Insurance Review articles from October 1991

Insurance Review archives from October 1991

A new formula 103. (a newly proposed auto insurance system)
October 1, 1991... A NEW FORMULA 103 * Frustrated in his latest moves to extract $2.5 billion in refunds for 20 million California auto, property and liability insurance policyholders, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi lashed out at the industry and...

Thermography debate heats up. (controversial medical techniques used to locate body injury)
October 1, 1991... THERMOGRAPHY DEBATE HEATS UP * The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that insurers must pay for a controversial medical technique used to locate injury in the body. But the justices did allow insurers to challenge the technique's cost,...

Assistant U.S. attorney William Q. Hayes. (discussion on insurance fraud) (Interview)
October 1, 1991... ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY WILLIAM Q. HAYES An unscrupulous coalition of lawyers known as the "Alliance" cheated a number of insurance companies out of nearly $350 million before they were finally brought to justice this summer. Assistant...

Supermess. (Superfund's waste site program turns out to be an environmental menace)(includes related articles) (Cover Story)
October 1, 1991... Supermess It's a truism in sticky arbitrations that if a decision pleases none of the contending parties, it must be good. By that criterion, Superfund is close to greatness. Enacted by Congress 11 years ago as a special federal program to...

Consumer protectionism: a threat to E&S markets? (excess and surplus market; insurance industry)
October 1, 1991... CONSUMER PROTECTIONISM: A Threat to E&S Markets? In Buffalo, N.Y., surplus lines broker Kurt Bingeman has an ambulance risk he thinks should be placed in the excess and surplus (E&S) market. To operate in the town where he wants to do...

Building grass roots support. (managing effective public relations in the insurance industry)
October 1, 1991... BUILDING GRASS ROOTS SUPPORT When Lib Carlisle invited 100 current and potential customers to a forum on workers' comp, more than a few feared it was just another sales pitch. They were wrong. And they were the first to admit it. "They...

Dialing for digitized messages. (evaluation of automated telephones)
October 1, 1991... Dialing for Digitized Messages The telephone is becoming a growing part of the industry's information processing and delivery systems. Although the computer has captured most of the automation spotlight, the telephone is still one of the...

The weather bookies. (Worldwide Weather Insurance Agency Inc., weather risk insurers)
October 1, 1991... The Weather Bookies Insurers of weather risks depend on mathematical probability, not weather balloons, to help them beat the odds on writing this coverage. In the summer of 1990, managing general agent Harold Mollin became fodder for...

Managing for better profits. (for independent insurance agencies)
October 1, 1991... Managing for Better Profits Many of the expenses incurred in owning and operating an independent insurance agency can be measured in dollars and cents. But certain operating conditions and functional areas of an agency can result in hidden...