Catastrophic tornados trample the South and Midwest, claiming 33 lives

An outbreak of deadly and devastating tornadoes wrought havoc in many Southern and Midwest states over the weekend. The disasters began on Friday last week. The tornadoes struck a major blow to four states: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama. The people in these states had little warning of the storms, which manifested at an alarmingly fast pace. The tornadoes quickly grew in intensity and caused a significant amount of damage to everything in their path. When the winds finally calmed after hours of fury, approximately 33 people were found dead.…

Read More

Allstate Insurance announces expansion and hiring in the Southeast and Texas

Allstate Insurance Company has announced a number of different areas in which it will be making new hires this year. These include Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, as well as Texas. This large insurer, has said that it is hoping to bring in 124 new agency owners within the Southeastern states. As a part of that intention, it is offering a referral reward of $5,000 to anyone who refers a qualified candidate who receives an appointment this year. As a part of a candidate’s qualification, he or she must…

Read More

Alabama falls victim to yet another outbreak of tornados this week – estimated cost of disaster at $30 million

Birmingham, Alabama, was hit by strong winds and a number of tornados earlier this week that caused extensive damage to homes and businesses. The city was not the only place that fell prey to disaster, however, as the storms made their way throughout much of the state. Risk modeling firm EQECAT originally estimated that the disasters could cost insurers $15 million. After surveying the extent of damage, the firm has revised that estimation to $30 million. A total of ten tornados formed early Monday morning, causing havoc and alarming unprepared…

Read More

Trustmark Life Insurance clashes with federal regulators over higher insurance rates

Trustmark Life Insurance Co. has run afoul of federal insurance regulators who claim that the company has raised rates for health insurance to unreasonable levels. The insurer has raised rates in five states by at least 13%, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. These states are Arizona, Virginia, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Alabama. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to submit their rate proposals for federal review if they pass the 10% mark. The Department of Health and Human Services has ordered the insurer to rescind the rate…

Read More

April tornados cause more than $2.2 billion in damage, according to Alabama insurance officials

The Alabama Department of Insurance has released the latest numbers concerning insured losses from the tornado outbreak in April of last year. A series of devastating tornados hit the state in late April, causing large amounts of damage to homes, businesses, automobiles and claiming a number of lives. The latest estimates of damage do not account for the claims paid through surplus insurance lines from companies like Lloyd’s of London. The estimates only concern insurance payouts that come from insurers regulated by the state. According to the Department of Insurance,…

Read More

Alabama Insurance Exchange Commission to submit recommendations on a state-run exchange system by the end of this week

Alabama is moving closer to establishing its own health insurance exchange as the state’s Health Insurance Exchange Study Commission finishes its work this week. The agency was formed earlier this year at the order of Governor Robert Bentley. The agency was tasked with determining the proper course of action to take when the time comes to make an exchange program. The Commission plans to submit its proposals for the program later this week, at which point the state Legislature will vote on the fate of a state-run insurance exchange. Exact…

Read More

Lowest health insurance competition found to be in Alabama

According to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the least competitive market for health insurance in the United States is in Alabama. The Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit health policy organization and released the report which showed that 86 percent of the policies in the individual market in Alabama were sold by Blue Cross Blue Shield. In the small group market in that state, that insurer sold 96 percent of the policies. Though the report did indicate that individual insurers hold the majority of the insurance markets…

Read More