Daily Headlines: Friday, September 23, 2011

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September 23, 2011 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National IRS Gives Employers Break on Misclassified Employees The Internal Revenue Service is offering a break to employers who come clean about wrongly classifying workers as independent contractors ... Senate Poised to Defeat House Spending, Disaster Aid Bill With aid to disaster victims running out, the U.S. Senate Democratic leader Friday vowed to hold a quick vote to defeat a House-passed ... Health Industry Lacks Patient Data Safeguards New technologies are flooding into the healthcare world, but the industry is not adequately prepared to protect patients from data ... XL Insurance Adds Chase in Boston, Mandziara in Chicago XL Insurance, the global insurance underwriting operations of XL Group plc, has appointed two vice presidents - senior program executives ... Five Star Specialty Launches Breakdown Service for Bus, Waste Hauler Vehicles Five Star Specialty Programs, a division of Crump Insurance Services, Inc., and part of Crump Group, Inc., has launched a new breakdown ... Falling Satellites? Uncle Sam’s Got It Covered, Mostly When, where and how much, if any, damage will be caused by about 1,200 pounds worth of falling satellite debris poses some interesting ... More Optimism, but Plenty of Controversy Surrounds Mortgage Broker E&O Segment Insurance agents serving the mortgage broker marketplace see some signs of improvement but they aren't yet jumping for joy. The mortgage... More National News East Irene Water Damage Worse Than Wind: Ipsos/Reuters Poll The number of people in the Northeastern United States who suffered water damage from Hurricane Irene is more than double the number who ... Officials Urge Vermonters to Get Flood Insurance Before Sept. 30 In the wake of spring flooding and additional flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene, state and federal officials are encouraging ... Washington, D.C.-based Broker Ames & Gough Promotes Four Executives Ames & Gough, an insurance broker and risk management consultant specializing in serving design professionals, law firms and other ... More East News Midwest Ryan Specialty Group Completes Acquisition of Specialist Lloyd's Insurer Ryan Specialty Group LLC (RSG), based in Chicago, has completed the acquisition of specialist Lloyd's insurer Jubilee Group Holdings ... Flood Insurance Claim Deadlines Near in South Dakota State and federal officials are cautioning South Dakota flood victims that time might be running out to file flood insurance claims. ... Supermarket Recalls Chicken Sold in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wis.-based Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. is recalling about 360 pounds of breaded chicken breast that may have been undercooked. ... North Dakota, Minnesota Leaders Ask Obama for River Diversion Money Members of Congress from both sides of the Red River in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota are asking President Barack Obama ... More Midwest News Southeast Citizens Goes Along with Florida Sinkhole Rate Decision Florida officials and the state's-backed property insurer were working to find common ground in the aftermath of the political firestorm ... Florida Firm to Appeal in Bid for Sunken Spanish Treasure U.S. deep-sea explorers must turn over to the Spanish government 17 tons of silver coins and other treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish ... Florida PIP Cost Battle May Extend to Physician Referral Services Florida lawmakers are likely to consider whether to curb the use of accident clinic referral hotlines as part of a broader effort to reign ... USI Acquires Florida’s de la Parte Agency Insurance broker USI Insurance Services has acquired de la Parte & Associates, a Tampa, Florida, employee benefits and insurance ... Newman Joins Aon Risk in North Carolina Aon Risk Solutions announced that it has hired Anc Newman as a senior vice president in charge of the company's Charlotte, North Carolina ... More Southeast News South Central Texas Car Dealer Convicted in Title Washing Scheme A federal jury in Texas has convicted a car dealer from Rowlett for "title washing," a fraudulent process through which a vehicle's ... $97M Worth of Timber Destroyed in Texas Wildfires East Texas is deeply rooted in the timber industry — and during the last 10 months, wildfires have wiped out more than $97 million worth ... MHBT Appoints Moss as Employee Benefits Account Executive Dallas-based privately owned insurance and risk management firm, MHBT, announced that Jared Alan Moss has joined the Austin, Texas, office ... More South Central News West Washington Workers’ Comp Overhaul Keeps Business Costs Down A major overhaul of the workers' compensation system in Washington is already helping keep costs down for businesses, state officials said ... McLarens Young Acquires Washington Oregon Claim Service McLarens Young International has acquired Washington Oregon Claim Service, a middle market claims adjusting firm in the Pacific Northwest. ... Elliott Joins GNW-Evergreen Nonprofit Division Encino, Calif.