PayPal Expands Service to Mexican Peso

Online payment service PayPal Inc. said Tuesday it expanded into Mexico. The arm of San Jose-based eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) said Mexican buyers will be able pay for online purchases using their credit cards or bank accounts with pesos as currency. The peso is the first Latin American currency to be added to the PayPal system. PayPal also enables payments in the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, Czech koruna, Danish lrone, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Polish zloty, Singaporean dollar, Swedish krona, Swiss franc and Israeli new shekel.

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N.Y. Regulator Wants Insurers To Check Their Finances

The New York Insurance Department announced today that it is giving all carriers orders to give their finances a good stress test for regulators to examine. The department said that based on concerns about the current financial turmoil, it will begin reviewing the processes insurance companies use to evaluate how changing economic conditions affect their financial stability.

For the rest of the story, visit NU Onlline News Service (http://www.propertyandcasualtyinsurancenews.com/)

Kickback Case Reinstated Against The Hartford

By Daniel Hays
NU Online News Service

A federal appeals court yesterday reinstated a 2004 securities class-action against The Hartford that alleged stockholders were misled because the company did not disclose it paid insurance brokers kickbacks in the form of contingency fees to win business. The decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York throws out a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher F. Droney in Hartford, Conn., and remands the case for trial. Judge Droney dismissed the case in 2006, finding that the statute of limitations had run out for the plaintiffs to file an action.

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RIMS Offers New Online Training Library

The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) said today it has made available a new library of 50 online courses to help enhance the business management and leadership skills of risk managers. The collection was developed by Winchester Center for Management Development, a subsidiary of MindEdge, Inc., an information and learning company, RIMS said.

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Hard Market Ahead, Says Lockton

With deterioration in profits assured for the final weeks of 2008, insurers may finally stop cutting prices, according to a brokerage firm analysis. Lockton, in its Fall 2008 Market Update, said as carriers enter the year end they face “ominous” circumstances, and it is “certain” that the industry combined ratio, which was at 102.2 in the first half, will continue deteriorating.

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Hartford, 3 Other Insurers Seek to Buy Thrifts to Obtain Bailout Funds

By Marcy Gordon
Associated Press

Four insurance companies on Friday asked the government to allow them to buy thrifts so they can qualify to receive federal money under the financial rescue program. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Genworth Financial Inc., Lincoln National Corp. and Aegon NV, a Dutch company that owns U.S. insurer Transamerica, each asked the Office of Thrift Supervision for permission to acquire an existing savings and loan.

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Get With Real-Time Processes, Agents Advised

Agents and carriers have much to gain by using real-time transactions rather than dealing with the delays of batch processing, a technology expert advised a conference of agents and insurers. The comments of Cal J. Durland, manager of agent relations and ACORD User Group Information Exchange (AUGIE) facilitator, were reported by the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc. following their conference with New York Insurance Association.

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CA Insurance Commissioner Announces 15 Percent Rate Cut for Explorer Auto Customers

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner today announced a 15 percent rate cut for Explorer Insurance Company’s auto insurance policyholders, saving them approximately $3.4 million.

“With a terrible economy and unemployment on the rise, Californians are struggling to make ends meet,” said Commissioner Poizner. “I am pleased to announce this significant rate cut today, which will save consumers and businesses millions of dollars.”

Explorer Insurance Company initially filed for a 17.6 percent increase in their auto insurance rates. After reviewing their rate filing application, Commissioner Poizner approved a 15 percent decrease in rates. As a result of this reduction, Explorer Insurance Company customers will save an average of about $100 per car annually. These savings are expected to go into effect in December, and will apply to renewing policyholders and new customers.

Since elected, Commissioner Poizner has approved $1.8 billion in rate reductions for California drivers and homeowners. Recent rate cuts include:

$255 million rate reduction for Allstate homeowners insurance policyholders
$50 million rate reduction for AAA of Northern California homeowners insurance policyholders
$30 million rate reduction for Fireman’s Fund homeowners insurance policyholders
$61 million rate reduction for Mercury auto, renters and homeowners insurance policyholders
$250 million rate reduction for Allstate auto insurance policyholders
$100 million rate reduction for AAA of Northern California auto customers
$65.8 million rate reduction for GEICO customers

In April, Commissioner Poizner issued new regulations to clarify and streamline the prior approval rate system, making the rate filing process more efficient, accurate and transparent. The Commissioner’s regulations also help to speed the approval of rate reductions so consumers can see savings sooner.

