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AM Best: US P/C Industry Improves Despite 2024 Underwriting Loss

Article 0 Comments The U.S. property/casualty industry took another underwriting loss in 2024, but results improved thanks to rate increases and changes in risk selection. A report from industry rating agency AM Best this week said U.S. P/C insurers posted an underwriting loss of $2.6 billion in 2024 – a large improvement over the underwriting loss of $24.6 billion recorded in 2023. The estimated combined ratio for 2024 was 98.9 compared to 101.9 for 2023. AM Best said it expects the industry in 2025 to “build on its solid rebound” with improved underwriting and operating results – even in the face of more losses from secondary perils and continued adverse litigation trends such as social inflation and third-party litigation funding. The personal lines segment will be a driver of expected improvement, AM Best said. In 2024, personal lines posted a net underwriting loss of $11.9 billion compared to a loss of $36.7 billion in 2023. Rate increases in auto and home insurance, the combined ratio for auto was 98.7 (from 104.9 in 2023) and homeowners was 105.7 (from 110.9 in 2023). AM Best said personal lines premium increased 12.9% in 2024, and is projecting to increase 9% this year. “Insurers...

Canada’s leading network of independent insurance brokers always puts Canadian clients first 0

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Canada’s leading network of independent insurance brokers always puts Canadian clients first

Toronto, ON (Feb. 18, 2025) – As Canada and the United States navigate increasing trade tensions, Canadian Broker Network (CBN) today reaffirms our unwavering commitment to Canadian insurance clients. As the country’s leading network of independent insurance brokers, representing more than $3.5 billion in property-casualty premiums, CBN offers Canadian businesses and individuals a trusted insurance solution that is free from foreign control or influence. “With rising economic uncertainty and evolving risks, it’s never been more important to work with an independent, Canadian broker who understands the local landscape,” said Lorie Phair, President of CBN. “Our member brokers are not tied to corporate mandates or external investors. We are fiercely independent and deeply rooted in our communities from coast to coast, ensuring that every decision is made with our clients’ best interests in mind.” A Purely Canadian Advantage With 30 locally owned and operated brokerages represented in more than 100 offices across the country, CBN: Understands local communities, offering deep local expertise, supporting our communities and offering real choice with an array of unbiased insurance solutions to choose from. Supports the Canadian economy by hiring locally and reinvesting in Canadian communities to strengthen businesses and families. Makes local decisions to respond quickly...

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Mastercard’s £200 Million Settlement in Class Action Suit Gets Court Scrutiny

Article 0 Comments Mastercard Inc. unfairly reduced a £10 billion ($12.6 billion) class action case to a settlement of just £200 million, according to the firm that funded the lawsuit. The credit-card company “skillfully maneuvered” claimant Walter Merricks and his lawyers by offering an inferior settlement to end the case, according to the litigation funder Innsworth Advisors Ltd. The lawsuit alleged Mastercard charged consumers and businesses too much to use its cards. “To the extent that Innsworth’s submissions make poorly aimed pot-shots at the negotiation process, they are hopeless,” lawyers for Mastercard countered. “Innsworth’s interests lie in maximizing its commercial recovery even if that entails a high-risk gamble,” they said arguing the settlement is fair and reasonable. The legal drama follows the settlement in what was once the country’s largest class action claim over the amount Mastercard charged consumers and businesses to use its cards. Merricks’ lawyers have since acknowledged that “there was an overclaim” in his suit. The case highlights the tension facing courts in cases meant to maximize returns for consumers at a time when litigation funders are betting on a rise in class actions in the UK. The outcome of the case will likely set a precedent...

Cost of historic Calgary hailstorm continues to rise: IBC 0

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Cost of historic Calgary hailstorm continues to rise: IBC

Insurers making good progress supporting customers with claims and helping residents recover Toronto, ON (Feb. 14, 2025) – The tally for Calgary’s record-breaking hailstorm last August continues to rise, with total insured losses now estimated to be $3.25 billion, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). The storm is the second-costliest disaster in Canadian history for insured losses and resulted in more than 130,000 insurance claims. Despite the enormous volume of claims that resulted from the hailstorm, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reports that over the past six months, insurers have made good progress helping affected residents recover and rebuild following the disaster. The majority of auto insurance claims – which represent more than half of all claims from the hailstorm – have been completed. Alberta’s insurers brought in adjusters from across the province to help expedite vehicle assessments and repairs. Total insured damage to vehicles is now estimated to be nearly $1 billion. The damage was so extensive that roughly half of all vehicles damaged were total losses, meaning that the value of the vehicle was written off and customers opted for cash payouts in lieu of repairs. Nearly 60,000 homes in the Calgary area were impacted. The...

