NEW ORLEANS – Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) released an update to its terrorism model for the United States. The model, which is used by insurers and reinsurers to assess potential losses to property and workers compensation risks, reflects less frequent and lower-severity attacks based on a reassessment of the threat by a team of leading terrorism experts. “AIR’s team of operational threat analysis experts includes the FBI’s former head of counterterrorism and members of the CIA responsible for developing terrorist group profiling,” said Jack Seaquist, assistant vice…
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A.M. Best report highlights the problems facing the nation’s workers’ compensation insurance market
The U.S. workers’ compensation insurance market is in dire straits according to a new report from A.M. Best, an international rating agency. Agency analysts have been examining the effects of competition, rate decreases, economic turmoil and other factors throughout 2010 and have concluded that the market faces challenges times in the coming years. The report highlights the continuation of these trends for some time, but analysts note that the market may see modest growth for the first time since 2005 this year. The problems facing the workers’ compensation sector mirror…
Read MoreLargest workers’ compensation insurance company in California to lay off 1,800 by next June
The State Compensation Insurance Fund, a government-controlled insurer which is the largest workers’ compensation insurance company in California, has announced that one of its efforts to cut expenses and streamline its operations will be to lay off approximately one quarter of its total 6,800 employees. Chief executive of State Compensation Insurance Fund, Tom Rowe, said that as many as 1,800 civic service workers will be eliminated by the end of June 2012, as the company has been determined to be overstaffed by about 30 percent. This is the first time…
Read MoreTowers Watson research shows commercial insurance prices are on the rise
The most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) by Towers Watson, has shown that commercial insurance prices rose by an average of almost 1.5 percent during 2011’s second quarter, which is the first time that all standard commercial lines headed in an upward direction since 2003. The results of CLIPS align with the preliminary results that were obtained by a Towers Watson survey which will soon be released. They showed that 75 percent of CFOs feel that the standard property market prices have either hit the lowest point that…
Read MoreNew report shows cost of workers’ compensation dropped during global economic crisis
In 2009, at the start of the global economic crisis, there was a decrease of 4.4 percent in the number of employees who had workers’ compensation coverage. According to a National Academy of Social Insurance report, this drop was the largest in twenty years. The result was that the cost to employers for providing the benefits decreased by 7.6 percent, reaching $73.9 billion that year; which is the most recent year with complete data. This drop closely mirrors the overall decline in employment in the country. According to the chair…
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