From: California Department of Insurance (http://www.insurance.ca.gov/)

Unions Ready to Recruit Hispanic Workers if Obama Changes Organizing Rules

By Mike Sunnucks
Phoenix Business Journal

Labor unions are poised to go after Hispanic workers in states like Arizona and sectors such as services and health care if new union rules are put in place by the Barack Obama administration and Democratic Congress next year. Unions and pro-union Democrats want Congress and Obama to pass card-check legislation. The plan would allow unions to organize in workplaces if they get a majority of workers to sign cards supporting unionization. It would scrap 73-year-old unionization laws that require secret ballots for workers to decide whether they want their work forces represented by a trade union.

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California Insurance Department Web Site Rated "Excellent"

The Consumer Federation of America has rated the California Department of Insurance Web site as "excellent" for providing consumers information about auto and homeowners insurance, according to a survey released this week. California was one of only six states out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia that received an excellent rating.

For the rest of the story, visit Insurance Journal (http://www.insurancejournal.com/)

Applied Launches New Agency Management System

Applied Systems Epic enters the insurance-selling and -servicing marketplace today, offering agents and brokers the automated system they asked for to do business now and in the future. Insurance technology company Applied Systems Inc. introduced a new agency management system, Applied Systems Epic. Epic is built on entirely new architecture to provide the features, functions and growth capabilities that agents and brokers have requested via hundreds of meetings and more than 100,000 individual product requests, the company claims.

For the rest of the story, visit Insurance Journal (www.insurancejournal.com)

State Fund Seeks 8.9 Percent Rate Hike

By Kelly Johnson
Sacramento Business Journal

State Compensation Insurance Fund, which holds an estimated 23 percent share of California’s workers’ compensation market, has filed with state regulators a plan to increase rates by an average of 8.9 percent. It is State Fund’s first rate increase since 2003, before the system for workers on the job was overhauled and system costs were slashed. State Fund’s increase also is higher than the 5 percent increase that state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is recommending to all insurers. Insurers in California’s workers’ comp system are free to set their own rates.

For the rest of the story, visit Sacramento Business Journal (www.bizjournals.com)

Fraud Coalition Says More Drivers Try Auto Theft Scams

There is growing evidence of increased cases of car owners fraudulently dumping their unwanted vehicles for insurance money, according to research by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Officials in nearly a dozen state and local jurisdictions around the United States report clear warning signs that so-called owner give-ups are rapidly spreading, CAIF said.

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P-C Price Increases To Be Short-Lived

Any forthcoming price increases for the property-casualty commercial insurance industry will be short-lived, but personal lines rates will continue upward, according to a financial analyst. Meyer Shields, with Stifel Nicolaus, said that while companies were heralding the rise of prices for commercial accounts during their third-quarter financial results, absent was any discussion of how long price increase will last and what the magnitude of those increases will be.

For the rest of the story, visit NU Online News Service (www.propertyandcasualtyinsurancenews.com)

Many Insurance Dept. Web Sites Inadequate, Says CFA

By Phil Gusman
NU Online News Service

A consumer study of the nation’s state insurance department Web sites has found 18 out of the 51 were “inadequate” when it came to providing the public with useful information. The vast majority of state insurance departments require Web site improvements to effectively arm consumers with the necessary information to make intelligent auto and homeowners insurance decisions, according to a Consumer Federation of America (CFA) analysis.

For the rest of the story, visit NU Online News Service (www.propertyandcasualtyinsurancenews.com)

Liberty Mutual CEO Blasts AIG Marketplace Actions

By Daniel Hays
NU Online News Service

American International Group, in its pursuit of commercial insurance business, is making “stupid” moves that threaten to destabilize the market, the chief executive of Liberty Mutual charged. Edmund F. Kelly, chairman, president and CEO of Boston-based Liberty, made his remarks in the course of a conference call with financial analysts to discuss his company’s third quarter results, which saw profits decline 98.5 percent.

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Insurers Advised to Get Federal Funds By Applying for Bank Charter

U.S. insurance companies trying to get access to government funding can apply for a bank or thrift charter at the same time as they apply for a cash infusion under the U.S. government's $700 billion financial services rescue package, two sources briefed on the matter said Friday. Under the Treasury Department's current capital injection program, insurers without a federally regulated bank or thrift are not eligible for capital injections.

For the rest of the story, visit Insurance Journal (www.insurancejournal.com)

AIG Outlines Revised Bailout Plan

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today announced agreements with the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to establish a durable capital structure for AIG, and facilities designed to resolve the liquidity issues AIG has experienced in its credit default swap portfolio and its U.S. securities lending program. Edward M. Liddy, AIG Chairman and CEO, said these agreements are a dramatic step forward for AIG and all of its stakeholders: "Today's actions send a strong signal to our policyholders, business partners and counterparties that AIG is on the road to recovery. Our comprehensive plan addresses the liquidity issues that threatened AIG, and gives us the financial flexibility to complete our restructuring process successfully for the benefit of all of our constituencies."

For the rest of the story, visit Insurance Journal (www.insurancejournal.com)