Best's Review articles from January 2003

Best's Review archives from January 2003

Growing concerns. (Editor's prologue).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The trends and issues that insurance leaders predict will shape the industry in 2003 have long roots. There are no unexpected disasters, as Sept. 11 influenced 2002. There are no anticipated uncertainties, as Y2K colored predictions for 2000....

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. (People in Insurance).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's board has elected Robert L. Shoptaw as chairman. Shoptaw, chief executive officer of Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield, succeeds Michael B. Unhjem, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of...

Life Insurance Company of America. (People in Insurance).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Dennis J. Manning has been named chief executive officer of Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, effective Jan. 1, 2003, by the company's board of directors. Manning will continue to serve as president of Guardian as he has since January...

Marine lines enjoy strong pricing. (Briefing).
January 1, 2003... The head of a U.S. marine underwriters trade group said that, more than a year later, the Sept. 11 terrorist catastrophe continues to "loom large" over the sector. And while marine and cargo underwriting performance kept pace with the rest of...

GE Employers Reinsurance. (People in Insurance).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GE Employers Reinsurance has appointed Kathryn Baker as general counsel for its global property/casualty business unit, responsible for strategy, policy-setting and shaping the legal framework for Global P&C Re. During her 25-year tenure...

White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (People in Insurance).(appointments)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. has elected Ray Barrette as president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2003. Jack Byrne, the company's current chairman and CEO, intends to remain chairman until at least 2005. Barrette joined...

By the numbers. (Briefing).(finance)
January 1, 2003... An Early Look Back at 2002 Although the entire year's official numbers aren't available yet, the first look at the industry's results shows net premiums written up for the first half, and nine-month net income mixed in a sampling of some...

Meetings.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Jan. 14: Insurance Information Institute, P/C Insurance Joint Industry Forum, Waldorf-Astoria, New York, Phone: (212) 346-5562, Fax: (212) 291-1807. Jan. 15-17: Loss Executives Association, Loss Executives Annual Meeting, Marriott...

NAIC's own Insurance costs rise 25%. (Briefing).(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The National Association of Insurance Commissioners isn't immune from the hardening market. The association of state insurance regulators expects to spend an additional $103,527 for insurance premiums in 2003, a 25% increase over 2002. That's...

NAIC wants writers to expand privacy notice. (Briefing).(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Workers' compensation insurers would have to send privacy notices to the employers they cover or injured workers who file claims under an amendment adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The NAIC adopted an...

Health insurance, class actions top state regulators' agenda. (Briefing).(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Health insurance and class-action lawsuits will be key issues in 2003 for state insurance regulators, according to the newly elected leaders of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "Health insurance will be front and center...

NAIC picks leaders for 2003. (Briefing).(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... In a move that surprised some insurance pundits, two of the three new leaders of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners are appointed from states where control of the governor's mansion will change parties in January. Mike...

Best's Rating Changes. (Ratings).
January 1, 2003... This summary of Best's Rating Changes includes U.S.-domiciled life, health-care and property/casualty insurers as well as international insurers that had ratings assigned, changed or placed under review since this section last appeared in the...

Managing between a rock and a hard market. (Cover Story).
January 1, 2003... The market will make 2003 an attractive time for underwriting, but the investment environment poses real challenges for insurance companies, industry leaders say. Greater financial transparency, rising health-care costs and the ongoing need for...

2002: insurers deal with a new crisis, old issues. (Industry Strategies).
January 1, 2003... Corporate misdeeds hit the directors and officers line and affected insurers' investments, but problems such as mold, rising health-care costs and a troubled medical-malpractice line continue to plague the industry. The corporate debacles,...

People to watch in 2003. (Industry Strategies).(people likely to affect the course of the industry)
January 1, 2003... The insurance industry is more than companies and numbers. Here are a few of the people likely to affect the course of the industry in the year ahead as well as comments from four of them on turning points that helped them get to where they...

