’s National Education Conference and Expo

A.M. Best Company, a credit rating and financial data and services company operating in the insurance industry, will be sponsoring the 31st Annual Self-Insurance Institute of America’s National Education Conference and Expo. The conference will be held between October 9 and 11 of this year in Phoenix, Arizona. The annual event attempts to broaden the knowledge of self-insurance within the insurance industry as a whole. This year, the event will be focused around the future of self-insurance and how the marketplace is being shaped by new trends. Self-insurance is a…

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Chubb Corp. reports losses verging on $500 million from natural disasters in the third quarter

The Chubb Corporation, a massive property insurance organization, has had a difficult time recovering from recent storms in the U.S. The occurrence of natural disasters in the U.S. has been unusually high this year, and the damage caused by these storms has been unprecedented. The storms have imposed gargantuan financial losses on the insurance industry and many companies are still sifting through claims from earlier in the year that are adding to total losses. Chubb officials have warned investors that the company’s third quarter losses may end up being higher…

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Nationwide in talks to purchase Harleysville Group, deal has insurance agents on edge

Late last week, Nationwide Mutual Insurance entered into negotiations with Harleysville Group Inc., a large insurance company operating in 32 states, to purchase the company. Details regarding the acquisition are sparse as Nationwide has been keeping a tight lid on information concerning the potential deal. The one thing that is very clear, however, is that the deal has Harleysville independent insurance agents on edge. If the deal goes through, the role of agents from both companies may soon change. Typically, Nationwide uses only contract agents to sell insurance policies exclusive…

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Insurance market may be softening, but insurers will continue to combat costly health care

The beginning of the year was punctuated with a rash of insurance rate increases coming from many of the nation’s insurance companies. Insurers had defended their weighty rate proposals with the claim that the cost of medical care was rising out of control. Higher rates may also be due to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers pay no less than 80% of their collected premiums on health care. While insurers have been quick to propose rates that are, in some cases, astronomically high, industry experts believe…

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Insurance risk research shows industry struggling with growth and reserve risks

Aon Corporation’s capital adviser and global reinsurance intermediary, Aon Benfield, has released a report containing the results of its annual study – called the 2011 Insurance Risk Study – which is used by the industry to benchmark underwriting risk, and for modeling through the risk parameters it provides. This research – which is the sixth that has been published by the company – offers volatility benchmarks for underwriting, which are used by the industry’s professionals in economic capital modeling, such as chief risk officers and actuaries. It also provides the…

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