Daily Headlines: Friday, February 10, 2012

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February 10, 2012 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National Banks Still Face Legal Claims After $25 Billion Settlement A landmark $25 billion settlement over foreclosure abuses will allow large banks to resolve one piece of their mortgage-related problems. ... BP Wins Ruling Keeping Prior Accidents Out of Gulf Spill Trial BP Plc won a court order to keep references to some previous accidents out of this month's trial to assess blame for the 2010 Gulf of ... 5 Big Banks, States Agree on $25 Billion Home Mortgage Deal Five big U.S. banks accused of abusive mortgage practices have agreed to a $25 billion government settlement that may help roughly one ... Has Pet Insurance Become a Necessity? After Nicole Bodzon, 28, a consultant in Conifer, Colorado, paid $1,600 for her pug, Pepe, to have a possibly cancerous tumor removed from ... Companies Partner to Offer New Elevator Insurance Program JM Associates/Burnham + Company, a division of Hub International Northeast, announced today that The Hartford will now be the general ... Commercial Real Estate Risks Urged to Separate from Peers Real estate property insurance rates, particularly for large organizations with catastrophe exposures, were up last year, according to... More National News East MF Global Judge to Examine Insurance Payments for Former Executives The U.S. judge overseeing MF Global's bankruptcy plans a closer review before deciding whether any of an estimated $190 million of ... N.Y. Financial Services Deputy Superintendent Wrynn to Join Law Firm New York State Financial Services Department's deputy superintendent James Wrynn will leave his post to join a law firm early next month. ... Hanover Posts $49M Q4 Profit; Pricing Improved in Commercial Lines The Hanover Insurance Group, based in Worcester, Mass., reported $49.3 million for its 2011 fourth-quarter net income, down 15.6 percent ... Virginia Bill to Ban Unauthorized GPS Tracking Advances The problem encountered by Del. Joe May's constituent seemed simple enough to solve. The citizen had taken his car in for service and was ... City of Erie, Penn., to Pay $207K in Firefighter’s Firing Lawsuit The city of Erie will pay nearly $207,000 to a firefighter who was wrongly dismissed following a 2006 suicide attempt in which she set ... Conn. Governor Proposes Boosting Storm Preparedness Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's revised $20 billion budget funds several recommendations from a panel that examined the response to the ... More East News Midwest Indiana Stage Builder Cited in State Fair Collapse The company that built the stage ahead of last summer's deadly Indiana State Fair collapse appeared to be indifferent to safety standards, ... Neace Lukens Acquires Indiana’s Jenkins Insurance Services Neace Lukens, an AssuredPartners Inc. company, has acquired Jenkins Insurance Services, a Sellersburg, Ind.-based employee benefits ... Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires ProSource Financial Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired ProSource Financial LLC in Westchester, Ill. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ... Panel OKs Bill Creating Iowa Flood Protection Fund Iowa cities struggling to afford necessary improvements to protect against flooding could get some help from the state under a plan that ... More Midwest News Southeast Alabama Panel Passes Texting While Driving Bill An Alabama House committee has approved a bill that would ban sending or reading text messages while driving. The bill by Republican Rep. ... Alabama Insurance Agent Enjoys New Acting Career Stan Houston has felt the power of Kenny Powers. Houston, an Enterprise insurance agent based in Dothan, Ala., filmed a scene in July for ... More Southeast News South Central Louisiana Officer in Federal Insurance Fraud Probe Found Dead The St. Tammany Parish coroner ruled that the death of a New Orleans police officer under investigation by the FBI was a suicide. Officer ... Uninsured Driver Bill Advances in Oklahoma House Oklahoma law enforcement officers would have more leeway to stop those suspected of driving uninsured vehicles under a measure approved by ... Oklahoma House Committee Approves Stricter Seat Belt Law Legislation aimed at increasing road safety in Oklahoma was approved in the House Public Safety Committee. House Bill 2583, by state Rep. ... Report: New Orleans Wasted Money on Life Benefits for Years The city misspent around $500,000 on employee benefits during a span of eight years, according to a report released by the New Orleans ... More South Central News West Lawsuit Seeks To Block Google’s Privacy Changes A consumer watchdog group is suing the Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to prevent Google from making sweeping changes to its privacy ... Feds: Few Montana Pipeline Plans Account For River Risks Federal officials investigating a pipeline break that spilled 1,500 barrels of oil into a Montana river said Wednesday that few companies ... Lawsuit: Payment Denied For Seniors’ Home Care A lawsuit contends that a health insurer ran a scheme to avoid paying in-home care claims from what could be thousands of California's ... Regulation: Health Insurers Must Put More Premiums into Medical Care The California Office of Administrative Law approved Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones' request to make permanent an emergency regulation ... Heffernan Names Tapia Education and Communication Specialist Heffernan Financial Services, a division of Heffernan Insurance Brokers, has promoted Rebecca Tapia to education and communication ... Safeco Insurance Announces Agent Leaders for the National Advisory Council Seattle, Wash.