Risk & Insurance articles from January 2004

Risk & Insurance archives from January 2004

New risk flick's key man: actor Ben Stiller.(up front)
January 1, 2004... Risk management is hot all of a sudden--hot enough to attract the attention of Hollywood. Could it be that risk managers are about to take on investment hankers as the new "masters of the universe"? No doubt, according to John Hamburg, who...

GE exec: MedMal loss trends explode.(up front)
January 1, 2004... Loss trends in the medical malpractice area have exploded, and physicians--not hospitals--have become the new targets of civil lawsuits, said A. Louis Parker, CEO of GE Commercial Insurance. Eight of the top 10 most expensive claims against...

From the editor.(up front)
January 1, 2004... You know things have really changed in the business when actor Ben Stiller plays the risk manager as the romantic lead in a comedy opening in movie theaters throughout the country this month. Just as the risk profession is changing, so is...

Baden-Baden burden: insurers contend with single-A and triple-B status.(up front)
January 1, 2004... Windstorms, floods, explosions and terrorism have dominated recent agendas at Baden-Baden, the genteel German spa town that hosts the annual gathering of reinsurance industry representatives. That more bread-and-butter issues, such as...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2004... AIR Worldwide Corp. is headquartered in Boston. A story in the December issue of Risk & Insurance said the company was based in Oakland, Calif. Risk & Insurance regrets the error.

In Europe, Multinationals 'On The Edge' of change.(up front)
January 1, 2004... Europe's risk managers often fail to access insurance markets on a global basis--and their insurance cover suffers from their conservative attitudes as their companies pay more than they need to. That is a conclusion of London-based...

Outlook promising for tort reform initiatives.(up front)
January 1, 2004... When a West Virginia coal miner drilled through a thin wall and accidentally injured another worker, J.H. Fletcher, the firm that manufactured that drill, laced a huge lawsuit. The company, which didn't operate the drill, says it did install...

Weird claims.(up front)
January 1, 2004... Insurance fraud has become the second largest economic crime in the United States, exceeded only by tax evasion, and some fraudsters have become brazen indeed, says Tim Fargo, president of Omega Insurance Services. Take the case of "Naked...

A voice of the worker.(Workers' Comp)
January 1, 2004... At its fall 2003 research conference, the 20-year-old Workers' Compensation Research Institute unveiled a ground-breaking survey of claimant satisfaction with medical care. The results are alternatively reassuring and disturbing. The WCRI...

In the ART world.(Alternative Risk)
January 1, 2004... "Authors and actors and artists and such/ never know nothing, and never know much./ Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney/ tell their affairs from Seattle to Sydney./ Playwrights and poets and such horses' necks/ start off from...

Animal distraction: at the nation's 140 or so zoos, risk managers and safety executives are taming exposures related to a myriad of species--including those curious homo sapiens who feed caged animals and hold "Zoobilee" fund-raisers among the nation's "living museums.".
January 1, 2004... Some cotton candy, a balloon or two, and a handful of peanuts to entice the elephants. Just as in simpler times, those are still the main ingredients of a fun-filled family afternoon among the creatures of the wild--or at least their...

Safety act reduces terrorism liability fears: the SAFETY Act lowers the liability for manufacturers that make terrorist-fighting products, and may be the first step in spreading liability between the private sector and the federal government.(legislation)
January 1, 2004... Will fear of liability be a deterrent for businesses to develop antiterrorism products? The answers may lie in the new "Support Antiterrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002." The SAFETY Act, originally introduced by the...

A new 'buzz' infects health care management: health care managers use modeling software to predict who is most likely to become ill.(technology)
January 1, 2004... The rate at which health care costs are growing is enough to make health care managers like Stan Hochberg sick. After a period in the mid-'90s during which health care prices stabilized when managed care companies flooded the marketplace,...

Stiffing the cedents.(Special report: reinsurance)
January 1, 2004... This year, it's not the price of reinsurance or the availability of coverage, but security that is weighing heavily on the minds of reinsurance buyers in 2004. A number of big reinsurers have left the market in the last year. Among them, PMA Re...

Paying attention to concentration: the focus has moved beyond natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes to include possible terrorist targets such as nuclear power plants, large public gathering locations, national historic sites and tall buildings in major cities.(Special report: reinsurance)
January 1, 2004... In the post-Sept, 11 world, the ability to assess and manage risk exposure, particularly concentrated risk, has become increasingly important for group insurers and corporate risk managers. As a group reinsurer, we're seeing definite evidence...