The bumpy route to independence: when insurers divest of their captive agents, custody battles and lawsuits can follow. (Industry Strategies).
January 1, 2003... When an insurer decides that its career, or captive, agent force has become too costly to maintain, it can cut back on the number of agents, change their working relationship or eliminate them to transform this distribution channel into...

The write impression: sloppy, murky writing can cost insurers millions in lost productivity and expose them to bad-faith lawsuits.
January 1, 2003... Insurers can avoid potential problems by cleaning up poor grammar, inappropriate tone and muddy writing in their official correspondence with policyholders. The following examples, gleaned from more than 5,000 letters in the claims,...

Getting to the root of the problem: travelers' state-of-the-art high-tech laboratory enables experts to find the causes of major losses and fraud. (Property/Casualty).(investigation of fires)
January 1, 2003... It looks like a Home Depot appliance department scorched by a flash fire. On multilevel shelves reaching high up to the tall ceiling, hundreds of singed or blackened washers, dryers, microwaves, stoves, televisions--and even one hot tub--await...

Exit Lines: Dean R. O'Hare recently stepped down as Chubb's chairman, leaving behind a legacy of global expansion and underwriting profits. (Property/Casualty).(finance)
January 1, 2003... Chubb Corp. was more global, more specialized and still focused on making an underwriting profit on Nov. 30, 2002, when Dean R. O'Hare stepped down after 14 years as its chairman and chief executive officer. Speaking of his legacy with...

Wedding bells ring sales: the growing cost of getting married is creating a market for wedding insurance. (Property/Casualty).
January 1, 2003... When Roger and Karen Sandau were planning their destination wedding in Maui, Hawaii, they felt they needed a way to protect their investment. After all, they were contracting with many unknown vendors and planning to travel a great distance....

Learning through losses: analyzing an account after a large claim can lead to improved underwriting, prevention of more losses and better claims handling. (Property/Casualty).
January 1, 2003... A few years ago, I was an assistant basketball coach at a suburban Philadelphia high school. We had a very talented team and expectations were high, but we lost three of our first seven games. After our third loss, the coaches and players came...

Marketers investigate ethnographic research. (Property/Casualty).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... As the level of chaos in the property/casualty industry begins to settle, insurance marketers are focusing on how they are going to sustain growth in the year ahead, said Kimberly Paterson of Creative Insurance Marketing. Insurance...

Insurance services come with a slurpee on the side. (Property/Casualty).(automobile-related insurance services via 7-Eleven stores' Vcom electronic kiosks)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Public Access Insurance is offering a variety of automobile-related insurance services via 7-Eleven stores' Vcom electronic kiosks. Vcom is 7-Eleven stores' integrated financial kiosk that merges ATM capabilities with other services. The kiosk...

After research, Liberty Mutual rebrands its Property division. (Property/Casualty).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Liberty Mutual Group has relaunched its property division after conducting extensive market research with insurance buyers and producers. Liberty Mutual Property has changed its name and refined its market focus to emphasize mid-sized...

Facing the tough questions: small-business owners increasingly are asking why their premiums keep rising. (Property/Casualty).
January 1, 2003... When a small-business owner talks to an agent or carrier these days it seems the conversation often begins with "Why me?" Then it builds. "I haven't had any losses for years. I've been loyal. I pay my bills on time. I don't make many changes to...

Expenses due to workplace violence now covered. (Property/Casualty).(American International Group)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Insurance coverage for the financial loss associated with incidents of workplace violence is being offered by American International Group inc.'s American International Cos. The Workplace Assurance product allows insureds access to the services...

AIR debuts new models for Asia-Pacific region. (Property/Casualty).(AIR Worldwide Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... AIR Worldwide Corp. released new typhoon and earthquake models for the Asia-Pacific region covering Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines. AIR Worldwide Corp. is a catastrophe and weather risk modeling company. "The Asia-Pacific...

Program nails savings for roofers. (Property/Casualty).(workers' compensation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Moody Insurance Agency found a way to combine lower workers' compensation premiums to contractors who specialize in roofing with a safer work environment. For the third year in a row, Denver-based Moody Insurance Agency has provided a dividend...

