Daily Headlines: Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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October 12, 2011 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National U.S. Regulators Propose Threshold for Defining Systemic Risk Firms U.S. regulators pondering which non-bank financial firms are large enough to warrant additional oversight have proposed a $50 billion asset ... W. R. Berkley Sees $50M-$60M Cat Losses for Q3 Greenwich, Conn.-based insurer W. R. Berkley Corp. is estimating Q3 catastrophe losses in the range of $50 million to $60 million, before ... Ratings: RetailFirst, ANICO, Mariah Re, German Mutual, Centurion, Mt. Morris A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of 'B++' (Good) and issuer credit ratings of "bbb+" to RetailFirst Insurance ... Travelers Expands Special Event Insurance The Protector Plan for Events, underwritten by Travelers, has been expanded to go beyond weddings and deliver specific coverages for ... Surplus Lines Execs Address Leadership, Perpetuation Four industry leaders attempted to tackle explaining the definition of "leadership" and what it takes to be a leader, while addressing ... What Do YOU Want in Agency E&O? Take the Survey Now Don't miss your chance to find out what's been going on with insurance agents' errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. Insurance ... Booming Adult Long Term Care Market's Worries Include Kids, Cuts, Coding A combination of delayed claims, soft pricing, government regulation and cuts, as well as economic issues could be enough to turn the market... More National News East New Jersey Workers’ Comp Insurers Seek 6.9% Rate Hike The New Jersey Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau has filed a request with regulators to increase workers' compensation rates by 6.9 ... New York-based Navigators Group Names Interim CFO Rye Brook, N.Y.-based specialty insurer The Navigators Group said its chief financial officer Francis McDonnell will be retiring at the end ... XL Group Hires New York-based East Region Executive Bermuda-headquartered XL Group said its insurance unit hired Michele Sansone as senior vice president and eastern regional executive, based ... More East News Midwest FBI Gets Immunity for Wreck of Ferrari in Michigan Insurer Case A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the wreck of a $750,000 Ferrari driven by an FBI agent, saying federal law ... North Dakota's Dorgan Joins Board of The Climate Corporation Weather insurance provider WeatherBill has changed its name to The Climate Corporation and added former U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North ... More Midwest News Southeast Mississippi High Court Due to Rule in Wind-Water Insurance Case A decision is pending from the Mississippi Supreme Court in another wind vs. water case, this one involving a Pascagoula home subjected to ... Kentucky Judge Orders Amish Men to Pay Fine Over Buggy Signs Two Amish men in western Kentucky have been ordered to pay fines and could face jail time for refusing to post reflective triangles on ... Tennessee Trial on TVA Ash Spill Now in Fourth Week The Tennessee Valley Authority's coal ash trial started its fourth week with plaintiff attorneys cross-examining a TVA consultant who says ... More Southeast News South Central Texas-based The Gibraltar Group Adds Rampy to Leadership Team The Gibraltar Group, a risk and insurance advisory firm headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, has added Abie Rampy as director of communications ... Oklahoma's Bramlett Installed as Chairman-elect of Big ‘I’ Executive Team The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big "I") announced that Robert "Bobby" Bramlett has been ... Oklahoma Farm Bureau Group Ratings Downgraded A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B- (Fair) from B (Fair) and issuer credit ratings to "bb-" from "bb" ... More South Central News West Huxley and Chang Join Lockton Reinsurance Operations in California Lockton has added two reinsurance brokers to its Lockton Re team in downtown Los Angeles, Calif. Allan Huxley has been named managing ... Jones Goes Nine for Nine with Brown on California Insurance Bills California Gov. Jerry Brown signed nine bills sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones this legislative year, giving Jones a perfect ... Bell-Anderson Agency in Washington Acquires Unico Renton, Wash.-based Bell-Anderson Agency Inc. has acquired Unico Insurance of Woodinville, Wash. