May 6, 2010 at 5:41 p.m.
Filed under:
Insurance
Dow Jones Newswires-WSJ | Ryan Specialty Group, a start-up insurance brokerage founded by the former chief executive of Aon Corp., has recruited about 100 employees from an insurance unit of BB&T Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.
The fledgling Chicago-based venture, launched in February by Pat Ryan, is expected to hire employees of CRC Insurance Services in multiple locales, including Chicago and Philadelphia, the people said.
In a note to clients and business partners this week, Tom Curtin, the CEO and founder of CRC Insurance Services, wrote that “a number of CRC employees in Illinois, California and Pennsylvania resigned” on May 4.
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May 3, 2010 at 4:56 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance
Associated Press | Chicago-based CNA Financial Corp. said on Monday that it posted a first-quarter profit on improving performance in its investment portfolio, although higher catastrophe losses hurt results. The commercial insurer reported net income for the three months ended
March 31 of $245 million, or 82 cents per share, compared with a loss of
$195 million, or 84 cents per share, in the same quarter a year
earlier.
Get the full story: CNA Financial announces first-quarter profit.
May 3, 2010 at 6:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance
Dow Jones Newswire | Loews Corp. and its CNA Financial Corp.
insurer swung to the black in the first quarter absent prior-year
investment losses, with results beating analysts’ estimates.
CNA is 90 percent owned by Loews, which also owns big stakes in several
other businesses, including Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP. CNA and other insurers have reported
sharply improved results in recent quarters as the economy has risen
from its dismal year-earlier levels.
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April 30, 2010 at 7:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance
Dow Jones Newswires | Aon Corp.’s first-quarter earnings
declined 36 percent on $126 million in year-earlier tax gains, though
the insurance broker’s adjusted earnings rose and topped analysts’
estimates.
President and Chief Executive Greg Case said the results “reflect solid
operational performance” across the company’s two business segments
despite “difficult economy and soft market conditions and a 48 percent
decline in investment income on an adjusted basis.”
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April 29, 2010 at 1:12 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Government,
Health care,
Insurance
Associated Press via Bloomberg | Allstate Corp. spent $1.08 million in the first quarter to lobby the federal government on consumer protection rights, health care and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report. That’s up 21.3 percent from the $890,000 it spent in the year-ago period, and up from the $650,000 it spent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
April 28, 2010 at 5:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance
Associated Press | Property and casualty insurer Allstate Corp. said Wednesday it was profitable in the first-quarter, reversing a year-ago loss. Northbrook-based Allstate said its net income totaled $120 million, even as costs rose for insuring against damage caused by catastrophes, including severe winter weather in the eastern United States.
Get the full story: Insurer Allstate returns to profitability.
April 28, 2010 at 8:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Insurance
By Bruce Japsen | A
private insurance company that manages health benefits for the Illinois
Medicaid health insurance program for the poor will repay state coffers
about $1 million after the plan overbilled the state for a three-year
period.
Wellcare Health Plans Inc., the largest Medicaid HMO operating in
Illinois, said a “calculation error resulted in a minimum overstatement
of capitation expense,” the Tampa, Fla.-based health insurance company
said. The overbilling amounted to about 0.2 percent of the premium
amount for the period July 2006 through June 2009, Wellcare said.
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April 27, 2010 at 12:36 p.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Insurance,
Jobs/employment
From the Problem Solver: The IRS has announced that it will extend a subsidy to the recently unemployed covered by COBRA through May 31.
Eligible individuals pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums with the remaining 65 percent reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit. This subsidy expired March 31.
Get the full story: The Problem Solver.
April 27, 2010 at 11:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Insurance,
Real estate
By Becky Yerak | Allstate Corp. is making several changes to its Illinois insurance prices, including raising homeowners’ rates by an average of 8 percent this July and offering 5 percent auto-rate discounts to Geico policyholders who switch to the Northbrook-based insurer.
Allstate also recently began offering discounts of 7 percent to auto customers who pay their bills in full, as well as five new deductible options for auto customers.
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April 26, 2010 at 3:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Insurance,
Layoffs
From the Greater Milwaukee Business-Journal | Allstate Corp. notified the state of Wisconsin that it intended to close its Brookfield, Wis. Midwest claims office by June 1, laying off the 54 workers there.
Get the full story: bizjournals.com
April 22, 2010 at 12:51 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance
By Kiah Haslett | In a “substantial turn for the better,” Chicago-based insurance company Old Republic reported Thursday that first-quarter income rose 146.5 percent from last year, to $25 million. Per-share, the gain was 11 cents, compared to last year’s loss of 23 cents per share. Most of the gain was attributed to smaller losses from company’s mortgage guaranty line.
In the first quarter of 2009, mortgage guaranties lost $144.6 million, which led to last year’s negative $92.8 in income. This year, mortgage guaranties lost only $34.1 million. General insurance posted a 19 percent gain, to $69.2 million.
Thompson Reuters analysts predicted a gain of 7 cents per share. Old Republic was up 7 percent in trading, to $14.69.
Read the full results.
April 14, 2010 at 4:08 p.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Insurance,
Litigation
By Bruce Japsen |
ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company said this afternoon it will distribute
nearly $17 million in new dividends to eligible policyholders in what
it called “continuing improvements” in the state’s medical litigation
climate as well as “positive underwriting results” from 2005 through
2008 policy years.
Just how long such payments will continue, however, is unclear, says the
doctor-owned insurer. The reason: The Illinois Supreme Court’s February
decision to strike down the state’s medical malpractice law, saying
limits on damages awarded to victims of medical negligence are
unconstitutional.
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April 13, 2010 at 9:09 a.m.
Filed under:
Insurance
From the Austin Business Journal | Allstate Insurance Co., the No. 2 auto insurer in Texas, plans to expand its presence there by bringing on 130 new Texas agents this year, for a total of 252 hired since the beginning of last year.
Get the full story: bizjournals.com
April 12, 2010 at 9:52 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Insurance
From USA Today | Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance has asked Toyota to
repay them for any crashes related to unintended acceleration by its
vehicles. Demands for repayment of claims — called “subrogation” in the insurance
business — could end up costing Toyota from $20 million to $30 million,
says Mark Bunim, an attorney with Closed Case, a mediation firm.
Get the full story: usatoday.com.
April 7, 2010 at 9:04 a.m.
Filed under:
Insurance
By Becky Yerak |
Aon Corp.’s financial support of the failed Chicago 2016 Olympics bid
amounted to about $1.7 million, according to the newly released proxy
of the Chicago-based insurance brokerage and consulting firm.
It
included the use of unoccupied leased space at company headquarters
valued at nearly $1.6 million. Aon also provided value-in-kind support
totaling about $100,000, including consulting services related to the
evaluation of risk management and insurance alternatives in connection
with the Chicago 2016 bid for the Olympics game.
nce costs.
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