Vienna Insurance Group sees European insurance markets stagnating amidst financial crisis

Vienna Insurance Group, one of the largest insurers in Europe, is showing concern over the regions international insurance markets. According to the company’s forecasts, the markets are becoming stagnant and, in the best case scenario, would remain as such for the remainder of this year. This stagnation is likely a product of how consumers are responding to the ongoing economic crisis that is spreading throughout Europe. Because of this growing trend, the insurer has announced steps that it will be taking to ensure its place as one of Europe’s most influential companies.…

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Report shows that more insurers are looking to automate their underwriting process

Strategy Meets Action (SMA), a research and consultancy firm serving the insurance industry, has released a new report concerning underwriting practices in the industry. The report, “Underwriting Automation: Insurer Plans and Trends,” notes that insurance companies are making a move to completely automate their underwriting process. The report draws upon data collected by SMA from 144 insurance professionals throughout the industry. This trend may be a result of insurers being unable to meet underwriting goals due to flaws in their systems. Of those participating in the survey, 21% claimed that…

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Ohio leads all other U.S. states for metal theft insurance claims

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Ohio is the state in which there are the largest number of property insurance claims due to the theft of metals such as copper. This insurance fraud-fighting industry-supported organization revealed that there were 2,398 claims of this nature made by property owners in Ohio, within the three year span from 2009 to 2011. Comparatively, across the country, there were more than 25,000 claims of this type within that same period of time. This represents an increase of 81 percent over the number of…

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Hartford Financial Services Group to focus on P&C insurance and group benefits

Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) has announced that it will be leaving its annuity business in order to concentrate on its property and casualty insurance and group benefits businesses, as well as its mutual funds business. This announcement follows closely behind the advice that had been offered in February by John Paulson, a hedge fund manager, when he encouraged Hartford to spin off its business for property and casualty insurance. Hartford’s response had been that it would look over the plan that had been submitted by Paulson, but cautioned that…

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Insurers blast Florida lawmakers for inaction on Catastrophe Fund and Citizens Insurance

The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) have begun criticizing Florida lawmakers over their inaction on the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Legislators are also coming under fire from ABIR over their failure to take action on the troubled Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state run insurance organization that accounts for the majority of coverage in the state. Both the Catastrophe Fund and Citizens Insurance are being crippled by financial problems, which could put the state in a very dangerous position once this year’s hurricane season kicks off. Insurers had…

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