Risk & Insurance articles from March 2004

Risk & Insurance archives from March 2004

Mad cow: last minute insurance stampede.(upfront)
March 1, 2004... Gena Ott was running a Christmas errand a few minutes before 5 p.m. Dec. 23 when her cell phone rang. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy--mad cow disease--had infiltrated the United States, and three cattle producers waited at her office to buy...

Kansas cattleman turns into a risk wrangler.(upfront)
March 1, 2004... When the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was announced in December, Richard Porter could take some comfort in that he had a quarter of his cattle covered with Livestock Risk Protection insurance and another quarter...

Worth repeating ...(upfront)
March 1, 2004... "Good risk management is like happiness. It doesn't just happen. It takes a lot of hard work.'" Mark Hill, senior vice president and chief administrative officer, RadioShack Corp., Ft. Worth, Texas "In this industry you develop a...

From the editor.
March 1, 2004... I can't take it anymore. I'm stressed out. And the more I read about workplace stress, the less I should expect of myself. There's a stress for everything under the sun. Did you hear the latest source of stress? It's phone rage. Yes, you...

Beyond Sept. 11: claims in dispute.(upfront)
March 1, 2004... The attacks on the World Trade Center have generated more than 9,000 workers' comp claims. Several involve recently enacted changes to the New York Workers" Compensation Act, and the New York Workers' Compensation Board has been bearing...

Analysts: the best of times for P&C.(upfront)
March 1, 2004... Is this as good as it gets? It's a question institutional investors and property-casualty insurance analysts ask aloud these days as they puzzle through whether and when the current hard market will soften. The question is particularly...

The 10 most costly U.S. catastrophes.(upfront)
March 1, 2004... The 10 Most Costly U.S. Catastrophes Insured Loss Dollars Dollars When In Rank Date ...

Commercial insurance buyers say the cost of property insurance fell 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 over the year-earlier period.(News and Notes ...)
March 1, 2004... [check] Commercial insurance buyers say the cost of property insurance fell 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003 over the year-earlier period. It was the first decline in premium prices in any major line of commercial insurance in nearly...

General Electric Co. intends to sell part of its Genworth Financial insurance unit in what is expected to be one of the largest initial public offerings of the year, according to securities filings.(News and Notes ...)
March 1, 2004... [check] General Electric Co. intends to sell part of its Genworth Financial insurance unit in what is expected to be one of the largest initial public offerings of the year, according to securities filings. GE said the offering would be for...

Sompo has won a $1.1 billion arbitration award against North Carolina reinsurance pool manager Fortress Re, Sompo's law firm, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, has announced.(News and Notes ...)
March 1, 2004... [check] Sompo has won a $1.1 billion arbitration award against North Carolina reinsurance pool manager Fortress Re, Sompo's law firm, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, has announced. The arbitration panel concluded that Fortress Re, through its...

As employers struggle with a challenging economic climate, rising healthcare costs and increased competition, many are forced to shift more of the burden of managing and funding employee benefits to their employees.(News and Notes ...)
March 1, 2004... [check] As employers struggle with a challenging economic climate, rising healthcare costs and increased competition, many are forced to shift more of the burden of managing and funding employee benefits to their employees. As a result, less...

Hand jive.(Workers' Comp)
March 1, 2004... Why did Mary Beth lose her job? I asked a hand surgeon in Charlotte, N.C., to relate this familiar tale from a composite of his patients who fail to recover from injuries. Readers, just count the times her decline might have been reversed....

Watch out for 'weasel' words!(Property)
March 1, 2004... Do your lenders impose security requirements for property insurers? Do they demand a minimum rating from A.M. Best or Standard & Poor's before they will accept a policy from an insurance company? That's probably a silly question. Most loan...

Climate chaos: heated arguments on the preparedness of the insurance industry swirl around a vortex of rising property losses due to climatic upheavals.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... For just a moment David Wilmot abandons the cautionary note he has sounded for the past half-hour and talks about his dirt road. The road is one that for years he and his family had no trouble navigating as they made their way to the cottage...

Winning the information battle: the reality for the insurance and reinsurance industries is that technology has fundamentally changed the way we all work--mostly for the better. Still, the industries buckle under the strain of information overload and huge time pressures. The key is adopting technology that does not add to the burden, but eliminates it.(technology)
March 1, 2004... Do any of these situations sound familiar? * An underwriter is searching frantically for an e-mail received a year ago that will help to seal the contract for a new client. * An assistant is looking everywhere, without success, for a...

Bowie bonds rock secure: rock star David Bowie, the "Thin White Duke," was among the first to realize that old singers face, at best, the drip-drip-drip of royalties, when they want it all, and they want it all right now. He used securitization to get his hands on some of his money, writes alternative risk columnist Roger Crombie.(Special report: alternative risk)
March 1, 2004... A party game runs something like this: To play at your wedding, you want the Rolling Stones. They offer Earth, Wind & Fire. You settle for a Glenn Campbell sound-alike. The game works in insurance terms, too. You want full coverage at a...

Traction troubles: the Columbia (Energy) decision was expected to be followed by a steady exodus of employee benefit programs into captives. This has not materialized. Only two other U.S. employers have followed the Columbia route.(Special report: alternative risk)
March 1, 2004... The Columbia Decision, the AMD Exemption, the International Paper ExPro--they sound like John Grisham book titles. Perhaps one day they will be, but for now they are landmark judgments in what has been the glacial movement toward funding U.S....

ART, or ARF, bites into the marketplace; aggressive customization and the shortcomings of ordinary coverage create new opportunities for alternatives. It is not hard to imagine a world in the not-too-distant future, where what we now consider traditional coverage is all but extinct.(Special report: alternative risk)
March 1, 2004... By some estimates, alternative risk transfer (ART) or financing (ARF) now account for half of all insurance business written in the United States. Eight years ago, no more than a third of all risks were ART-financed. Before long, traditional...

