Daily Headlines: Wednesday, December 18, 2013

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December 18, 2013 News By Region  National  International  East  Midwest  Southeast  South Central  West Video Today's Headlines National Death Spiral Unlikely for Obamacare: Study A threat to America's health insurance overhaul has been that young people would not buy coverage in new marketplaces, possibly pushing the ... Tower Says Its Sale of Stake in Canopius Lessens Liquidity Concerns Tower Group International Ltd. said that it has paid $70 million that was outstanding to its Bank of America credit facility using proceeds ... One-Fifth of Drinkers Admit Driving When Near or Over Alcohol Limit A fifth of U.S. motorists who drink say they've driven at least once in the past year when they thought their alcohol level might've been ... BP Seeks Halt to Oil Spill Payments to Seafood Firms, Alleges Attorney Fraud BP Plc asked a U.S. judge to stop payments in the $2.3 billion seafood-industry portion of its settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil ... W.R. Berkley Names Littzi As VP, Senior Counsel Insurance holding company W. R. Berkley Corp. has named John M. Littzi as vice president and senior counsel, where he will responsible for ... Verisk Climate, WDT to Develop Weather-Related Analytics Products for Businesses Verisk Climate, a  provider of enterprise climate risk management products, and Weather Decision Technologies (WDT), a weather industry ... Not Just Hiring's, Headlines & Hoopla: Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Emerges from 2013 a Serious Player 2013 has been quite a year for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) - or half of a year, anyway. Since opening its doors for... CEOs Hurt Firm Performance By Overstaying Their Welcome: Study The longer CEOs stay in power, the more likely chief executives are to limit outside sources of market and customer... More National News East NICB: Questionable Insurance Claims on the Rise in New York, New Jersey New York State's questionable claims rose 29 percent from 2010 to 2012, while New Jersey's questionable claims were up 63 percent during ... FEMA: 17 New Jersey Towns Recognized for Reducing Their Flood Hazard Risk Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said 17 New Jersey municipalities are being recognized in two awards ceremonies this week for ... Penn. House Insurance Committee Chair Applauds Passage of Auto Insurance E-Card Bill Pennsylvania State Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna), who serves as chairman of the House Insurance Committee, applauded ... MAPFRE | Commerce Insurance Launches Telematics Program in Massachusetts MAPFRE | Commerce Insurance has launched its DriveAdvisorProgram in Massachusetts. The new program will allow eligible Massachusetts ... State Farm: No Unusual Claims Activity in Northeast From Weekend Snowstorm State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. says last weekend's snowstorm that dropped as much as 17 inches of snow in parts of the ... Dennis Busti, CEO of Saul Steinberg Insurance Unit, Dies at 71 Dennis Busti, who played a leading role in building the insurance business that tracked the rise and fall of corporate raider Saul ... NICB: Massachusetts Posts 57% Increase in Questionable Insurance Claims Questionable claims in Massachusetts rose 57 percent from 2010 through 2012, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau's (NICB) ... FEMA Grants Helping to Raise Flood-Prone R.I. Homes The owners of eight flood-prone properties near Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, R.I., are using federal grant funds to raise their ... Russell Bond Appoints Operations Manager in Buffalo, N.Y. Russell Bond & Co. Inc., an insurance wholesaler headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., announced Paul Saccomando has joined the firm as ... More East News Midwest As Bond Insurers Drop Objections, Detroit Bankruptcy Progresses Detroit's path through bankruptcy began to take shape on Dec. 17, with a second bond insurance firm ready to drop its objections to a ... Worker's Head Injury Leads to $90K Fine for Ohio Manufacturer Ohio-based McNeil Group, doing business as Pinnacle Metal Products, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety ... Quake Reported in South-Central Kansas A magnitude 3.8 earthquake hit south-central Kansas on Dec. 16, rattling windows and doors, but causing no reported damage or injuries. The ... More Midwest News Southeast Couple Settles for $1M in North Carolina Daycare Tragedy Court records say a Catawba County couple has received a $1 million settlement from a Mooresville daycare after their infant son stopped ... Lawsuit Alleges Mississippi Health Center Negligent in Sexual Abuse A woman has filed a federal lawsuit claiming a central Mississippi mental health facility failed to protect her 11-year-old son from being ... More Southeast News South Central Texas No Longer No. 1 in High Home Insurance Rates An industry group says Texas homeowners no longer are paying the highest insurance rates in the country, a distinction that now goes to ... LAMMICO Declares 10.5% Dividend for Medical Liability Policyholders The board of directors of medical professional liability insurer, LAMMICO, has declared another dividend for all policyholders in Louisiana ... Court Alcohol Breath Test Ruling Could Cost Oklahoma DPS $11M An Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling could mean the state Department of Public Safety must refund at least $11 million to drivers in ... Higginbotham Hires Ponder as AVP, Loss Control, for South Texas Alan W. Ponder has joined the Houston office of insurance brokerage and financial services firm, Higginbotham, as assistant vice president ... Young Joins Swett & Crawford's Dallas Professional Services Team Swett & Crawford, part of the independent global wholesale and reinsurance broking group Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC), announced the ... More South Central News West 'Crouching Tiger' Actress Settles Website Claim in Southern California Court "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star Zhang Ziyi settled a lawsuit for libel against a U.S.