| December 31, 2012 |
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| Top Story |  |  |
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- Report: P/C sector's after-tax income was $27B through Q3
Property/casualty insurers' after-tax income from January through September was $27 billion, up from $8.4 billion for the same period in 2011, according to a report from PCI, the Insurance Services Office and the Insurance Information Institute. Net underwriting losses declined to $6.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2012, with the combined ratio improving to 100.9, according to the report. The results "provide insurers with the financial wherewithal necessary to absorb shock losses such as those inflicted by Hurricane Sandy last October and continue to fulfill their commitments to policyholders," PCI's Robert Gordon said in a statement. PropertyCasualty360
(12/28), Insurance Networking News
(12/28)      
| Industry News | | |
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- Expert: Low interest rates are spurring insurance rate increases
A low-interest-rate environment is responsible for increases in insurance prices, a trend likely to continue for at least three more years, says Michael McGuire, chief financial officer of Endurance Specialty Holdings. Climate change "is a great driver of demand" for insurance products, McGuire said, adding that property/casualty insurers are ready to deal with natural disasters. "We just need to make sure we're charging enough," he said. PropertyCasualty360
(12/28)
- Agents' role shifts with distribution model, expert says
New technologies and customers who buy insurance products directly from insurers are transforming producers' traditional role to include acting as an adviser, said Dennis Sullivan, CEO of Robert E. Nolan. "The days of the property and casualty agent that sells homeowners and personal lines and some small-business-owners policy products -- that role is waning, and the new need out there is more of a full-service provider and trusted adviser," Sullivan said. PropertyCasualty360
(12/28)
- NICB ranks 2011 holidays for auto thefts
Halloween and New Year's Day were the holidays with the highest number of stolen vehicles in 2011, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The holidays with the fewest auto thefts last year were Christmas and Thanksgiving Day, NICB said. The overall number of car thefts reported on holidays was 20,800 last year, compared with 22,991 in 2010, NICB added. Insurance Networking News
(12/28)
| Catastrophic Risk | | |
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| Policy and Law | | |
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- Bill to raise NFIP borrowing limit clears Senate
The Senate has approved a bill with a provision to increase the National Flood Insurance Program's borrowing authority to $30.4 billion. The measure would "help the residents of the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "State and federal authorities have worked together effectively to help the victims, but more help is needed for the recovery to continue. This bill provides those additional resources." PropertyCasualty360
(12/28)
- IAIS is taking a flawed approach to ComFrame, experts say
Regulators worldwide have divergent views on insurer solvency, making any agreement on insurance regulation unlikely as the International Association of Insurance Supervisors develops the Common Framework for the Supervision of Internationally Active Insurance Groups, experts say. The methodology in identifying systemically significant insurers is flawed because it is bank-centric, experts said. "I do not believe the basic business of insurance is systemically risky," said Bradley Kading of the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers. PropertyCasualty360
(12/28)
| Editor's Note | | |
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SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday
In observance of New Year's Day, SmartBrief will not publish Tuesday. Publication will resume Wednesday. Enjoy the holiday!
| SmartQuote | | |
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 | Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty."
--John Selden,
English jurist and scholar
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