Risk & Insurance articles from December 2007

Risk & Insurance archives from December 2007

Teeth missing from report.
December 1, 2007... ... . and there it landed, with a thud, the European Commission's final report on competition in the commercial insurance sector. Insurance buyers expecting a hefty dose of clear, succinct edicts from Brussels governing the behavior of brokers...

Munich reinsurance seeks to expand in U.S.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... Munich Reinsurance Co. will acquire specialty insurance company Midland Co. for $1.3 billion in a bid to expand in the United States, the German reinsurer has announced. The deal, which Munich Re is financing through its own funds, is part of a...

Hiscox expands, launches U.S. unit.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... Hiscox, a provider of specialty insurance, announced the launch of Hiscox Global Markets in the United States. The Global Markets area at Hiscox underwrites internationally traded business via the Lloyd's insurance market, and specialist retail...

Markel opens new department.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... Houston-based Markel Global Marine & Energy Inc. has opened a department to handle ocean marine coverage, the company said. R. Matt Sternenberg, who has more than 15 years of experience in the marine and energy insurance field, was appointed...

Pro insurance establishes U.S. operation.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... PRO Insurance Solutions Ltd. has announced the launch of a new affiliate, PRO Insurance Solutions Inc., operating out of offices in New York and Boston. The unit will offer management services, technical audit, commutation, asset recovery and...

Disability coalition adds board member.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... The Disability Management Employer Coalition, an advocate of integrated disability management, has announced that Michael Klachefsky, principal and senior consultant for absence management at Mercer, has joined DMEC's Executive Advisory Board....

Ironshore announces new division.(NEWS & NOTES)
December 1, 2007... Cayman Islands-based property insurer Ironshore Inc. has announced the launch of specialty construction division, IronBuilt. IronBuilt provides protection of construction risks with an emphasis on residential wrap-up liability insurance and...

Risk: 'systemic' phenomenon?(EUROPE REPORT)
December 1, 2007... Risk management isn't what it used to be. It's a lot more--and then some. "It used to be that risk was explained in financial terms," said Gary Steel at Swiss-Swedish ABB. "However, the world of risk today is much more systemic. The...

EU after business insurance.(EUROPE REPORT)
December 1, 2007... The Commission of the European Communities released its final report on commercial insurance--on ability of EU businesses to insure given risks in the current broker-carrier-reinsurer model. To access this resource, please visit us on the...

Incentives for shiny, happy people.(WELLNESS)
December 1, 2007... Setting up a wellness program, powered by incentives, is both art and science, according to this integrated benefits solution provider. To access this resource, Please visit us on the Web at www. riskandinsurance.com/story....

Call to toned arms.(WELLNESS)
December 1, 2007... This report from PWC and the World Economic Forum tells business leaders: Be at the forefront of curing the chronic disease crisis affecting workplaces. To access this resource, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance....

Claims costs getting heavy.(OBESITY)
December 1, 2007... Researchers at leading academic institutions uncover how much obesity affects severity and frequency of workplace injuries and comp claims. To access this resource, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance....

Wharton weighing in.(MEGACAT)
December 1, 2007... Wharton is tops for risk management study, especially when disaster's involved. Here's the latest CAT conclusions coming out of Penn. To access these resources, please visit us on the Web at www.riskandinsurance....

Spotting the thread.(BONUS COLUMN)
December 1, 2007... If ever the statement "risk is opportunity" were true, it is now. Risk, though it comes in many forms, is simply a representation of the uncertainty of the future. No matter what the nature of the specific uncertainty, risk in any form can be...

European insurance executives hint at price increases in 2008 or 2009: cycle at or near bottom for many lines as hints of underpricing leak into the marketplace, executives say.(UP FRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
December 1, 2007... The pricing cycle in the European noncatastrophe property/casualty sector, influenced in part by "irresponsible behavior in the market," is at rock bottom or close to it, and buyers looking to renew can expect prices to rise again at the end of...

The Philippines forge ahead in risk management.(UP FRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
December 1, 2007... In case you needed reminding, mother, or sister or daughter, for that matter, always knows best at least when it comes to grasping the importance of risk management. A 2007 survey of more than 1,700 global businesses by the London-based...

A wristband of a different color: uniform color-coded identification bands gaining a wristhold.(UP FRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
December 1, 2007... Pink identifies a patient who has a limb or other body part that needs to be handled carefully. Yellow tells you the patient is at risk of falling. Red is an allergy alert. Purple is "do not resuscitate" if you're on the West Coast. If you're...

Hospital liability's healing: analysis' hospitals have lowest liability claims of last eight years, loss reserves not so lost.(UP FRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
December 1, 2007... What do you get when you measure 65,689 claims from 90,000 beds at 1,000 facilities across 80 healthcare organizations? A chunk of healthcare liability losses greater than $7.7 billion, and insight into a positive trend in hospital claims. ...

Extra commission rankles European buyers, carriers: but consensus is lacking on how best to reward brokers looking to make up for lower revenues in a soft market.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
December 1, 2007... European insurance executives and commercial insurance buyers are miffed. At the time when lower rates should give them reason to celebrate because of better terms and pricing, they maintain that brokers are looking to slap them with extra fees...

A new stage at stern: Aon's top entertainment broker finds role of a lifetime at DeWitt Stern Group.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
December 1, 2007... In a major coup, New York-based DeWitt Stern Group hired entertainment industry brokerage kingmaker Richard Eisenberg and two colleagues away from Aon/Albert G. Ruben, long the dominant force in entertainment brokerage. "This fits into our...

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co.(BROKER MOVES)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. appointed MARY ANN MCNAMARA to the position of finance director of the Midwest region. In her 26 years of finance experience, McNamara spent more than 20 years in various financial management...