-based Chinese news website, which today ... Sherwin, NL, ConAgra Lose $1.1 Billion Lead Paint Ruling Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and ConAgra Grocery Products LLC were ordered by a judge to pay $1.1 billion to replace or contain ... Universal, Fireman's Fund Seek 'Fast and Furious' Solution When "Fast And Furious" star Paul Walker died and left the seventh film in the franchise hanging in the balance, it wasn't the first time a ... California Tops 'Judicial Hellhole' List California isn't just a warm place to live, which is often the case even in winter, but it turns out the state is considered a "judicial ... More West News International Swiss Re Reports 2013 Disaster Losses at $130 Billion; $44 Billion Insured According to preliminary estimates from Swiss Re's latest sigma report, insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in ... Sompo Japan to Buy UK Insurer Canopius in Overseas Expansion Drive Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., a unit of Japan's third-largest casualty insurer group by market value, confirmed earlier reports that it will ... Willis International Chairman Sarah Turvill to Retire; Will Join Board Willis Group Holdings announced that Sarah Turvill will retire as Chairman of Willis International at the end of 2013, and that she has ... RSA's S&P Rating Remains Seriously at Risk Even after Second Downgrade An analysis from Stuart Shipperlee, Analytical Partner at Litmus Analysis, notes that following S&P's initial downgrade last month, "RSA ... More International News Join the Insurance Journal Network Insurance Journal TV Coastal Agents Alliance Stays Focused on Coastal Homes: Byrne In 2004, Tim Byrne and his brother were growing their Cape May, N.J. agency just fine. Then... Watch Now Markets in Motion - Sports & Entertainment Venue The 650,000 square foot Honda Event Center in Anaheim, Calif. holds thousands of people at any... Watch Now Watch more videos at InsuranceJournal.tv New Discussions in the Forums Christmas Bonus? Posted: Tue Dec 17 -- I completely agree with D on this one. We are "very" generous with our Christmas bonuses, perhaps too much with some.... Smalltownagent Broker fees Posted: Tue Dec 17 -- States vary as to whether or not you can collect a fee and commission on the same transaction. You may be able charge a fee for services... ForumReader Lakefront Motels Posted: Sun Dec 15 -- If you still need help feel free to get in touch, I have a few markets that love this type of risk. ABMCalifornia SEO and buying back links Posted: Sun Dec 15 -- I would never recommend buying links. If there's one thing I learned over the past five years it's don't ever try to trick Google into... ABMCalifornia errors and omision Posted: Sun Dec 15 -- Justin, I'm not sure what state you plan on doing business in but if you have not already been helped feel free to get in touch. I've taken... ABMCalifornia New Insurance Agency Posted: Fri Dec 13 -- A couple of more resources, one rarely mentioned but I know they help a lot of independent agencies: agentequity.com. specifically their... gregg@prospect Floating Home GL in Oergon Posted: Thu Dec 12 -- Hi... I have a licensed contractor in Oregon building a new home on a floating platform which is permanently docked in a marina. This will... Paul_Graham Illinois Midwest Work Comp- tool mfg 3099 Posted: Wed Dec 11 -- My understanding is that Illinois Midwest will only work with contracted retail agencies. I used to have a few policies with them through a... ocbroker Go to Forums Reader Comments Family of North Carolina Teen Killed by Stray Bullet Sues Gunmaker Posted: Wed Dec 11 -- I totally agree, SWFL; it is the gun owner's fault and his fault only. Apparently the gun owner's homeowners policy doesn't have big enough... Scott Probation Sentence in Texas Teen's Fatal DWI Wreck Stirs Ire Posted: Fri Dec 13 -- It starts out very innocently. Conservatives make the case that the top 1% of Americans are job creators and that reducing their taxes will... naksuthin South Carolina Jury Awards $890K to Man Wrongly Accused by Condo Board Posted: Mon Dec 16 -- Good for Mr. King. These condo association board members think they are the big guy in the sky, judge and jury. Not all, but most are... Serves them well Obamacare November Enrollment Tops 250,000; Sebelius Seeks Probe of Botched Launch Posted: Sat Dec 14 -- Well Insurance 102 I don't care what to like kind gender do to eat other as long as they don't flaunt their orientation in my face or try to... Sargeant Major Obama's Health Care Promise Is 2013 Top Quote, Yale Univ. Librarian Says Posted: Tue Dec 17 -- Amen, Whodathunkit! He knew he was lying and he didn't care because his followers allow him to say anything and they give him a pass EVERY... 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