-based GNW-Evergreen Insurance Services LLC has appointed Teri Elliott as a client advisor in its nonprofit division. Elliott ... Insurance Journal Names Jergler West Editor Wells Publishing Inc. has named Don Jergler as its new West editor for its flagship Insurance Journal online and print property/casualty ... Foremost Upgrades Auto Program in Arizona Foremost Insurance Group has upgraded their enhanced auto program which became available in Arizona in June. The Foremost program features ... Heffernan Names Schroeder as SVP Heffernan Insurance Brokers has hired Eric Schroeder as senior vice president of its Orange, Calif. office. Schroeder will be responsible ... More West News International Driverless Car Navigates Berlin Streets It can talk, see, drive and no longer needs a human being to control it by remote. The car of the future — completely computer-controlled ... AIR Estimates Typhoon Roke Insured Losses at $150 to $600 Million Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has given preliminary estimates of the insured losses from Typhoon Roke at between JPY 12 billion ... ARIS Art Title Insurance Adopted as Protocol by Global Art Fund Manager ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, a member of Argo Group International Holdings, announced that investment fund manager, Artemundi ... UK’s Tawa Posts $11 Million 1st Half Profit The UK-based Tawa plc, which specializes in insurance investments and services, posted a first half profit of $11 million, compared to $1.4 ... Aon Risk Appoints Bentele, Dalchow to New Global Crisis Management Posts Aon Risk Solutions, the risk management business of Aon Corp., announced the appointment of Christof Bentele as the Crisis Management ... Liberty Syndicates Names Sakamoto to Strengthen Brazil Platform Liberty Syndicate Management Limited, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, has enhanced its presence in Brazil with the appointment of Douglas ... Miller Appoints Smith for Scandinavian Binding Authority UK broker Miller has added Piers Smith to its international team to direct binding authority in Scandinavia, in a move it described as an ... More International News Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV PURE Innovation During his 25-year career in the property/casualty insurance business, Ross Buchmueller has... Watch Now Lloyd's Chairman Lord Peter Levene on Reinsurance, the U.S. Market and Some Future Plans Lord Peter Levene talked to the IJ on his balcony at the Hotel de Paris. His reign as... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums Mobile Apps for P&C Producers Posted: Thu Sep 22 -- No, these are not leads. You get questionnaires on your mobile phone, which you complete while discussing insurance with your clients or... Fge78 3 Properties in Texas? Posted: Thu Sep 22 -- Texas is a big state that has some problem areas, particularily around the Coastal Areas. If you want to narrow down who can write this and... centex Garage Liability and loaner vehicles Posted: Wed Sep 21 -- Yeah, I have no idea why the OP says he has no coverage for her. Rob Should I get Cal. Low Cost Auto Ins. in our office? Posted: Tue Sep 20 -- In addition to what D's said, the plan offers low limit, 10/20/3. I agree that it does not make business sense for many agents from multiple... wariline Worker's comp commission Posted: Mon Sep 19 -- Wow-In many years of writing in CA, have yet to get 15% . Most in CA seems to be 12% down to as low as 6% (I do not include SCIF) Big... jackwehoca No Fault insurance question Posted: Mon Sep 19 -- John J90, you need to study up on your state's no-fault laws if you are out marketing auto insurance. It's pretty critical that you know how... BKCPCU Do you recommend bonds or crime insurance? Posted: Fri Sep 16 -- I would say that in many cases there is coverage through a crime policy or endorsement providing employee dishonesty on the victim's package... FurriePrincess Help our MLR (Medical Loss Ratio ) Posted: Fri Sep 16 -- My company is a platinum representative for Blue Cross, however our MLR with them is 130%. We have stopped submitting apps from people who... cbaw1957 Study tips for the California Life Agent Exam Posted: Fri Sep 16 -- I too went through prelicencetraining.ripoff. I passed the test by the skin of my teeth and I studied 2 1/2 months. At first, I just read... cbaw1957 Go to Forums Reader Comments House Defeats Bill Funding Government; FEMA, Flood Insurance in Doubt Posted: Thu Sep 22 -- Our elected and appointed representatives should be made to contribute to their health care coverage and pay for their family members... Nancy Pennsylvania Jury Finds Nurse Liable, Awards $23 Million to Amputee Posted: Mon Sep 19 -- If that poor woman lived in VA she would have a med mal cap of under $2,000,000 which is terribly inadequate for such a case. Deborah Brown More Americans Believe World is Warming: Reuters Poll Posted: Mon Sep 19 -- Why is there even a debate as to whether the world is warming? It is. I thought the debate was more around man's connection to the... Matt Top 5 Technology Priorities for P/C Insurers Posted: Mon Sep 19 -- The ultimate company objective is to reduce employee count to the present company officers, a couple of programmers and one guy to take the... Bob Insurer Says Exclusion Bars Payment in Nebraska Pastor's Death Posted: Wed Sep 21 -- The Nebraska Surpeme Court has already ruled that carbon monoxide is a pollutant and that there is no coverage on the basis of the absolute... 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