Latest Insurance News

Silanis's Paperless Future ; Small Talk

By ANDREW DEWSON Predictions about the paperless office have been around since the dawn of the computer age, but if The Independent's offices are anything to go by the elimination of paper is still an awfully long way off. Silanis, a Canadian software developer, is hoping to take us all one step closer to the paperless utopia as it lists on the Alternative Investment Market tomorrow. The company has a long track record for a new listing on the junior market, beginning trading way back in ...

Editorial Political Risk Rocky Has to Come Clean -- but His Word Alone Isn't Enough

IT'S hard to believe it, but City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has managed to make Paris Hilton into a sympathetic creature. Suddenly, the heiress's motoring violations and contempt for the law don't seem so terrible. At least she can blame it on a "medical condition." But it's getting hard for Delgadillo to explain away the increasing litany of alleged violations of city policy and state law against him and his wife. The revelations of his use -- and alleged misuse -- of city resources ke...

QUOTE ME UNHAPPY ; Norwich Voted Worst Car Insurer

By RUKI SAYID CAR insurance giant Norwich Union is the worst in Britain, say motorists. It came bottom out of 45 companies in a poll - a blow to its "Quote me happy" ad slogan. The biggest car insurer was marked down on value, quality of call centre staff, helpfulness and communication. The poll of 30,000 drivers for Auto Express magazine criticised a lack of understanding and poor customer relations by its India- based phone operators. James Bishop, of Hythe, Kent told the magazine...

New Insurance Plan Comes Under Criticism

By Mao Lijun China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has been criticized for increasing auto insurance rates in a draft measure announced on June 15. The Measures on Floating Premium Rates for Compulsory Vehicle Liability Insurance will be implemented on July 1. It has triggered much dissent. "CIRC will extensively listen to suggestions and improve measures to make sure they are scientifically and reasonably effective," Yuan Li, spokesman of CIRC said yesterday. CIRC has received...

Springs 8th-Safest for Drivers ; Allstate Crunches Cities' Crash Data

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE Colorado Springs drivers rank as the eighth-safest in the country, at least in Allstate's estimation. According to the insurance company's annual study of crash data, drivers here get into traffic crashes less often than drivers in most of the nation's 200 largest cities. Skeptical? "I haven't run into anyone yet who thought their city's drivers were good drivers," Allstate Insurance Co. spokeswoman Melissa Morris said. "I don't think anyone ever believes...

No Fault What Happens After Expires?

By Russell Ray, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Jun. 20--It's been the law in Florida for 36 years. But come October, the state's no-fault auto insurance law, which requires drivers to have at least $10,000 of personal injury protection, will expire. If the Legislature doesn't step in to extend PIP, the way Floridians purchase auto insurance will change dramatically. If drivers don't start preparing for the changes now, they could get caught in an accident with no coverage, consumer groups say. A...

Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, Inside Alaska Business Column

By Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Jun. 20--Ground broken for sea studies Kiewit Building Group announced it has broken ground on the new School of Fisheries and Ocean Science facility for the University of Alaska Fairbanks at Lena Point near Juneau. The 30,000-square-foot three-story building will contain classrooms, laboratories and faculty/student offices with associated outbuildings and parking for faculty and graduate students researching Alaska's fisheries. Kiewit is performing the w...

Companies Clamour for Slice of Website Pie ; IN ASSOCIATION WITH Rensburg Sheppards But Pounds Bn Valuations Smack of a Return to the Dot Com Era

By HOLLY WILLIAMS Business Correspondent THE consumer desire to secure the best possible deal on everything from car insurance and energy bills to a new fridge freezer is creating a booming business for websites that offer price comparisons. These so-called "aggregators" have tapped into the growing need for a service to trawl through the many products and services on offer and ultimately help save consumers money - and it appears to be paying off. At least, it certainly is for the sites ...

Phatra and Muang Thai to Merge

By Nuntawun Polkuamdee, Bangkok Post, Thailand Jun. 19--Phatra Insurance and Muang Thai Insurance, two non-life insurers controlled by the Lamsam family, plan to merge under a strategy to crack the top five in market share within five years. The new merged company will be the country's seventh-largest, with a 3 percent market share. Phatra yesterday also announced plans to pay a special dividend of 50 baht per share for a total of one billion baht on Nov 9, with the share register close...

Md. Court of Appeals Revises Ruling

By Caryn Tamber The Court of Appeals has apparently decided it made a mistake in an April decision containing a few dozen words that attorneys say could have radically changed the law in some car accident cases. The top court's opinion in Erie Insurance Exchange v. Heffernan contained language suggesting that if a crash victim's insurance company approves a settlement between the victim and an underinsured driver's insurance company, the victim's insurer cannot then argue about who was li...