Daily Headlines: Friday, May 18, 2012

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May 18, 2012 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National Safety Inspections Don’t Hurt Businesses; Do Lower Workers’ Comp Costs: Study Random inspections of U.S. industrial workplaces lower the risk of workers being injured on the job and have no measurable negative effect ... MGIC Sues Freddie Mac in Insurance Coverage Dispute Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. has sued mortgage financier Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Administration to settle a ... AIG Shares Fall Below Government Breakeven Price Shares in bailed-out insurer American International Group dipped below the government's breakeven price on its 61 percent stake in the ... Workers' Compensation Premium Grows But Market'Conflicted' Workers' compensation premium grew by 7.4 percent in 2011, a positive sign for the state of the line. However, the combined ratio for the... More National News East Vermont Becomes First State in U.S. to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday signed into law the nation's first ban on a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique that involves ... N.J. Police Chief Is Convicted of Insurance Fraud, Faces Prison Term Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa faces up to 45 years in prison after a jury convicted him of insurance fraud and official misconduct. ... Northern United Agents Alliance in N.H. Expands, Adding 2 New Agencies The Northern United Agents Alliance (NUAA), an independent agency partnership based in New Hampshire, added two new agency members. The new ... Vermont Governor Shumlin Signs Health ‘Exchange’ Bill Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed into law the next step in a multi-year effort to revamp Vermont's health care system and make it more like ... Judge: New York AG Must Decide on Revealing Spitzer’s Emails on AIG New York's Attorney General must review his predecessor's private emails relating to a probe of American International Group Inc. and ... More East News Midwest Dean, Hanner, Richardson Named Corporate VPs at Arthur J. Gallagher Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has appointed Eric C. Dean, Jerome S. Hanner and Cara Richardson as corporate vice presidents. Dean joined ... A Year after Joplin Tornadoes, $2.16B in Insurance Claims Paid The tornado that swept through Joplin, Mo., on May 22, 2011, has generated $2.16 billion in insurance claims payouts to Missouri ... Despite Grant, South Dakota Will Wait on Health Insurance Exchange South Dakota has been awarded a $5.9 million federal grant to continue research into the possibility of a state-run health insurance ... North Dakota Agent Accused of Creating Fake Policy Applications North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm announced he has served a cease and desist order against Tim Everett, a Grand Forks area ... More Midwest News Southeast Florida’s Citizens Defends Plan to Consider Higher Rates on New Business Facing protests from consumers and state officials, Florida's state-run homeowners insurer has found itself defending a proposal to ... Forecasters Examine Hurricane Andrew’s Legacy The ability to predict how bad a storm will be has eluded forecasters since Hurricane Andrew made a catastrophic landfall in South Florida ... Court Tosses Workplace Retaliation Damages Suit Against Mississippi College A federal appeals court has ruled for Hinds Community College in a workplace retaliation case. In 2010, a Mississippi federal judge ordered ... South Carolina Son Follows in Father’s Safety Footsteps Dwain Fogle believes in taking an extra minute to make sure safety is first in his job as a rural mail carrier, a lesson he learned from ... OSHA Probes Florida Postal Worker’s Mysterious Illness The federal agency that monitors worker safety has opened an investigation into the illness of a U.S. postal worker who became sick after ... More Southeast News South Central Louisiana Citizens Approved for $75M Line of Credit Louisiana's property insurer of last resort has gotten permission to secure a $75 million cash line of credit in case a hurricane damages ... Houston’s Dean & Draper Recognized for Technology Best Practices Houston-based Dean & Draper Insurance Agency has been recognized by the Network of Vertafore Users (NetVU) for employing technology ... Health Insurance Exchange Rejected by Louisiana Senators A proposal that would have set up a body of elected and appointed officials to craft the health insurance exchanges that anchor President ... More South Central News West Insurance Trades Join Suit Against Oregon's MVR Fee Increase The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America have joined a lawsuit ... SullivanCurtisMonroe Adds Kraatz as EVP in Southern California Irvine, Calif.