Knowledge on Mute: How WFH Makes Your Company Forget What It Knows 0

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Knowledge on Mute: How WFH Makes Your Company Forget What It Knows

By Joseph D’Souza, Founder & CEO, ProNavigator — 2020 was a remarkable and noteworthy year in history, especially for businesses and their employees. Many businesses found out that they can remain at near peak productivity with their employees working from home (WFH), while many others found out that they cannot. It also added wrinkles to issues around the security of intellectual property. How can companies safeguard and protect their systems from attack when security needs to be deployed across the internet for all employees while they are at home? There is another new risk for companies that they may not be aware is occurring due to WFH, and that is an acceleration in the loss of institutional knowledge. “My cat is now my official productivity consultant. He stares disapprovingly at me whenever I take a break, which is surprisingly effective.”― An anonymous Work From Home employee In a prior article, I went into more detail about what institutional knowledge is and where it resides (it is documented somewhere or it resides in someone’s head and is undocumented). In an office environment, it is very common for employees to talk with each other. This is called the Water Cooler Phenomenon and while...

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Trump’s Hiring Freeze Throws Wildfire Fighters Into Disarray

Article 0 Comments Federal firefighters have found their jobs on the chopping block as a result of US President Donald Trump’s executive orders, with a hiring freeze simultaneously blocking reinforcements in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires and ahead of the upcoming fire season. “I know multiple people who were supposed to start work on Monday and were not able to,” said Rachel Granberg, a firefighter who serves as representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), in an interview. A US District Court judge on Feb. 12 cleared the way for Trump’s buyout offers to millions of federal employees, overcoming a lawsuit by labor unions. Granberg warned that without an exemption to the Trump administration’s widespread hiring freeze, “we’re not going to have fire crews fully staffed.” Potential reductions to the approximately 18,000 federal firefighters, who are trained to battle blazes deep inside forests as well as at the intersection of cities and nature, would come at a time when their work has never been more crucial. Rising temperatures are contributing to faster-burning fires and ensuring blazes occur more frequently and torch more land. Climate change has also extended the burning season by two months in the...

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11 Steps for Referring to a Fellow Professional

As a financial professional, you can’t do everything. You might think you can, but licensing might be your first hurdle. If you are licensed to sell insurance, you are not licensed as a CPA to give accounting advice. In this circumstance, you might see the need to suggest they consult a fellow professional. How can you do this, both keeping the interests of your client foremost and not getting into trouble down the road?

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Aviva’s India Arm Hit With $7.5 Million Fine for Fake Invoice Scheme, Order Shows

Article 0 Comments Indian authorities have ordered British insurer Aviva’s local unit to pay $7.5 million in back taxes and penalties after an investigation found it created fake invoices to pay illegal commissions and claimed incorrect tax credits, an order shows. The tax demand is significant for Aviva’s India business, which recorded a profit after tax of only $10 million in the 2023-24 financial year. Aviva also faces stiff competition from rivals in India’s insurance market. To grow its business, Aviva India paid about $26 million between 2017 and 2023 to vendors who purportedly provided marketing services, but they were only a front to give Aviva’s agents excess commissions beyond regulatory limits, Indian tax authorities alleged in an August 3 notice Reuters reported last year. Using the clandestine system of fake invoices and cash payments, Aviva incorrectly claimed tax credits and evaded $5.2 million in taxes, authorities had alleged. After hearing Aviva’s defense, joint tax commissioner Aditya Singh Yadav ruled the company evaded tax of around 326 million rupees ($3.8 million), which it must pay with a 100% penalty, totalling 653 million rupees, or $7.5 million, according to a February 5 order reviewed by Reuters that has not been made...

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California Insurance Commissioner Rejects State Farm’s 22% Rate Request

Article 0 Comments California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara did not approve an emergency, interim 22% rate request from State Farm, instead calling a meeting with the carrier to get some answers about the carrier’s financial situation and more. State Farm General earlier this month asked the California Department of Insurance to immediately approve interim rate increases, including 22% average for homeowners. The carrier, the state’s top homeowners insurer, is partly blaming the devastating Los Angeles wildfires for the request. As of February 14, the carrier reported roughly 11,400 total home and auto claims, paying out more than $1.35 billion. In a letter Lara issued on Friday, he wrote: “Under the strict review laid out by Proposition 103, the burden is on State Farm to show why this is needed now. State Farm has not met its burden.” State Farm responded to a request for comment with a statement: “We are very disappointed the Commissioner ignored his department’s recommendation to take the critical and necessary step to approve State Farm General’s request for interim rate increases associated with our June 2024 filings.” According to the statement, by not approving the request it “sends a strong message to State Farm General about...