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Progressive announced it received a fourth patent for system technologies used with its Pay As You Drive, Snapshot usage-based insurance program.

Propertycasulaty insurers got some more bad news this morning, this time from Ernst & Young, which predicted their ongoing struggle to succeed against a tide of further economic ills.

Small business owners prefer to speak to financial advisors of the same sex, with men exhibiting a stronger gender bias than their female counterparts, notes study results released today by The American College, a non-profit educational institution devoted to financial services.

Ryan Specialty Group LLC (RSG) has acquired Global Special Risks LLC (GSR), a specialty underwriting manager from Willis North America Inc., a subsidiary of Willis Group Holdings. GSR specializes in providing innovative solutions for energy, marine and specialty product offerings with the London and North American markets. GSR will become part of RSG Underwriting Managers LLC. Willis Capital Markets & Advisory acted as a financial advisor to Willis. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Control over end user devices, once a given at so many companies, is loosening. Employees insist on being able to use their Apple, Android and BlackBerry devices for work and being able to access all their apps and files however they want to. Along with smartphones, consumers are adopting tablets such as Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook, Apple Inc.'s iPad, and Amazon Inc.'s Kindle.

Many positive ways to look at this proactive approach to preventing fraud conducted over social media sites.

OpenSpan Inc., a provider of business process analytics, optimization and automation solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Triangle BPA LLC. The acquisition follows a year-long partnership between the two companies. OpenSpan has secured rights to intellectual property for Triangle BPA’s health insurance payer claim automation tools and techniques and is adding key senior staff to the OpenSpan executive team.

The XL Group has received final approval from the Brazilian insurance and reinsurance regulator, Superintendencia de Seguros Privados (SUSEP), to establish an insurance operation in the country. XL Seguros Brasil S.A. in Sao Paulo will offer a range of casualty, property, professional and specialty insurance products. The insurance offerings will expand XL’s capabilities in Brazil and complement its existing reinsurance operations. Expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2012, the insurance office will be led by Juan Bragadin, country manager.

Consumers want more technology in their vehicles, both for safety and infotainment purposes, and they expect it to appear in all vehicles, not just luxury lines, according to a new study from Accenture.

Global professional services company Towers Watson has released updated versions of its RiskAgility MoSes enterprise financial modeling software and RiskAgility Economic Capital (EC) Aggregator software.

This morning, A.M. Best made a number of announcements regarding the outlooks of many segments of the insurance industry.

John Hancock Financial, a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., has entered the travel insurance marketplace, distributing products through a new website, www.johnhancocktravel.com, and through travel insurance comparison sites, such as InsureMyTrip.com.

The top marketing executive at a sizable US retailer recently found herself perplexed by the sales reports she was getting. A major competitor was steadily gaining market share across a range of profitable segments. Despite a counterpunch that combined online promotions with merchandizing improvements, her company kept losing ground.

A new report that provides an analysis of residential building codes in the 18 hurricane-prone coastal states along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast was released today by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). The IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry. Intended to increase the safety and integrity of structures, thereby reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from hurricanes and a wide range of other hazards, building codes are relied upon by property/casualty insurers as one of several pieces of data used to qualify risk.

The U.S. insurance industry saw a 3.3 percent increase over November’s jobs figures, adding 3,300 jobs in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Insurers are warming to the notion of standardized product approval according to a report from consulting and actuarial firm Milliman Inc.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued an interim final rule to require adoption of standards and operating rules for electronic funds transfer and remittance advice HIPAA transactions.

As the New Year unfolds the insurance industry will double down on data, according to a new report from enterprise and application architecture consultancy X by 2.

Insurance companies are now competing with start-ups and tech-savvy companies for a shrinking pool of IT talent.

The use of telematics by personal lines insurers may have reached a tipping point, according to a new report from Celent.