Life and health disputes turn nasty: the amounts at stake in reinsurance arbitrations have soared in recent years. The disputes have also become more contentious. Life and health arbitrations in particular have become downright nasty. A shortage of experienced arbitrators is partly to blame.(Special report: reinsurance)
January 1, 2004... Life and health reinsurance arbitrations, once rare and generally amicable, are today far more common and unusually contentious. Indeed, in the past it was common for such arbitrations to be heard by a panel of actuaries without any lawyers...

Silicon survival: managers in the data technology industries are becoming adept at juggling today's risks with one hand while crafting answers tomorrow's with the other.(Industry Risk Report)
January 1, 2004... Intellectual property theft. Supply chain. Asian outsourcing arrangements. Contract manufacturing. Sole suppliers. Product theft. Equity market volatility. Epidemic failure, errors and omissions. Wholesale/retail market. Environmental...

Insurance company software directory.
January 1, 2004... Insurance Company Software Directory Below is a guide to specialty software packages for insurace companies. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an overview of some of the packages available. The software...

Employee benefits.(Insurance Coverages)
January 1, 2004... FlexBen Corporation, the Troy, Mich.-based national benefits consulting and administrative firm, has expanded its strategic partnership agreement with Avon, Conn.-based Evolution Benefits Inc. to offer the "Benny Card" service to clients under...

Captive insurance.(Insurance Coverages)
January 1, 2004... Captive Financial Solutions Inc. has announced the reintroduction of GapPak, a product for captive insurance programs. GapPak is a unique blend of banking and securitization techniques and functions as a standby credit facility for captive...

Online tools.(Reference & Training)
January 1, 2004... Liberty Mutual has introduced two new online tools to respond to the need for risk managers to find information on critical developments in workers' compensation, general liability and commercial auto insurance programs. The new tools recently...

Online courses.(Reference & Training)
January 1, 2004... Using the latest advances in distance learning technology, LOMALearn Online--www. lomalearn.com--provides online learning courses in property and casualty insurance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. LOMALearn Online offers the following property...

Workers' comp manual.(Reference & Training)
January 1, 2004... International Risk Management Institute Inc. has released its new reference, Levine on California Workers' Compensation Premium and Insurance, A Comprehensive Practical and Legal Guide to Issues, Strategies, and Disputes. It is designed to help...

Hazards manual.(Reference & Training)
January 1, 2004... A new report on understanding chemical, biological and radiological threats is available in print and via the Interact. The Bloom Report summarizes hours of research conducted by Bloom Engineers & Associates. The research includes telephone and...

Auditing.(Software & Systems)
January 1, 2004... Swingtide Inc., has launched two new products, Monitor and Scorecard, which enable customers to view, analyze and fine-tune business activity using ACORD, SOAP and other XML standards. Monitor tracks the growth and business usage of XML...

Allenbrook Inc.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... Charles M. Peck, former CEO of globe.com, has been appointed president of Allenbrook Inc. He succeeds Euan C. Menzies, who will continue as CEO of AMS Group. Peck was senior vice president of the American Institute of Certified Public...

Finelight Strategic Marketing Communications.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... Lindsay Resnick has joined Finelight Strategic Marketing Communications as senior vice president of business development. In addition to building business relationships for the agency, Resnick will spearhead the creation of a Finelight Chicago...

JoAnn Ralph, managing consultant of RK Risk Management, an affiliate of Rothstein, Kass & Company, P.C., recently received the designation of Certified Risk Manager from Certified Risk Managers International.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... JoAnn Ralph, managing consultant of RK Risk Management, an affiliate of Rothstein, Kass & Company, P.C., recently received the designation of Certified Risk Manager from Certified Risk Managers International. Ralph was among an elite group of...

Yates & Associates Insurance Services.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... Diane G. Rusk has joined Yates & Associates Insurance Services in Santa Ana, Calif., as underwriter/broker in its property casualty division. She will report directly to Jim Hippard, president, and will be responsible for producing new...

Moody Insurance Agency.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... Moody Insurance Agency, which specializes in commercial and personal insurance products, risk management and bonding services, has announced that Monika Waddoups has been hired as an account executive and the newest member of its commercial...

Insurity.(Executive Moves)
January 1, 2004... Insurity, a ChoicePoint company, has announced the appointment of Phil Handy to the position of regional vice president. Handy brings 18 years of senior sales and marketing experience in the property and casualty technology arena, having worked...

Calendar of upcoming events.(Calendar)
January 1, 2004... February 1-4 9th Annual Interactive Group Insurance Forum This conference will be hosted by Disability Consulting Group and GE Employers Reinsurance Corp. The conference will be held at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts, Lake Buena...