Changing the answers: the gap between the risk we are taking and the risk we can afford to take may have grown. (Property/Casualty).
January 1, 2003... The fundamental questions of risk management are timeless and universal. The answers, though, have changed in ways that have significant implications. I was reminded of the first point during dinner with close friends and a guest they had...

Opting out: as more insurers leave the Medicare+Choice marketplace because of low reimbursement rates, a new option for the federal program will be pilot tested. (Life/Health).
January 1, 2003... As insurers continue to exit the Medicare+Choice program, the federal government is being urged by the industry to make the program more financially palatable. "Certainly, there is a crisis that needs to be addressed," said Susan Pisano, a...

Resuscitating credit life: banks' new debt-protection products have cut into the credit insurance market, but credit insurers are finding ways to cope. (Life/Health).
January 1, 2003... Credit insurance has been hard to sell in recent years, and insurers see little prospect for future growth. Now a new kind of banking product is beginning to cut into sales even more. The new products, issued by federally chartered lending...

Restoring confidence: over time, consistent appropriate behavior will slowly restore investor trust in financial institutions. (Life/Health).
January 1, 2003... Judging by the performance of their stocks through last October, life underwriters have not escaped the beating taken by other financial institutions or the overall market, even though they have not been subjected to the kind of negative...

New products and services. (Life/Health).(Louisiana Department of Insurance has published a 2003-2004 Long-Term Care Insurance Comparison Guide)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Louisiana Department of Insurance has published a 2003-2004 Long-Term Care Insurance Comparison Guide to give consumers a better understanding of this complicated product. The intent of the 48-page booklet is to provide a starting point for...

The Hartford Financial Services Group. (Life/Health).(has added electronic imaging of life insurance applications to its customer-service operation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Hartford Financial Services Group, Simsbury, Conn., has added electronic imaging of life insurance applications to its customer-service operation. Document imaging makes it possible for customer-service representatives to access and...

The Internal Revenue Service. (Life/Health).(has issued Revenue Ruling 2002-62,)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2002-62, which allows the owner of an Individual Retirement Account or qualified plan to reduce the payout method to avoid premature depletion of the account. The rule applies to IRA...

GE's new 'sweepstakes' campaign generates leads. (Life/Health).(GE Financial)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Richmond, Va.-based GE Financial has identified 12,333 people who want to be contacted by a licensed financial professional or receive financial information as a result of a 10-week "Retirement Sweepstakes" media campaign. More than...

Cerulli urges reassessment for life insurance industry. (Life/Health).(Cerulli Associates)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The life insurance industry is "ill-equipped" to handle an anticipated swing in demand for asset preservation and retirement income, says Boston-based Cerulli Associates in a recent report. In the report, Funding Retirement Income: Impact...

TIAA-CREF pays commissions. (Life/Health).(Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund is)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... For the first time in its 80-plus years, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund is paying commissions to intermediaries selling one of its products. On Oct. 15, the New York-based company began paying a...

No surprises: insurers should expand scenario testing to help them understand and manage the expected volatility of future earnings. (Life/Health).
January 1, 2003... In today's volatile business environment, insurance companies need to increase transparency and minimize unexpected surprises in future earnings. That means they must measure the impact of their strategies, in terms of both value and risk, on...

Common ground: negotiations on facultative reinsurance have always been time consuming and labor intensive, but technology is making the process easier. (Technology).
January 1, 2003... Negotiated one complicated risk at a time, facultative reinsurance has always involved a potential for lots of bargaining. Now some reinsurers and direct writers are finding the Internet to be a good place to meet, place coverage and build...

Cutting IT can be costly: reducing the budgets for information technology programs will not save companies money in the long run. (Technology).(information technology)
January 1, 2003... In the current difficult market, insurers looking to save money may consider cutting their information technology spending. However, insurers doing this may find a dollar saved is not a dollar earned. Both property and casualty and life...

