Chinese insurance industry takes moves away from centralized supervision

Chinese insurance industry - Office Buildings in China

The country is moving to decentralize the oversight of its $3.1 trillion industry. China is making the first moves to decentralize the oversight of the $3.1 trillion Chinese insurance industry as it seeks to enhance efficiency levels. The CBIRC has produced new guidelines granting local regulators more supervisory power. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the national Chinese insurance industry regulator, issued all new guidelines granting new supervisory powers to local regulators who will now be responsible for certain segments of the sector. This decision is expected to…

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Aon Benfield report shows property insurance rates do not account for risk in some areas

Aon Benfield, a global reinsurance intermediary for the Aon Corporation, has released a new report concerning the state of home insurance rates in the U.S. The report shows that potential profit in the home insurance market has dropped from 6.9% in 2010 to 4.8% this year. The report suggests that the drop may be due to property insurer’s not pricing homeowner’s insurance in accordance with risk. This is especially prevalent along coastal regions where the risk for catastrophic damage is highest. Aon Benfield’s report shows that property insurers have shown…

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Texas wildfires wreak havoc on citizens and the insurance industry

Texas is battling a raging wildfire that has broken out in Bastrop, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The fires have already scorched more than 100,000 acres of land and burned several hundred homes throughout Central Texas. Many communities have been evacuated as no end is currently in sight for the wildfires. The disaster is expected to add to the financial strain bearing down on the nation’s insurance industry, which is already reeling from two costly flooding disasters stemming from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Insurers are estimating that the…

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Georgia insurance companies want to increase premiums

Though insurers in Georgia had already increased premiums for homeowners insurance by 9 to 23 percent last year, many are already making requests to obtain permission for another increase. The largest homeowner policy writer in Georgia, State Farm, is asking for an increase of 7 percent next year. According to state officials, this would be in addition to the 20 percent increase that it already put into place at the beginning of 2010. Similarly, the homeowner insurer that is the third largest in the state, Travelers Group, has filed its…

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