Chris has been downgraded by Miami’s National Hurricane Center to a tropical depression, as the storm’s maximum sustained winds slowed to around 35 mph/55 km/hr with higher gusts. The NHC said “little change in strength is forecast during the next …
Citing a new wave of wildfires, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry ordered a statewide burn ban Aug. 2 and warned that Oklahoma’s hot, windy and dry conditions show no sign of ending. “There appears to be no relief in sight,” Henry …
A decision on the constitutionality of new state laws giving hurricane-affected homeowners in Louisiana an extra year to sue their insurance companies will not be expedited by a court, the state’s top insurance regulator says. The move will make it …
Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Louisiana’s state-run insurance company, could provide wind damage coverage for about 30,000 homeowners along the coast if Allstate Insurance Co. drops that coverage, Citizens’ top official told lawmakers. Terry Lisotta said Citizens could handle the …
CDS Business Mapping, LLC., which provides online property risk mapping, announced that its RiskMeter’s Distance to Fire Station report now provides national coverage. This means users have the ability to get drive distance to responding fire stations, names of the …
West Virginia officials say a longtime Tyler County insurance agent has pleaded guilty to fraud. Sistersville resident Bennie H. Kile Jr. of the Kile Insurance Agency admitted he took money and promised customers insurance policies he failed to deliver. State …
In his second television campaign ad, State Sen. Rod Smith says that if elected governor, he will fix the state’s homeowners insurance crisis and rein in rate increases, calling them “unacceptable.” The 30-second spot called “Storm” shows Smith getting out …
Lawyers for hundreds of Mississippi homeowners who sued their insurance companies for denying their claims after Hurricane Katrina are fighting to keep the cases joined in a “mass action” rather than split up and tried individually. Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, a …
A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating to “A-” (Excellent) from “B++” (Very Good) and assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” to Japan’s Fuji Fire & Marine Insurance Company, Limited. Best also revised its outlook from …
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A+” (Superior) and the issuer credit rating of “aa” of Spain’s MAPFRE RE, Compania de Reaseguros, S.A. “The outlook on both ratings is positive, in line with the ultimate parent …