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. ... More West News International UPDATE: Hurricane Jova Crosses Mexico’s Pacific Coast Hurricane Jova made landfall as a Category Two storm on Mexico's Pacific coast late Tuesday, threatening one of the country's busiest cargo ... New Zealand Says Oil Spill ‘Worst-ever Maritime Environmental Disaster’ Rough weather has jostled a cargo ship stuck off New Zealand's coast and worsened its oil leak fivefold to make it the country's worst-ever ... Honda’s Thai Production Underwater as Floods Hit Japan Firms Honda Motor Co said its Thai plant remains underwater as flooding in the center of the country worsens, closing down 4.7 percent of its ... Panel Lauds London Market’s Electronic Success A panel of insurance market figures "were in overwhelming agreement today that London is leading the way in the global competitive market ... Willis Appoints Poillon Director of Investor Relations Willis Group Holdings announced the appointment of Peter Poillon as Director of Investor Relations. He is based in New York and will report ... Best Affirms QBE and Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of 'A' (Excellent) and the issuer credit ... More International News Sponsored Content Regan James Joins The Insco Dico Group Glendale, CA, 10/12/11 - Regan James has joined The Insco Dico Group as Vice President, Specialty Underwriting. He will establish a new ... The e-Marketing Minute is a bi-weekly video series designed to help insurance agents learn how to grow their agency utilizing the Internet. Check it out. More Sponsored Content Insurance Journal Blogs What is it About the PRIS Designation The Property Risk Insurance Specialist (PRIS) program is an intense, three-day study of all areas of property insurance developed by Insurance Partners Academy and contributed ... 4th Quarter Activities 4Th Quarter Activity Everyone understands the concept of spring cleaning and the activities associated with renewal after winter.  In our ... More Blogs Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV Thinking Globally, Operating Locally All insurance is regional, according to conventional wisdom, so maintaining strong local... Watch Now Triage Nurses Cut Costs in Workers' Comp What if a business could lower its workers' compensation claims costs by as much as 30... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums $1,000,000 in Premium 1st Year - New Venture Limo Accounts Posted: Wed Oct 12 -- As a former Hartford customer, the LimoPro program was discontinued at the end of 2001. That is why they had no booth or seminars at the... riston14 Why bother with an agency management system? Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- I use a management system and I could sing it praises all day. Its like having someone store all your documents for you, do your marketing,... Brand Social Media Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- Social media platforms like Facebook and Wikipedia offer us the chance to engage with the public in new ways. The general public has a... Warnner Misleading Advertising Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- Misleading adverts are a staple feature of the beauty industry, but the market for gadgets must run a close second. Now an Apple iPhone... Warnner SEO and buying back links Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- Backlinks is an important part of any search marketing strategy. If you focus on the basics of SEO, backlinks need to get a good ranking in... Warnner Identity Theft coverage Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- A good option is to get identity theft protection from a company that does ONLY theft identity protection. Never get it from homeowners... sethm WordPress Forums Problems Posted: Tue Oct 11 -- I don't see any problem with the current forum's layout. I prefer it simple. I really like the use of phpBB. There's no clutter or anything.... sethm Go to Forums Reader Comments The Hartford Plans Staff Cuts; Sells Subrogation Services Unit Trumbull Posted: Wed Oct 5 -- How much is too much when it comes to executive salaries? Hartford's 23 corporate executves have an average salary of $4.77 million per... The Other Point of View How One Music Downloader Could Change Copyright Law Posted: Wed Oct 5 -- This is but one more blatant example of corporatism run amuck, aided and abetted by the political/legal system. Banks, telecoms, cable and... William S. Vaughn, ARM Chartis to Trim Workforce Posted: Wed Oct 5 -- The 2008 Financial Crisis continues to affect employment as another 400 or so employees will lose their jobs. Sad that so many hard working... The Other Point of View Officials Urged to Keep Minimum Health Benefits Affordable Posted: Fri Oct 7 -- How about not rolling it out? How about defunding it and repealing it and starting over with private market solutions and no government... Longtime Agent Mississippi Lawsuit Against Bar Over Drunk Driving Death Leads to $15M Judgment Posted: Fri Oct 7 -- Sounds like they should start another group MAUT, Mothers against uninsured taverns. Sad, sad story. 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