Hartford Financial Services Group. (Web News You Can Use).(launched www.thehartford.com)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... * Hartford Financial Services Group has launched www.thehartford.com, an online insurance center, to help companies with 21 to 499 employees. It includes features such as tips on buying insurance and ways to reduce risks for commercial property...

Aetna Inc. (Web News You Can Use).(has launched a new portal)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Aetna Inc. has launched a new portal, TriZetto HealthMarkets Broker Portal, to give insurance agents in the mid-Atlantic region access to real-time, online insurance quotes for mid-sized employers. The California-based TriZetto Group has built...

QuickQuote.com. (Web News You Can Use).(short-term health insurance policies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... * QuickQuote.com said it is now offering IHateFinancialPlanning.com's customers access to short-term health insurance policies. Customers can typically have a policy in place within 24 hours.

The 2002 Employee Benefits Trend Survey by MetLife. (Web News You Can Use).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... About 44% of U.S. employees used the Internet to enroll in their companies' benefits in 2002, up from 15% in 2001, according to the 2002 Employee Benefits Trend Survey by MetLife. At companies with more than 5,000 employees, the percentage of...

Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp. (Web News You Can Use).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Web Pay, a service that lets independent agents electronically post payments for new auto policies, installments and late payments/cancellation notices, is now available to Connecticut agencies that represent Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp. Web...

Survey: life insurers want to sell more on internet. (Technology).(American Council of Life Insurers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Life insurers want to catch up with other financial services and make better use of e-commerce, but obstacles such as ineffective government regulations stand in the way, according to a survey by the American Council of Life Insurers. The...

Inreon gains ACORD certification, will simplify transfer of data. (Technology).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Inreon, the Internet-based reinsurance trading platform, has been certified by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development for implementing risk placement standards. ACORD, the New York-based industry standards body,...

Meemic shareholders' vote OKs ProAssurance merger. (Companies).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Meemic Holdings Inc. shareholders have voted to approve the merger of the company with ProAssurance Corp. after delays caused by a shareholder's suit postponed the vote. In July, Meemic's board approved a plan to become a wholly owned...

Wellpoint to acquire Dental and Vision provider. (Companies).(Golden West Dental & Vision)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... WellPoint Health Networks Inc. said it would acquire Golden West Dental & Vision, a privately held company with about 293,000 members. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. WellPoint, which already has 2.7 million members in its...

ING completes $1 billion debt sale to U.S., Asian investors. (Companies).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Netherlands-based ING Group said it raised $1 billion from retail investors in the United States and Asia through the offering of perpetual debt securities. The funds raised will be used to strengthen ING's solvency, the company said....

Arthur J. Gallagher buys New Orleans agency. (Companies).(Encore Insurance & Bonding Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said it has acquired Encore Insurance & Bonding Inc. of New Orleans for undisclosed terms. Encore Insurance & Bonding, an agency specializing in risk management and commercial property/casualty insurance services...

Index to 2002 Best's Review Articles.
January 1, 2003... Agent/Broker Issues From Mountains to Molehills. Work backlogs can be cleared if agencies attack the inefficiencies and change their procedures.January, p. 56. The Perfect Partnership. Alliances between insurers and distributors...

A formula for retirement. (Comment).
January 1, 2003... The October issue of Best's Review just filtered its way to my desk. I want to address the article, "Surveys Indicate That Workers Way Behind on Retirement Plans" (October 2002). For years, I have advocated the widespread use of a simple...

Hooray for the Award Recipient. (Comment).(Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The article on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. receiving the E-Fusion Award was terrific (December 2002). As a property and casualty agent, I'm happy to see a property and casualty company a leader among the so heavily automated life/health industry....

In the Spotlight *. (Comment).(environmental insurance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The whole concept of environmental insurance probably seemed like an oxymoron until not too long ago." Stuart Miner, Cofounder and Vice President LandBank Group Inc. Lakewood, Colo. * Excerpted from Best Week