| //17-04-2009 |
Zurich Financial Services Inc.’s agreement to buy American International Group Inc.’s auto- insurance unit may spark more takeovers as sellers accept prices below those commanded before the financial crisis.
Zurich will pay $1.9 billion and assume $100 million in debt to buy AIG’s 21st Century Direct and other auto businesses to increase U.S. Internet sales, the firms said yesterday. The price is about 86 cents for every dollar of book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities, Zurich said.
|
| //17-04-2009 |
Divided insurance regulators abandoned plans yesterday to vote on an embattled document outlining methods of federally backing up insurance companies during calamitous storms associated with climate change.
|
| //16-04-2009 |
China's eight major insurance groups are now required to screen risks concerning solvency, financial status, corporate governance, significant investments and group control, among others, to come up with countermeasures, plus report to the insurance watchdog.
|
| //16-04-2009 |
THERE are plenty of people singling out causes for the collapse of the financial markets, and conveniently, the source of the problem is usually someone else. But accountability lies with all of us — the insurance industry, regulators, banks and credit rating agencies. The insurance companies that wrote credit default swaps were happy not to be regulated. Insurance regulators didn’t expand their oversight to ensure the solvency of these companies.
|
| //16-04-2009 |
WHILE the big insurance companies have been buffeted by the weak economy and investment losses, the industry’s front line, the insurance agencies, have generally been riding out the adversity.
“This is a great business, because people always need insurance,” said Janet Jones, president of the Elkins Jones Insurance Agency in Los Angeles. “It’s just a question of who they buy it from.”
|
| //15-04-2009 |
|
| //15-04-2009 |
Philadelphia Insurance Companies ("PHLY") is proud to unveil its Premises Environmental Coverage (PEC). The Environmental division writes stand-alone, all risk PEC policies on a primary basis. The coverage provides both on and off site third party bodily injury and property damage along with cleanup of pre-existing and new conditions. PEC affords limits of up to $3 million with additional capacity expected shortly.
|
| //15-04-2009 |
Torrent Technologies, Inc. (Torrent) announced today that Rural Community Insurance Company (RCIC), a Wells Fargo Company and subsidiary of Rural Community Insurance Services (RCIS), has selected Torrent to provide technology solutions and back office services supporting their recent entrance into the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) "Write Your Own" (WYO) Program.
|
| //14-04-2009 |
LAST MONDAY, I had the opportunity to attend a health-care roundtable discussion with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. She brought together health-care advocates, providers and everyday people like me to discuss the skyrocketing cost of health care and the need for comprehensive health-care reform.
|
| //14-04-2009 |
Shares of Genworth Financial Inc. lost nearly a fifth of their value Monday after the insurance company said it would not be eligible to participate in the government's $700 billion financial rescue program, deflating hopes that it would soon get a lifeline.
Investors have been concerned that Genworth and other struggling insurance companies would be the next part of the financial industry to need help after banks, as the slumping stock market wallops their investment portfolios.
Genworth said late Thursday that the government had informed the company that it missed its deadline to become approved as a bank holding company and that the deadline would not be extended, rendering it ineligible to receive rescue funds.
|
| //14-04-2009 |
The insurance lobbyists are out in force to counter any real health care reform. This time, the voices of American people need to be heard. Barack Obama has proposed a workable solution and America deserves a choice. Let people choose between keeping the for-profit insurance they already have, if they want it, or a public health care option like Medicare.
|
| //13-04-2009 |
Swiss Life and Talanx have agreed on a strategic partnership for cooperation in key business areas. Talanx will acquire a stake of up to 9.9% in Swiss Life and will take over a participation of 8.4% in MLP from Swiss Life's holdings. In addition, Swiss Life confirms the preliminary figures for 2008 presented on 20 February 2009
|
| //13-04-2009 |
Sales of so-called immediate annuities are climbing as retirees are drawn to lifetime payments guaranteed by U.S. insurance companies.
Immediate annuities pay a periodic fixed amount of money for life in exchange for a lump-sum payment. New York Life Insurance Co., the largest policyholder-owned U.S. life insurer, reported an 80 percent increase in sales of the contracts during the first quarter from a year earlier
|
| //13-04-2009 |
A state judge from Berrien County has ruled in favor of insurance companies and against the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation in a suit over the state¡¯s attempts to force insurance companies to stop charging higher rates to those with substandard credit ratings.
|
| //11-04-2009 |
Do you have a life insurance policy or an annuity with one of the companies seeking a bailout: Prudential, Hartford, Lincoln National or Genworth?
Are you worried about what will happen to your policy if your insurance company sinks?
ABCNews.com wants to hear from you. Please share your story by filling out the form below. An ABCNews.com producer may contact you for more information.
|
| //11-04-2009 |
Aetna (NYSE: AET) Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams today appeared before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee to outline the critical components of needed health care reform and to signal Aetna's readiness to work with Members of Congress to create and implement practical solutions
|
| //10-04-2009 |
Shares in life insurers have soared higher in trading on news they may get a government bailout via TARP capital injections. Hartford Financial, Genworth Financial, Lincoln National, Prudential Financial, all have stayed steadily in the green.
But why should US taxpayer dollars, which were supposed to be used to help banks, be used to bail out insurers that are regulated by the states, which enjoy the economic benefits of their business? What next, mutual fund companies?
Why should US taxpayers bail out life insurers who routinely lobby state regulators to weaken their capital reserve requirements, and who have their policies backed by state insurance guarantee associations?
|
| //10-04-2009 |
One Havana business owner says auto body shops in small towns are getting a bum deal from some insurance companies.
And he says his business suffers as a result.
|
| //10-04-2009 |
Richard Fine woke up Thursday morning, sat down to write a check to his insurance company, Genworth Financial, and while listening to the news realized the very company to which he was about to send his money was asking the federal government for a bailout.
|
| //09-04-2009 |
Some of them, including Lincoln Financial, have bought small banks or thrifts in the hope of qualifying for government help.
|