-based SullivanCurtisMonroe named Shawn Kraatz as executive vice president in its Irvine office. His primary responsibilities ... Crop Damage in Central California From Storm Tops $79M San Joaquin Valley's crop damage estimate from a hail storm last month has reached more than $79 million. The Fresno Bee reports that Kings ... Family Sues California Mortuary Over Switched Bodies A family is suing a mortuary over a body switch that resulted in a grandmother being buried in another woman's clothes in a California ... Jury Awards More Than $1 Million To LAPD Sergeant Los Angeles has been ordered to pay more than $1 million in damages to a police officer who claimed he faced retaliation for reporting ... More West News International Tackling Euro Zone Crisis is Top Priority for G8 Leaders Leaders of major industrial economies meet this weekend to try to tackle a full-blown crisis in Europe where fears are growing that Greece ... Willis’ DARCstar D&O Program Marks First Year with New Offerings To mark the anniversary, May 18, 2012, of its DARCstar Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance coverage, Willis Group Holdings has ... China Broker CNinsure Announces Changes to Board of Directors CNinsure Inc. an independent insurance intermediary company operating in China, announced that the board of directors of the Company has ... Former Dewey & LeBoeuf Lawyers Join DLA Piper Hong Kong Office The DLA Piper law firm announced that a group of lawyers led by partners Joyce Chan and Heng Loong Cheong will join its Hong Kong office ... XL Group Names Whelley Executive VP- Chief for Human Resources XL Group plc announced the appointment of Eileen Whelley as Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, effective June 18, ... More International News Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV Annual Live Training Burn Educates Adjusters Pat Andler, a certified fire investigator and owner of Andler & Associates discusses the... Watch Now What D&O Buyers Look For In a Carrier What do insureds look for when shopping for a carrier to provide director and officers... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums CIBA Insurance purchasing group...Help Posted: Thu May 17 -- Just sent them a $72,000,000 TIV to review and quote, seven shopping center locations in and around Houston, TX. I await their response. tburn New GA getting appointments Posted: Thu May 17 -- Thanks so much for the info and advice... we do use Bliss quite a bit actually. Do you know about the capital requirements, if any? Are you... paulbennings Medical Diagnostic Equipment Mfg. - CA Posted: Tue May 15 -- It's less than a $2 rate for the GL, maybe a $0.15 rate on the property? Maybe try your preferred carriers (Allied, CNA, etc). I think they... LadyBroker Residential General Contractor - CA Work Comp Posted: Tue May 15 -- Try Builders & Tradesmen's Insurance- BTIS.com - they have work comp in addition to the contractor's gl FurriePrincess Are Insurance Agents Employees or Independent Contractors? Posted: Tue May 15 -- I get mad about this a lot. Most companies issue you a 1099 and that would say you were a Independent Contractor for IRS guidelines. When in... johnsharp Is it possible to get insurer appointments just starting out Posted: Tue May 15 -- You can get all the appointments you want if you have good sales and connections in that niche. I was a Captive Agent for 2 years and grew... johnsharp Aviation Products Liability - Non-Critical Parts Posted: Mon May 14 -- I have direct access to a few of the top carriers on avaition products, both critical and non. Please contact me to discuss. Ken... kmeeker Go to Forums Reader Comments Healthcare Costs for Insured American Family Top $20K in 2012: Milliman Posted: Wed May 16 -- Planet, I am glad you agree that Tort Reform should be a part of the bill. I had to laugh when I saw your second sentence. The President... First Agent Consumer-Directed Health Plans Show Mixed Results Posted: Mon May 14 -- The inherent problem is that funding of healthcare through an "insurance" mechanism is wholly-inappropriate; It's simply not ethical to... William S. Vaughn, ARM Allstate Looks to Grow Florida Agency Force Again Posted: Wed May 16 -- OK, they turn all of their employees into sueto-independent contractors and have been in litigation with them for quite some time, oh! but... Sarah How Young Insurance Agents Are Changing the Industry Posted: Thu May 17 -- I am a little older than some of these agents and I have a website that is function able to offer reactive services upon request online. I... Sarah Duplicate Regulation Drives Up Commercial Premiums, Says Iowa Researcher Posted: Fri May 11 -- I, too am skeptical about anything Congress does. As bad as they are, they can't hold a candle to a rogue administration who has gotten used... 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