Archive for 'Insurance Industry News' Category
Video: Is IBM’s Watson Taking On The Insurance Industry Next?
IBM’s Watson: Insurance Jobs in Jeopardy? Recently, the TV-show Jeopardy’s two biggest champions were defeated by an IBM computer named Watson in a “Man vs. Machine” challenge. IBM engineers spent four years building the artificial intelligence that went into Watson but IBM has higher aspirations for Watson than game show player. The firm sees a [...]
Allstate Set To Open 140 New Agencies Across Texas in 2011
Allstate Insurance Company aims to break recruiting records in Texas this year, by opening at least 140 agencies across the state. The company’s expansion goals parallel steady population growth in the Lone Star state. Texas’ population jumped more than 20% in the past decade—twice as fast as the nation as a whole—according to newly [...]
Video: With Admitted Carriers in the E&S World, Innovation Carries the Day
Alan J. Kaufman, president, chairman and CEO of Burns & Wilcox; Rob Lala, senior vice president of Liberty International Underwriters; and Chris Timm, president of Century Insurance Group and executive vice-president of Meadowbrook Insurance Group, share their ideas with Insurance Journal’s Stephanie K. Jones on the foray of admitted insurance carriers into the excess [...]
Video: Pennsylvania Pushes Again For Tort Reform
A renewed push for tort reform in Pennsylvania has many fans in the insurance world. The Keystone State is one of the few in which one defendant can be held fully liable for the actions of another in a civil lawsuit. But that would all change now that lawmakers are poised to resurrect legislation known [...]
Video: Pusey Discusses If Deficit Debate Will Affect Flood Insurance? Taxes?
Following the November elections, Congress and the White House, as well as states, have signaled that they will be focusing on deficit and debt issues in the year 2011. Might this debate affect the National Flood Insurance Program? Lee Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the industry’s American Insurance Association, thinks that is possible. In [...]
Allstate Set To Get Out of The Banking Business
The Allstate Corp., the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, is getting out of the banking business. Discover Bank, a division of Discover Financial Services, is purchasing the $1.1 billion deposits of Allstate Bank and the two have entered into to a multi-year distribution and marketing agreement. Discover Bank will assume the Allstate Bank [...]
Healthcare Reform Could Cause Possible Struggles for Insurance Industry
The stakes are high for policymakers to make healthcare reform a success. As the changes get underway, it remains to be seen how they will affect insurers. A study conducted by Conning Research and Consulting reveals that the medical professional liability industry can expect its profit margin to shrink, as the result of more competition [...]
Insurance Agent Charged With Using Her Dead Mother’s Name For Bank Fraud
An insurance agent awaiting sentencing for defrauding her employer has been hit with new charges that allege bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Kimberly Michell Bisslessi, 34, of Mobile, pleaded not guilty to the new charges last week in Mobile’s federal court. According to the indictment, Bisslessi used the name and Social Security [...]
Video: Getting to Know You through Social Media
When we first talked to Cindy Donaldson, Director of Marketing & Personal Lines Sales for Founder’s Group about a year ago, the company was in the early stages of their social media journey. We thought it would be fun to go back and see how the agency was progressing. According to Cindy, their goal [...]
Marsh Sees Soft Commercial Insurance Market Continuing
Another report indicates that soft commercial insurance market conditions that persisted throughout the U.S. in 2010 will continue into 2011. Key commercial insurance market drivers from 2009—including intense competition among insurers, abundant capacity, and relatively few insured catastrophe losses—continued through 2010 and are forming market conditions for 2011, global insurance broker Marsh said in its [...]