Insurance Regulatory News

Federal regulators Friday closed Florida Community Bank of Immokalee and arranged its sale to the new owners of Premier American Bank of Miami, a group buying distressed banks in the state.

Regulators said the 11 branches of Florida Community will open as usual Monday.

As of Sept. 30, Florida Community had about $875.5 million in assets and $795.5 million in deposits.

Allstate Corp. CEO Thomas Wilson has reshuffled his executive ranks in a bid to recharge the insurer's growth engines.

In an unusual step for Allstate, Mr. Wilson hired three executives from outside the company to run its auto and life insurance businesses and oversee marketing.

The new head of Allstate's life insurance unit, Matthew Winter, formerly of American International Group Inc., is responsible for executing Allstate's long-stalled strategy to sell retirement products to Allstate's 17 million auto and homeowners' insurance customers.

United Insurance Holdings Corp. (OTCBB: UIHC; UIHCW; UIHCU) ("United" or the "Company"), a property and casualty insurance holding company, announced today that the Company received approval from the Office of Insurance Regulation for rate increases on its Protector Homeowner and Guardian Dwelling Fire products.

United's homeowner policies written or renewed on or after March 15, 2010 will reflect an overall average rate increase of 14.0%, while its dwelling fire policies written or renewed on or after April 15, 2010 will reflect an overall average rate increase of 14.7%.

About United Insurance Holdings Corp.

IRVING, Texas, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Water, wind and hail damage top the list of most common homeowner insurance claims in Texas, according to a review by Allstate Insurance Company of aggregated insurance carrier claims data.

assessing data from 2000 - 2007, the Allstate review also found that while many of the most common claims holistically are the most expensive (because they impact the broadest number of Texas consumers), some of the less common claims can be more costly on an individual basis.

On average, liability claims account for the most costly individual homeowner insurance claims in Texas, followed by fire and dog bite claims.

Jan. 25--Coastal policyholders are well aware a hurricane is guaranteed to hike insurance rates, but fewer realize their credit reports also are factored into homeowner and automobile insurance premiums.

Even Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said that he recently faced a 10 percent increase in his Safeco auto insurance rate because of an error on the insurer's part.

"My credit history is very good because I have a thin credit file, very little credit."

Jan. 24--Coastal policyholders are well aware a hurricane is guaranteed to hike insurance rates, but fewer realize their credit reports also are factored into homeowner and automobile insurance premiums.

Even Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said that he recently faced a 10 percent increase in his Safeco auto insurance rate because of an error on the insurer's part.

"My credit history is very good because I have a thin credit file, very little credit."

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Combined Agents of America, LLC (CAA) announced six of its member agencies, Bigham- Kliewer-Chapman-Watts Insurance Agency, The Bridges Group, Inc., Bryan Insurance Agency, Ed Berrong Insurance Agency, Pierson & Fendley Insurance Agency, and Weatherby-Eisenrich Insurance Agency, have retained their status for 2009 as part of an elite group of independent insurance agencies around the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) "Best Practices" Study Group.

With recent expansion into Oklahoma and Kansas, Texas- based CAA is a managing general agency (MGA) committed to further expansion across the country to strengthen the independent insurance agency system through profitable growth and exceptional service for its member agencies.

"We are excited that a third of the Texas agencies chosen by IIABA as 2009 Best Practice agencies are also members of Combined Agents of America.

Jan. 22--A proposal to allow Georgia residents to buy individual insurance plans across state lines could give residents cheaper options for coverage, but consumer protections would be a necessary component, said a North Georgia insurance agent.

Gov. Sonny Perdue announced the reform proposal last week at a Georgia Chamber of Commerce event, but the office has not yet introduced a bill to the state Legislature.

With national health care reform poised to mandate that everyone purchase health insurance, affordability of plans is even more critical, especially on the individual market, said Bert Brantley, spokesman for Gov. Perdue's office.

Jan. 21--OLYMPIA -- A credit score should not be used to help determine how much a person pays for home or auto insurance premiums, State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler told a legislative panel Wednesday evening.

Factors that affect credit scores can discriminate against low-income and minority populations, Kreidler said as he lobbied for one of his top priorities: to ban the practice in Washington state.

But representatives of the insurance industry told the House Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee that a credit score does help predict good and bad insurance risks and should remain one of many factors the companies can use to set a customer's rates.

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ebd39f/health_insurance_i) has announced the addition of the "Health Insurance Industry in India" report to their offering.

Presently, schemes like Voluntary health insurance schemes or private-for-profit schemes; Employer-based schemes; Insurance offered by NGOs / community based health insurance, and Mandatory health insurance schemes or government run schemes (ESIS, CGHS) are found in India.

Aruvian's Research analyzes this growing industry in its research report Health Insurance Industry in India.