Daily Headlines: Friday, December 30, 2011

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December 30, 2011 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National Court Upholds Law Giving Telecom Firms Immunity for Surveillance A U.S. appeals panel on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that grants immunity to telecommunications companies that ... Is It Time for Permanent Yearly Calendar, Single Time Zone? Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered a way to make time stand still -- at least when it comes to the yearly ... E&O Insights: Enhance Your Errors & Omissions Culture in 2012 As the end of 2011 approaches, this is a good time to reflect upon what went well and what didn't during the year — as well as what ... Ratings Roundup: Gramercy, Southern Trust A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to 'B' (Fair) from 'B+' (Good) and issuer credit rating to "bb" from ... Despite Losses, Insurers Not Hiking Prices Broadly Despite more than $100 billion in disaster losses around the world this year, insurers are not yet experiencing a broad and sustained ... Fire Risk Lower in High-Rise Buildings: Report Fires in high-rise buildings cause about $230 million in property damage and take more than 50 lives a year. But high-rise buildings tend ... As User-Based Insurance Takes Off, Towers Watson Steers It Globally When Towers Watson expanded its user-based insurance (UBI) DriveAbility program beyond the United States last month, it wasn't just based on... More National News East Maryland Court: Premium Financing Firms Overcharged Auto Policyholders A Maryland court ruled last week that the state's largest premium financing companies were engaged in illegal financing practices against ... Jay-Z Sued by Workers Compensation Board of New York Workers Compensation Board of New York filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z for allegedly failing to make workers' comp payments worth ... New York Unions Sue State Over Retiree Health Insurance Costs Unions representing state workers in New York have filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Cuomo administration challenging an ... More East News Midwest State Auto Financial: Changes to Pooling Agreement Approved State Auto Financial Corp. has received regulatory approval for proposed changes to the intercompany reinsurance pooling agreement for the ... Indiana: 2% Fail Job Training Drug Tests Indiana officials say a drug testing program that started in July for people seeking job training has led to about 2 percent of applicants ... More Midwest News Southeast Attempt to Mediate West Virginia Monsanto Suit Fails Another attempt to resolve a West Virginia class-action pollution lawsuit against Monsanto Co. has failed. Media outlets report that ... South Carolina Insurance Director Black Resigns South Carolina is looking for a new insurance commissioner. Eleven months after being nominated for the job by Gov. Nikki Haley, David ... North Carolina Farm Bureau Weighs Cutback in Homeowners Policies One of North Carolina's largest homeowners' insurers says it is considering canceling the coverage of up to 70,000 homeowners unless ... More Southeast News South Central Texas-Based Barhorst Insurance Group Rebrands as Iscential Houston-based insurance agency, Barhorst Insurance Group (BIG), announced it is beginning the new year with a new name: Iscential. The ... Settlement Reached in Elly Mae Clampett Barbie Doll Suit The actress who played Elly May Clampett on the "The Beverly Hillbillies," toymaker Mattel Inc. and CBS Consumer Products Inc. have ... 6 Years Later, Katrina Victims Fight FEMA Debts When the Federal Emergency Management Agency mailed out 83,000 debt notices this year to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 ... More South Central News West Alaskan Volcano Put on Alert An explosion at a volcano in Alaska caused the U.S. Geological Survey to put out an alert. USGS detected a drifting ash cloud at the ... Commuter Train Kills Pedestrian On Tracks A Metrolink commuter train has struck and killed a pedestrian in Southern California. Orange police Lt. Dave Hill told the Orange County ... Jones Announces Joint Effort to Fight California's 'Underground Economy' The California Department of Insurance (CDI) is joining with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and other agencies to fight labor ... More West News International Guy Carpenter Analyzes 2011 Catastrophes; $108 Billion in Losses Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter has examined the past year's natural catastrophes, which it describes as "an unusually eventful year for ... Breast Implant Scandal Shows Regulators in Dark on Tracking Risks Long before the latest global breast implant scare, American health officials were toying with the idea of building a registry that would ... Report: News Int’l. Ups Fund to Settle Illegal Hacking Claims to $155 Million The British arm of News Corp has increased the legal fund it will use to settle civil litigation cases brought by victims of phone hacking ... Willis Re Reports Jan. 1 Renewals Focus on Nat Cat Data An analysis from Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Group Holdings, notes that the majority of this year's catastrophe ... JLT Subsidiary Acquires Irish Broker FBD Insurance JLT Insurance Brokers (Ireland) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc, has acquired FBD Insurance Brokers ... More International News Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV Swiss Re Chief Economist Analyzes Current Market Conditions Swiss Re's chief economist Kurt Karl discusses the challenges the insurance industry faces,... Watch Now Interesting Times in Medical Liability The medical liability market continues to perform well even as the nation struggles to... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums Are Insurance Agents Employees or Independent Contractors? Posted: Fri Dec 30 -- If they are independent contractors, each sales agent would also need to provide the agency with an E & O policy. If they are independent,... LadyBroker Adding Addtional Insureds Posted: Thu Dec 29 -- Listen to the advice given below. NEVER request a change to a policy without specific instructions from the policyholder. by ForumReader1 ... Temblor My CPCU journey - almost finished..... Posted: Thu Dec 29 -- I earned my CPCU in 1995 under the old 10 part system. Back then all the exams were a 3 hour essay format and were offered only twice per... ForumReader1 Facebook Posted: Thu Dec 29 -- This is an interesting post as we are in the process of developing a full-time social networking position to create a presence on Linkedin,... jdwebb Go to Forums Reader Comments Aon Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Former Exec, Now at Alliant Posted: Wed Dec 28 -- Aon only has a problem with someone violating a non-compete when it is theirs. They sure didn't have a problem supporting Pat Ryan's raid on... jfk1971 $1.6M Award for Connecticut Man Injured in Icy Road Accident Posted: Tue Dec 27 -- This is a very bad ruling. I hope they appeal and it gets overturned. Observer South Carolina State Worker Seeks Free Speech Damages Over Firing Posted: Tue Dec 27 -- Diversity training rarely allows diversity of thought or opinion, and honest open questions. Just sit there and agree or your are fired. Observer Esurance Debuts First Ad Campaign Since Being Bought by Allstate Posted: Tue Dec 27 -- This must make Allstate Agent's real happy. Now they have another major competitor!! If Allstate really had their true wish, there would be... Steve Former New Mexico Hospital Exec Sued Over Missing $3.2M Posted: Thu Dec 29 -- Had he been bilking Medicare or Medicaid, he would never have been caught. Fraud and waste in Medicare/Medicaid costs the taxpayers over... 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