2008-10-30 Extorting the Insurance Companies

The piracy in the Gulf of Aden is basically an opportunity for the Somali pirates to extort money from the maritime insurance companies. Since most of the ships moving through the Gulf of Aden are going to, or coming from, the Suez canal, where it costs, on average, about a quarter of a million dollars to pass through, pirate ransoms are seen as a minor additional cost. Last year, the canal took in usd. 4. 6 billion, charging large merchant ships several hundred thousand dollars each to make the 12-16 hour transit. The canal fees are worth it, as this shortcut sharply cuts the cost of getting goods from Europe to Asia. About seven percent of all world trade goes through the Suez Canal. Pirates are demanding a million dollars or more per ship from the owners. This has pushed up insurance rates to over usd. 10,000 per ship moving through the

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2008-10-27 Veteran insurance consultant urges Code of Conduct for insurance

Prior to nationalisation, everything was operating smoothly and efficiently. Even after nationalisation, the Insurance Corporation as a monopoly, continued to operate fairly well, until a setback took place owing to it and rsquo;s failure to deliver the insuring public a good service. However, things changed a lot after the formation of the National Insurance Corporation under the efficient chairmanship of Lionel Fernando. Even prior to privatisation of insurance, tariff rates were quoted and the public accepted it. There was no under-cutting of rates. If the insurance business is carried, on proper lines by following one theme, the insurance companies and the policyholders will benefit. In Sri Lanka , because of cheap competition in companies, they go all out to grab business at any cost by offering low rates without any basis for

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2008-10-27 Insurance cops face off over turf-Financial Week

Proponents of federal regulation (most of whom favor an optional federal charter for insurance companies) argue that state regulators could not foresee the problems at AIGs parent company because of their limited scope and interest. When the problems at AIG did occur, state regulators had no tools that would allow them to prop up the ailing company and protect policyholders in their states, critics say.

For years, we have seen evidence that (state) insurance regulators are outgunned and outmanned by the very companies they are supposed to restrain, he said. Our insurance industry is too important to our national security and our economy to have to hope that (state regulators) have done their jobs right.

www.financialweek.com

2008-10-27 Neary needs to realise his job is to serve public-National News, Frontpage-Independent. ie

Quinn Insurance ticks all those boxes, but only because it is not allowed to become a funding source for Sean Quinns private dabblings in the stock market. His other companies have had to write off and euro;829m thanks to his investments, and may have to write off a further and euro;130m; but those companies do not have to meet insurance claims from their clients. Without regulation, Quinn could have taken as much money as he liked from his insurance company. That is why a breach of those regulations is so serious, and so considered.

www.independent.ie

Patrick neary, the financial regulator, showed on friday that he does not believe in learning from his life experiences.

2008-10-25 H. E. A. T. Honors Contributions to Auto Theft Prevention-MarketWatch

H. E. A. T. works with Michigan law enforcement agencies to follow up on tips. Tipsters are awarded up to usd. 1,000 if the tip leads to the arrest and prosecution of a suspected car thief or a person suspected of auto theft-related insurance fraud. Rewards of up to usd. 10,000 are issued if a tip results in the arrest and binding over for trial of a suspected theft ring or chop shop operators. H. E. A. T. rewards up to usd. 2,000 for information leading to the issuance of a warrant for a carjacking suspect. The H. E. A. T. tip line is monitored by the Michigan State Police and funded by Michigans auto insurance companies.

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2008-10-25 San Diego wildfire victims angry at insurers

Well be looking for patterns of behavior by insurance companies, of stalling, not paying claims fully and putting up barriers," said Steve Poizner, the commissioner, adding that his agency has already persuaded insurance companies to pay usd. 13 million in disputed claims from the 2007 fires.

Californias insurance commissioner has ordered his auditors to examine how insurance companies handled claims from last years devastating wildfires amid allegations from homeowners that some insurers misled them about how much coverage they needed.

www.sfgate.com

2008-10-25 McClatchy Washington Bureau Health care: Both candidates plans promise radical change

He proposes keeping the current system of employer-based insurance, but large companies that dont provide enough insurance or any at all would have to pay into a special fund. This fund would help pay for a national insurance exchange, where workers could purchase insurance from the private sector or from a new federal health-care program like the one that federal workers have now.

History is important to understanding why. In the 1950s, the Internal Revenue Service encouraged employer-based insurance by allowing companies a tax deduction for providing it. Since then, employees contribution to their health care has been an invisible tax break, because those contributions come out of their paychecks before their income is taxed. More than 62 percent of working-age Americans receive health insurance this way.

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2008-10-25 Letters: Words on Palins wardrobe Viewpoints, Outlook Houston Chronicle

In response to Sundays Outlook article "Before the next disaster / Keeping the insurers in check / Regulation could benefit consumers": New York activist Kia Franklins recent op-ed makes unsubstantiated accusations that insurance companies are not doing right by Hurricane Ike victims and then ignores reams of Texas law that protects consumers.

As insurers work through the aftermath of Ike, consumers interests are safeguarded by insurance regulations implemented and overseen by the Texas Department of Insurance and decades of state law. Franklin ignores this state structure as she bemoans perceived consumer protection shortcomings in federal insurance law.

www.chron.com

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2008-10-25 Nigeria: Experts Seek Solution to Debts Owed Insurance Companies (Page 1 of 1)

He explained that a major benefit of the workshop to the insurance industry is that "it will put an end to practices that have resulted in avoidable tenuous reconciliation exercises, frauds, fictitious book balances, inadvertent misrepresentations, audit verification challenges and loss of investible funds, with negative impact on the ability of companies to meet their obligations to policy holders and investors. "

In order to fast track the growth of international competitiveness of insurance enterprises in Nigeria and in the West Africa sub-region, financial experts from Nigeria and from around the region is set to meet to brainstorm on ways to put an end to the huge debts owed to insurance companies in the country and in West Africa.

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2008-10-25 PIB Press Release

One of the objectives of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) inter alia, is to protect the interests of the policyholders. Accordingly, IRDA has notified the Insurance and Development Authority (Protection of Policyholders Interest) Regulations, 2002. These Regulations stipulate the duties and obligations of the insurers and policyholders in respect of an insurance contract, both at the point of sale and in the event of a claim, and setting up of in-house grievance redressal mechanism in the insurance companies. In pursuance of these regulations, the companies have set up in-house grievance redressal mechanisms. In addition to this, for grievances relating to settlement of claims, policyholders may also approach the Insurance Ombudsmen, IRDA Grievance Cell, Consumer Fora or the Courts.

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