-based Safeco Insurance announced new leaders for its National Advisory Council in 2012. They are Shane Tatum, president, and ... More West News International Bogus Insurance Claims Help Spaniards Weather Tough Economic Times Leather seats are disappearing from cars. Precious jewels are vanishing from drawers. TVs are spirited out of homes in the dead of night. ... Earnings Reports: Everest Re, XL Group Chairman and CEO Joseph V. Taranto commented: "While catastrophe losses have had a significant impact on our results this year, our balance sheet remains strong with ... Willis Chief Warns London Audience of Major Risk Increases in 21st Century The 21st century has already witnessed a transformational shift in the global risk landscape, with a palpable change in the severity and ... Lawyer Says Cruise Lawsuits Will Force Insurers to Demand Higher Standards Insurers stung by multi-million dollar claims over the Concordia shipwreck will demand higher safety standards from the cruise industry, a ... Earnings Reports: RenaissanceRe, AXIS Capital, Alterra Capital CEO Neill A. Currie commented: "I am pleased to report growth in tangible book value per share plus dividends of over 3 percent in the fourth quarter, despite losses from ... More International News Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV Lobbyist Norwood Analyzes Consumer Watchdog Legislation John Norwood is one of California's best known legislative advocates for the insurance and... Watch Now How Insurance Distribution Is Changing Retail and wholesale brokers face the challenge —and opportunity— of redefining their... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums Spray Paint Booth with Water Based Materials Posted: Fri Feb 10 -- I really appreciate the feedback. Like you I too saw where there could have been an exposure in the same NFPA section. But, in this case the... Eagleeye Those who get an Insurance Education have a competitive edge Posted: Fri Feb 10 -- Thank you for providing this information it will be very helpful to us ... scsinsurance Should An Agency Specialize or have a Niche? Posted: Fri Feb 10 -- I want to thank Agent Equity for posting this thread It brought out some great commentary and the articles cites were great. I have come... William Graham Friendly advice Posted: Fri Feb 10 -- I'm seeking some advice on the best way to to break into the insurance carrier side from retail sales. I've sold professional liability... Hirschinsurance Farmers vs. Independent Posted: Thu Feb 9 -- I know you Farmers agents are probably laughing, but I had high hopes when it was announced FOUR YEARS AGO (March 5, 2008)that Farmers was... ins-atty Need Market for a Local Musical Group in CA Posted: Thu Feb 9 -- Anderson & Murison can help you with this risk. We need the Standard 125/126 accords, the number of entertainers, and the schedule of... Will_Hullinger Preparing for the New York State brokers' license exam Posted: Mon Feb 6 -- You can go to LearnInsurance.com. They offer affordable insurance pre-licensing courses so you can easily pass the actual exam. chizcurlz Retail to Wholesale??? Posted: Mon Feb 6 -- Even if it is wholesale or retail, property and casualty insurance products are still in demand. chizcurlz Do you recommend bonds or crime insurance? Posted: Mon Feb 6 -- And this is a great reason why bonds must be considered over crime insurance. chizcurlz Go to Forums Reader Comments Have Insurers Lost the Capacity to Run an Underwriting Profit? Posted: Thu Feb 9 -- I believe that online rating has helped change the market place. In the years since on-line rating and binding, Agents have been able to... Producer #1 Chubb Sues Actress Marisa Tomei Over $129K Damage in NYC Apartment Posted: Mon Feb 6 -- Marisa Tomei is quite possibly the hottest woman ever to walk the face of the Earth. She should be able to damage whatever she wants... Hillsborough agent P/C Insurers' Combined Ratio for 2011 Estimated at 107.5% Posted: Mon Feb 6 -- and yet agents can't correlate this and the need for increased pricing. 9 years of decreases at 5-10% each year and now have to explain to... large carrier 8 States to Hold Earthquake Drills Today Posted: Tue Feb 7 -- I once held an earthquake drill. Shook right out of my hands, though. Thought it was going to be like a jackhammer but boy was I wrong.... reality bites 90 D.C. Workers Face Firing for Unemployment Fraud Posted: Thu Feb 9 -- Help me here. How could the city not know they were paying people twice? I'm wondering if any of the fraudsters worked payroll or HR? Anyone... 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