Security risk

AGCS, the global corporate and specialty insurer in the Allianz Group, conducted the survey during the second half of 2011 to identify the risks respondents expected to have the greatest impact on their livelihoods.

Persistent economic, social and environmental risks are conflating to menace insurers.

Claims severity is also on the rise, but trend between profit and non-profit types of organizations is narrowing.

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.

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.

The next major development in IIABNY’s legal effort to overturn a New York regulation mandating producer compensation disclosure will occur Jan. 10, 2012, reports the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York.

Frank Cowan Co. has selected the RC Inspection software solution from Risk Control Technologies Inc., a provider of loss-control software solutions for insurers, to streamline its loss-control operations. Frank Cowan will equip its team of risk-management inspectors with tablets complete with the RC Inspection application for loss-control management.

A day after the Insurance Information Institute released figures declaring 2011 the costliest year for P&C insurers covering U.S. cat losses, Munich Re and I.I.I. announced global cat figures.

Recent calculations from ISO and PCI indicate insurers faced extreme headwinds in their core business—underwriting.

In the face of the NTSB's recommended ban, auto manufacturers are gung-ho about adding more connectivity in the car.

Allstate Insurance Co. is seeking to recover $6.3 million against 83 New York-area defendants in its seventh insurance fraud lawsuit of 2011. The complaint, filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and principles of common law, alleges that the defendants engaged in separate, but parallel, schemes in which fraudulent and misleading bills were submitted to Allstate for durable medical equipment, medical supplies and orthotic devices.

A call for the revision of a federal law, which allows risk retention groups (RRG) to operate nationally when licensed in a single state, has been lodged by National Risk Retention Association General Counsel Robert Myers, Jr.

Insurers are skeptical about the cloud, but new developments could lend hope to a secure future.

With the stroke of a pen on Saturday, President Obama signed a continuing resolution that bought the troubled National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) another week of funding.

As the rulemaking phase of the Dodd-Frank Act continues, insurers are looking to shape the rules to determine which companies constitute a systemic risk to the larger economy.

After its first public event, the magnitude of the task facing the Federal Insurance Office becomes apparent.

Credit and information management firm TransUnion released end of third-quarter results of its proprietary Auto Insurance Risk Index, noting a slight increase of 0.03 percent after four consecutive quarterly declines. The index now registers 98.85, three basis points higher than Q2 2011; 31 basis points lower than a year ago at this time; and 73 basis points lower than its recessionary peak in Q2 2009.

The insurance industry showed strong support for The National Transportation Safety Board after it announced yesterday that it recommends all 50 states and the District of Columbia pass legislation banning the non-emergency use of portable electronic devices by motorists while driving.

The National Transportation Safety Board said today that texting, emailing or using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be too dangerous to be allowed anywhere, and recommends that all states impose a total ban, except for emergencies. The recommendation would also apply to hands-free devices, the federal safety board said.