MIF supports use of standard hurricane models in the Massachusetts homeowners insurance market

PRESS RELEASE: Massachusetts Insurance Federation Executive Director James T. Harrington refuted claims made  by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office in a letter to the State Rating Bureau of the Division of Insurance in which the Rating Bureau is requested to initiate proceedings to review homeowners’ insurance rates currently in effect. “We believe such proceedings would be unprecedented and are certainly not warranted by anything in the letter from the Attorney General’s office,” Harrington said. “Her claim that insurance companies in this state are using untested and unsupported hurricane models that…

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Lloyd’s enters Florida’s reinsurance market on the heels of new law

Lloyd’s of London, one of the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance specialists, is entering Florida’s reinsurance market. The company joins several other reinsurance organizations flocking to the state to take advantage of a new law that reduces capital requirements for reinsurers. The law, first introduced in 2009 but only recently passed, is an attempt to attract more foreign reinsurance companies to do business in the state, thereby reinvigorating the somewhat stagnant market. Because of the law, Lloyd’s has been approved to do business in the state. According to the law,…

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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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Trillium Software helps insurers and reinsurers obtain more robust catastrophe modelling results

MONTE CARLO, Monaco & BILLERICA, MA – Sept. 13, 2011 – Trillium Software(r), a business of Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE:HHS), and a leading enabler of Total Data Quality solutions, announced today an agreement with AIR Worldwide, the scientific leader and most respected provider of catastrophe risk modelling software, to provide more precise geocoding through the integration of Trillium Software’s geospatial capabilities with AIR’s catastrophe modelling application. The integrated software solution is expected to help AIR Worldwide’s clients improve risk geocoding and catastrophe risk analyses for perils such as wind, flood, and…

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U.S. to be a “weather-ready” nation as the federal government takes measures to guard against destructive weather

To date, the cost of natural disasters befalling the U.S. has reached $35 billion. The year is not yet over and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts several turbulent storms crowding the horizon. While there can be no guarantee whether these storms will actually come to pass, the federal government is not willing to suffer more losses at the hands of nature. NOAA, along with the National Weather Service, is now tasked with making the nation “weather-ready.” The initiative aims to provide protection to communities throughout the nation…

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