Fighting over RRG legislation: will expansion of the risk retention laws into new kinds of risks increase insolvencies? Or are the changes just a reasonable response to changes in the marketplace? That's the debate that pits state insurance commissioners against risk retention groups.(Special report: alternative risk)
March 1, 2004... People who remember the introduction of risk retention groups during the liability insurance crisis of the mid-1970s and 1980s can see striking similarities with the current hard market for property insurance. As a result, RRGs are being...

A mixed bag: retailers deal with supply chain risks, business continuity and the like. But most of their liabilities are the two-legged, hard-to-predict variety in the form of customers and employees.(Industry Risk Report)
March 1, 2004... If you ask people to juggle two balls, most can do it quite well. (After all, it's not really juggling.) Put a third ball in their hands, though, and it gets tricky. Few people can successfully juggle three balls for more than a few seconds....

Hardy boy grows into team player: ultimately, self-insurance would prove to be successful and would imbue Joe Hardy, director of risk management and insurance of Hudson's Bay Co., with the importance of working with strong partners.
March 1, 2004... Joe Hardy, director of risk management and insurance for Hudson's Bay Company, the largest retailer in Canada, admits he bears little physical resemblance to rugged 17th century adventurer Henry Hudson. While Hudson's retail business, like...

Industry risk report.
March 1, 2004... No two retail operations are exactly alike--nor are their risk exposures. But large retail operations do feel some of each other's pain, particularly in the area of workers' compensation, because most retain all of the risk. Massive jury awards...

Four-letter words retailers loathe: "slip" and "fall".(Industry Risk Report)
March 1, 2004... Numbers don't lie. That's what makes them so alarming. If you're a retailer, the odds are incredibly high that a customer or employee will be able to recover damages against you for an injury or accident occurring on your premises, even if you...

Present dangers: presenteeism is the next area of focus as companies seek to maximize their investment in human capital by improving productivity and promoting employee health and wellness.(disability)
March 1, 2004... These days, innovative and forward-thinking companies are studying the next component in the productivity equation. It's known as presenteeism, or the loss in productivity that occurs when workers are on the job, not but performing at their...

For insurers, heaven can wait: insurers will play a role in future ventures into space, but it is likely to remain a limited one. With the accident of shuttle Columbia last year, the death toll from U.S. manned missions literally doubled overnight.(property & casualty)
March 1, 2004... An ambitious future once again opening up for ventures into space might appear to offer new opportunities for the insurance market. The projected costs of a return to the Moon and a manned flight to Mars are staggering. President George W....

Technology buyers' guide.(Directory)
March 1, 2004... Below is a guide to specialty software packages for insurance companies. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an overview of some of the packages available. The software suppliers provided the data. To obtain more...

Property underwriting.(Insurance Coverages)
March 1, 2004... The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company has introduced a property-underwriting program for insurers and alternative risk transfer organizations, HSB has announced. The program combines property reinsurance capacity with a set...

Specialty underwriting.(Insurance Coverages)
March 1, 2004... GE Commercial Insurance has launched a new insurance program for Masonic associations, GE Commercial Insurance has announced. Thompkins & Co., a full service, independent agency specializing in Masonic associations, will underwrite the coverage...

Property.(Software & Systems)
March 1, 2004... OnePointCity, the Web-based settlement system from Geotrac, has added Freddie Mac's automated valuation model, Home Value Explorer, to its array of online products and services. Home Value Explorer combines public record data from the three...

Database marketing.(Reference & Training)
March 1, 2004... Harte-Hanks Inc. has announced the availability of Allink Insurance, a results-focused database marketing solution that combines analytics, marketing strategy and technology in a package tailored specifically for insurance marketers. This...

F. A. Richard & Associates Inc.(Executive Moves)
March 1, 2004... F. A. Richard & Associates Inc., a nationwide insurance services provider of risk management solutions and group benefits administration to insurance companies, self-insured corporations, and governmental entities, has promoted Tom Guidry to...

The PMA Insurance Group.(Executive Moves)
March 1, 2004... Gary Harvey has joined The PMA Insurance Group, a property and casualty organization specializing in workers' compensation for midsize and large employers, as a branch vice president for Florida, the company has announced. Harvey is responsible...

AIG Aviation Inc.(Executive Moves)
March 1, 2004... John Myers has been named chairman and CEO of AIG Aviation Inc., In addition, the company has announced that Steve Blakey will take over Myers' role as president. Myers began his career at Southeastern Aviation Underwriters in 1966, and joined...

Aspen Insurance U.K. Ltd.(Executive Moves)
March 1, 2004... Mark Bodkin has been appointed worldwide property underwriter, Aspen Insurance U.K. Ltd., has announced. Based in London, he will be responsible for developing a worldwide property insurance account focusing on substantial risks. Bodkin has...

GE's Employers Reinsurance Corporation (ERC).(Executive Moves)
March 1, 2004... GE's Employers Reinsurance Corporation (ERC) has announced the appointment of Linda DiFolco as North America casualty facultative product leader. DiFolco will focus primarily on underwriting strategy, product management and new product...

Rx drugs: negotiate discounts.(point/counterpoint)
March 1, 2004... Today, prescription drug costs are rising 17 percent a year--making it difficult for consumers, states and businesses to afford health care. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., believes that we should add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. That...

Rx drugs: import them from Canada.(point/counterpoint)
March 1, 2004... Today U.S. citizens spend approximately $200 billion on prescription drugs, twice as much as just five years ago. Government programs and large health care providers negotiate deep discounts on prescription drug prices, and Canadian citizens...