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By Becky Yerak | Northbrook-based Allstate Corp. is pulling its account from Insurance Auto Auctions Inc.of Westchester.
Last week, rival Copart Inc., a publicly traded online vehicle auction
business based in Fairfield, Calif., announced that it has been named
Allstate’s exclusive national provider of vehicle sales and auction
services.
Tribune staff report | Unitrin Inc. said it has reached an
agreement in principle to sell its health insurance subsidiary, Reserve
National Insurance Co. to Physicians Mutual Insurance Co.
Terms of the deal, which has not been finalized, were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of
2010.
Associated Press | Millions of seniors who signed up for popular
private health plans through Medicare are facing sharp premium
increases this year — another sign that spiraling costs are a problem
even for those with solid insurance.
A study to be released Friday by a major consulting firm found that
premiums for Medicare Advantage plans offering medical and prescription
drug coverage jumped 14.2 percent on average in 2010, after an increase
of only 5.2 percent the previous year. Some 8.5 million elderly and
disabled Americans are in the plans, which provide more comprehensive
coverage than traditional Medicare.
By Bruce Japsen
| Large U.S. health insurers did well last year, even though they faced higher medical costs and lost customers who had become unemployed. A report issued this morning from Moody’s Investors Service said the insurers’ profits jumped last year “above 2008’s levels.”
Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp, Humana, Inc. and Wellpoint “companies continued to demonstrate strong liquidity, while reducing financial leverage,” Moody’s said.
Tribune staff and wire | Health insurer Humana says it will eliminate about 1,400 jobs as it pushes to save money and adjust to a smaller enrollment. It is not ruling out some cuts in Illinois, where it has 650 workers, a spokesman said.
Dow Jones Newswires | Aon Corp. entered amended agreements with
Illinois, New York and Connecticut regulators, lifting the ban on
contingent commissions from insurance companies, but both companies
indicated they won’t resume the practice.
In 2004, Aon,
Willis, and Marsh & McClennan, among others, agreed to stop taking
the commissions after then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
launched a probe into compensation practices.
Amber Crutchfield 18, left, and Megan Nolan 18, belt up and get ready during a teen safety driving program a sponsored by the National Safety Council in 2006. (John Smierciak/Chicago Tribune, File)
By Becky Yerak | In what seems like a role reversal, teenage girl drivers are expressing a new need for speed, while aggressive driving and speeding by boys is down, according to an Allstate study.
“As more young women participate in activities like competitive sports
and take on a more assertive lifestyle, they’re narrowing the gender
gap,” Allan
Williams, former chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety, said in a statement
Read the full story: chicagotribune.com/business
Associated Press | Itasca-based insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said Tuesday that it bought a Brazilian reinsurance broker for an undisclosed amount.
Securitas Re, based in Sao Paulo, was purchased from Estater Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
By Naom Levey | As the nation struggled last year with rising healthcare costs and a recession, the five largest health insurance companies racked up combined profits of $12.2 billion — up 56% over 2008, according to a new report by liberal healthcare activists.
Based on company financial reports for 2009 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the report said, insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Cigna Corp., Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. covered 2.7 million fewer people than they did the year before.
Read more: chicagotribune.com/health
Allstate CEO Tom Wilson at an investor conference at a panel discussion in March. (Bloomberg News/File)
By Becky Yerak | With three years under his belt as Allstate Corp. chief executive, Tom Wilson said he feels good about the Northbrook-based company’s positioning despite shares that have been trading at less than book value and a business portfolio that has seen stagnant growth. “I feel good about where we’re at,” Wilson said late Wednesday, after the home and auto insurer and retirement products company reported fourth-quarter financial results. “We’ve come through one of the greatest meltdowns in the financial markets ever.” |
See also • Allstate turns 4Q profit, trims investment losses |
Associated Press | Property and casualty insurer Allstate Corp.
said Wednesday it was profitable in the fourth-quarter, reversing a
steep year-ago loss, as it staunched hemorrhaging in its investment
portfolio.
For the final three months of last year, the company based in
Northbrook, earned $518 million, or 96 cents per share. That compares
with a loss of $1.13 billion, or $2.10 per share, in the fourth quarter
of 2008.
Operating income, which excludes investment gains and losses, rose 14
percent to $592 million, or $1.09 per share, versus a profit of $518
million, or 96 cents per share, a year ago.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Allstate Insurance Co. said it would open an $11.6 million customer information center in San Antonio, its third in the nation.
The Northbrook-based company said it will hire 600 bilingual employees for the 75,000-square-foot facility. Allstate already operates centers in southwest suburban Woodridge and in Charlotte, N.C.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Four months after leading a failed bid to snag the 2016 Olympics for Chicago, Patrick Ryan is getting back into the insurance business.
Former Aon CEO Patrick Ryan is starting his own specialty insurance firm. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune) >>
The founder and retired chairman and chief executive of Aon Corp. announced Tuesday the formation of Ryan Specialty Group, which will offer specialty services to insurance brokers, agents and carriers. The company will not delve into retail brokerage or reinsurance brokerage or human resources consulting.
Tribune staff report | Horace Mann Educators Corp. today reported a 3 percent drop in net income to $22.2 million its fourth quarter, from $22.9 million in the same period a year ago, beating expectations.
Dow Jones Newswires | Loews Corp. and its CNA Financial Corp. insurance unit returned to the
black in the fourth quarter as they avoided the prior year’s investment
losses and write-downs.
Insurers were pummeled as 2008 came to an end as the equity and other
markets swooned amid the darkest days of the financial crisis. But many
in the sector have reported sharply improved results in the fourth
quarter amid the absence of such losses.
