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According to a new study from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), the extra weight hybrid vehicles carry around because of their battery makes them safer. In fact, the study found that the odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids, when compared to conventional fuel models.

With the insurance industry seemingly starved for some good news about itself, it can take solace knowing that more than 4,000 insurance company volunteers were willing to provide time and labor to various nonprofit groups across the nation last week.

As technology evolves, it may be that smartphone-toting field personnel are capable of doing their job anytime, anywhere.

In the wake of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, insurers and bankers feuded over directors and officers' liability policies. At issue: whether D&O policies covered claims brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation against a failed bank's officers. Years of messy litigation failed to settle the question conclusively, and insurers responded by tightening their policies with ironclad exclusions of future FDIC claims.

Document output management product boasts ability to provide businesses with customized, automated correspondence.

Survey shows employers not meeting employee desires for health plan programs that are easy to use, motivating, meaningful and personalized.

Former American International Group CEO Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg is seeking $25 billion in damages from the federal government for the manner in which it bailed out the insurance giant in 2008.

Liberty’s new Irish company will trade under the name Liberty Insurance.

Integration of the two companies creates Morgan Keegan Quick Life.

Late yesterday both houses of Congress passed a continuing Resolution which provides for a 30-day extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The program is now set to expire on Dec. 16, 2011.

Surveys and studies show that insurers are actively implementing new policy administration systems. In September, Celent released its “Policy Administration System Vendors, North American Commercial P/C Insurance 2011” report. And this month, the analyst and consulting firm released a similar report for the life, health and annuities industry.

In a move that reflects global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings’ acknowledgement of the growing role analytics plays across all domains of insurance and risk management, the global insurance broker announced that Rowan Douglas has been appointed CEO Global Analytics for Willis.

Christi Daughenbaugh, 2011 Chairman of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), selected Melinda Meyer, VP, Member Office Development for national broker/dealer ValMark Securities, as the recipient of the 2011 NAILBA Chairman’s Award. The honor was presented yesterday at the association’s annual meeting, NAILBA 30, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Through conducting a survey at 2011 Professional Liability Underwriting Society’s Annual International Conference in San Diego earlier this month, global specialty insurer Torus set out to identify key issues affecting the management and professional liability insurance market. The results reveal a professional lines market in flux with widespread concerns over pricing uncertainty in 2012, a heightened awareness of the current regulatory environment and fast-emerging new risks for small businesses. Thirty percent of the 102 insurance professionals surveyed, among them brokers, agents, insurers and risk managers, affirmed that the changing pricing environment is a major cause for unease, viewing it to have the biggest overall impact on the market over the next 12 months. Respondents also note that an increase in market competition (25 percent), the current regulatory environment (23 percent) and the creation of new products (17 percent) were also major concerns.

As 2011 winds down, few would dispute the centrality of mobile communications to the insurance industry.

People in Portland, Ore. are mad as hell at distracted drivers and they’re not going to take it any more, according to a poll conducted by PEMCO Insurance. The problem is: some of those same drivers admit to the driving-while-distracted behavior, violating safe driving laws on a regular basis.

Staying connected while away from the office is taking on increasing importance to insurers, according to a new survey. Conducted in September by technology solution provider FirstBest Systems Inc. as part of Market Scout Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium in Dallas, the survey queried 67 respondents from the carrier/MGA/MGU area, 94 percent of whom primarily represented commercial lines and 46 respondents from the agent/broker area, 90 percent or so representing commercial lines.

Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., has set forth a strategy to build a preeminent property/casualty and employee benefits organization to serve the needs of the middle market. And, the firm is acting on it. Just in the month of November, MMA announced three acquisitions: Seitlin Insurance, an insurance brokerage firms South Florida, Gallagher & Associates Inc. a property/casualty insurance agency specializing in public school districts, and the employee benefits division of Kaeding, Ernst & Company a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based employee benefits, life insurance, and financial planning consulting firm. Terms of all three transactions were not disclosed.

Insurance software vendor Ebix, serving payers in multiple industries, has acquired HealthConnect Systems, a vendor of online insurance exchange software. Terms were not disclosed.

As President Obama grapples with a complex series of geopolitical issues during his state visit to Australia, he can take solace in the knowledge that his family will be provided for if he is attacked by a man-eating crocodile.