ABI Assures UK Flood Victims Insurers Ready to Help

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a bulletin advising “anyone who has suffered flood damage as a result of the heavy rain that has so far hit Northern Ireland, Wales and south-west England to contact their insurer as soon as possible.” Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance, noted: “Events like this are exactly why people take out insurance. Insurers plan for bad weather, and will have arrangements in place to minimize distress and inconvenience and help people recover as quickly as possible.

Jones Explains New California Workers’ Comp Calculations at Public Hearing

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones explained during a public hearing in Sacramento on Tuesday why the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is restructuring how the state’s workers’ compensation pure premium rate is calculated, a move that was supported by the Association of California Insurance Companies. Jones and ACIC are on board with a new process of analyzing rates that insurers have filed and using that as a benchmark to make the pure premium reflect the market rate.

KEMI to Offer Preferred Program to the Kentucky Restaurant Association

Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance (KEMI) and the Kentucky Restaurant Association (KRA) have launched a new workers’ compensation program.  KEMI is partnering with KRA to make workers’ comp benefits affordable for KRA’s members, and to provide the resources and support that are necessary to improve and maintain a safe work environment.  

Texas Insurance Executive Named President of Surety Bond Producers Association

John M. Rindt, executive vice president of the Surety Division of JDW Insurance, an El Paso, Texas-based insurance agency, has been installed as the president of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP). The NASBP is an international trade association in Washington, D.C., serving a membership of firms with personnel of over 5,000 surety agents and brokers

Missouri Bill Address Employee Liability in Workers’ Comp

Missouri legislators are considering two workers’ compensation bills to address whether an employee is liable when an employee is injured on the job SB 8 would restrict co-employee liability in workers’ compensation cases, holding employers liable, irrespective of negligence, for personal injury or death of an employee, but barring employees of that employer from liability, unless that employee purposefuly and dangerously caused or increased the injured employee’s risk of injury.

California Insurer Association Names New Board Leadership

Members of the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) nominated and appointed a new chair, vice chair, and board of directors to serve for a two-year term.

California Insurance Women’s Group Installs New Members

The South Bay Chapter of the National Association of Insurance Women International based in Torrance, Calif., recently installed nine new members to the local association. Installations included: Kathya Ceballos of Superior Access Insurance Agency; Stacy Colledge of United Agencies Inc.; Irma Cousin of Foy & Associates; Sarah Jane Hollowood of Red Bull Risk Management North America; Linda Sanzo of Green Mountain Association, Vermont; Michele White of Pacific Coast Process Solutions; Cheryl Zamarripa of World Wide Facilities; Lori Fitzpatrick of Custom Employee Benefits; and Nicole Sullivan of Nickerson Insurance Services. Additionally, Jane Sonoda of Roanoke Trade Services Inc.

Texas Regulators Move to Take Over Windstorm Insurance Association

The Texas Department of Insurance has informed the director of the state’s property insurance company of last resort for wind in the state’s coastal counties that it is placing the organization under TDI’s administrative oversight. In a Feb. 28, 2011, letter to Texas Windstorm Insurance Association General Manager Jim Oliver, Texas Insurance Commissioner of Geeslin laid out a number of reasons why regulators believe that TWIA management is not capable of operating the organization “in a safe and sound manner.” Among other things, Geeslin said, information gathered by or submitted to TDI staff indicates that: In multiple instances, an outside claims adjuster was paid for adjusting work that appears not to have been performed and that TWIA paid claims based on that outside adjuster’s recommendation; TWIA management was aware of this and failed to report it in writing to the department’s insurance fraud unit within the required time frame after determining or suspecting a fraudulent insurance act had been committed; and TWIA failed to adequately address issues identified through a financial examination and analysis conducted by TDI, which indicated a lack of adequate controls over accounting, personnel and material decisions affecting day-to-day operations, as well as communications with staff, the board of directors and the department

Recent Calif. Regulator Actions Create Insurance Agent/Broker Concerns

January 7, 2011 Reflecting on Calif.

Economist: Oregonian Insurance Agents Can Expect Unsettling Year

January 7, 2011 Oregonians should expect a long slow recovery from the recession, and it will be years before the economy returns to pre-recession levels, John Mitchel, an economist and former Western Regional Economist for U.S. Bank, warned insurance agents and brokers in the state. Mitchel, who serves on the board of directors for Oregon Mutual Insurance and addressed the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Oregon on January 6, said, “Recovery from financial crisis have always been long slow drawn out experiences

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