LONDON/FRANKFURT, (Reuters)—European insurers’ prospects deteriorated in the second half of 2011, weighed by a worsening sovereign debt crisis, a slowing economy, and persistently low interest rates, the industry’s pan-European regulator said on Tuesday.
“Sovereign risk and the lack of a comprehensive political response to the sovereign crisis are the main sources of risk” facing insurers in 2012, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) said in a twice-yearly overview of the industry.
Policymakers must remove all doubts that the euro would remain intact, it said.
“If policy responses remain unconvincing to financial market participants, the European insurance and occupational pension sectors could be severely and adversely affected.”
European insurance stocks have slumped 16 percent since the start of the year, reflecting fears the sector could be forced to raise capital to make good sharp falls in the value of its holdings of distressed European government debt.
EIOPA conducted two hypothetical tests of the resilience of 82 insurers to a prolonged period of low interest rates and found that in the more severe of the two, eight insurers would not have enough capital to cover the minimum regulatory capital requirement. EI
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Insurance is required for all cars that are on the road. In some cases, it is necessary for drivers to have car insurance, even if they don’t actually own a car. Many car insurance companies will suddenly drop auto insurance quotes because of family car insurance and a number of other reasons. Understanding these reasons will help to find the lowest premiums.
Insuring two cars with the same insurance company under the same policy is a lot more affordable than two separate policies because of multi-car discounts.
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One in ten Canadians cannot afford to take their prescription drugs as directed, according to an analysis by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto.
The study, published in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) is the first to examine the relationship between drug insurance and the use of prescription drugs in Canada. Researchers from UBC’s Centre for Health Services and Policy Research reviewed data from 5,732 people who answered Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey. They found that 9.6 per cent of Canadians who received a prescription reported not filling, failing to refill, or skipping doses for cost reasons. Read all post…
In North Carolina, some 70,000 homeowners are on the verge of losing their insurance coverage if they do not purchase auto insurance from Allstate. The large insurer announced last year that it would be dropping customers who did not bundle their property and auto insurance together through the company. Allstate’s plan affects nearly 50,000 consumers throughout the state, but the North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., the third largest property insurer in the state, is following Allstate’s example and may drop roughly 20,000 policyholders if they do not get their auto insurance through the company.
According to Allstate, the plan comes from an effort to remain financially strong in a turbulent economy. The
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State health insurance laws may need to be revisited should the federal health reform measure stand up to legal questions brought before the judicial system. While the administration insists the new health insurance laws won’t add to coverage costs, there is considerable doubt about what medical bills will look like if they proceed as written. All 50 states generally ride herd on all aspects of health insurance within their borders. Much of the disputes related to “Obamacare” were aired by state officials responding to the prospect of having to restructure their existing systems.
One part of the new federal law tightens the rules regarding Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
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