Integro Insurance Brokers.(BROKER MOVES)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Integro Insurance Brokers has hired a team of financial institutions specialists in its Montreal office. All are formerly of Aon. GILLES FELTON, managing principal--business development, was Aon's Canadian Financial...

Lower costs, varied successes.(WORKERS' COMP)
December 1, 2007... The last few years have been good to workers' compensation insurers. For the first time in decades they financially performed on par with what Wall Street expects from corporate America. Between 2002 and 2005 workers' comp premiums rose...

Soaking in the Christmas spirits.(ROGER ON RISK)
December 1, 2007... Christmas is upon us. The festive season brings with it one of the nastier rituals devised by modern man (and it must have been a man): the office party. The celebration demands its own form. A spot of drunken groping behind the file cabinets...

Give me back my good name.(BROKERAGE)
December 1, 2007... Those of you not too young or otherwise engaged to remember in great detail that '70s show called Watergate will recall a minor functionary named Maurice Stans, who was Secretary of Commerce and also held a financial position in the storied and...

A time for speculation.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
December 1, 2007... While I love risk management as much as the next guy, and probably more, I will be the first to admit that the world of insurance is, well, dull. Rarely do we ever have the opportunity to engage in impassioned speculation around the water...

Risk is everywhere.(THE LAW)
December 1, 2007... Risk is not just confined to the business world. It follows us home, can affect our lives and our families, and can even affect our employers. Recent events have reminded me of this. I am a Pennsylvanian, which means I bleed Penn State...

Burning through limits: the Southern California wildfires are expected to be double the damage of the 2003 wildfires and to melt through the state insurance pool's $8 million self-insured property limit. But experts say they expect very little effect on pricing.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To onlookers, the flames and winds that bullied, threatened and devoured so much of the Southern California landscape in late October had an Armageddon-like quality. And certainly for home owners in those normally...

Business interrupted: the tale of the 2007 fires: the wildfires that raged in Southern California in late October were more of a residential event, but businesses and their insurers could still be facing significant claims activity and even dispute.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... Summary * The California fires will have experts looking more closely at business-interruption clauses buried deep within policies. * In particular, they will be looking at ingress/egress provisions, as well as civil authority clauses....

Preparing for and responding to megacatastrophes: the difficult road to recovery for New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina points to the importance of proper business continuity planning if companies are to continue.(PROPERTY RISK)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * The experience of New Orleans losing as much as half its population after Hurricane Katrina raises questions about recovery times should even larger cities get hit by similar catastrophes. * The...

Wellness programs welcome: the American workplace is getting fatter, but employers are the ones that are expected to suffer and there's no better time for companies to implement a wellness program.(WELLNESS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * Obesity costs U.S. corporations an estimated $13 billion a year in insurance premiums, lost time and other absences. * Experts recommend that companies encourage more physical activity and better...

A competitive insurance market--sort of: the distribution gears of commercial insurance in Europe grind with inefficiency and "market distortion," according to European Union regulators.(REPORT FROM EUROPE)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary The European Commission finds anti-competitive practices in the following areas of the risk management industry: * Coinsurance or coreinsurance. * Brokers representing buyers and carriers. *...

The heavy, heavy burden of obesity: obesity increases the cost of workers' compensation claims and the risk of traumatic workplace injuries, new surveys show.(SPECIAL REPORT: CLAIMS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * Obesity claims in the United States are rising in number and in severity, according to a new study. * Having a body mass index in the overweight or obese range increases the risk of traumatic...

Helping claims handlers remain consistent: people-focused technology captures an employee's internal decision-making process and embeds it in the system, telling the user what to do next.(SPECIAL REPORT: CLAIMS)
December 1, 2007... Inconsistent claims handling costs insurance companies--and ultimately policyholders--enormous amounts of money. Insurance company CEOs tell us they believe inconsistency shaves 2 percent to 5 percent off their combined ratio. Risk managers...

Taking flight: Larry Wilson, managing director of Pequot Ventures and former CEO of Policy Management Systems Corp., likes to fly. Better yet, he loves watching others take flight.(PROFILE)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * Larry Wilson, former CEO of Policy Management Systems Corp. and now a partner with the venture capital fund Pequot Ventures, says there's $200 billion in costs that can still be squeezed out of the...

Blinded by statistics: don't be fooled by injury statistics. They don't tell the whole story.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: CHEMICALS)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summary * The Baker panel found that the Texas City incident happened in part because BP had failed to develop a corporate safety culture that put a priority on process safety, the management of extreme risks...

Directory: third-party administrators.(Directory)
December 1, 2007... THIRD-PARTY ADMINISTRATORS Below are paid listings of third-party administrators (TPAs) according to the types of claims they handle: health care; disability; workers' comp; managed care automation; software automation; property; marine/...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
December 1, 2007... JANUARY 16 Insurance Leader Dinner The School of Risk Management of St. John's University hosts its 13th Annual Insurance Leader of the Year Award Dinner honoring James J. Schiro, CEO of Zurich Financial Services, from 6 p.m. to...

Hurricane forecasts a useful tool: forecasters, even if they get it right only half the time, provide a valuable service. They remind all of us ADHD sufferers about Mother Nature's beach tax.(POINT)
December 1, 2007... Will those hurricane forecasters ever get it right again? The 2007 hurricane season has wound down, and for the second year in a row, hurricane forecasters have come up short--or should I say long. Once again, they all predicted an...

Hurricane forecasts a dismal science: even when they "tweak" their predictions throughout the season, forecasters still can't get it right. Insureds would be better off without them.(COUNTERPOINT)
December 1, 2007... This was going to be my year, according to the forecasters. Every sixth year, Erin makes it on the list of Atlantic storm names. And being fifth in the peeking order with an above-average season widely predicted, there was a lair chance that my...