Claims

Change is universal, impossible to avoid, and usually quite necessary. While most change is good, however, some change is irresponsible and does harm.

Cracks are an inescapable, undesirable feature of many buildings.

The knock on claims is that it is a black hole that absorbs money, a cost center that sends dollars out but never generates any.

When insureds complete improvements or repairs around their properties themselves, the question arises whether actual cash value would be calculated differently than if contractors did the work.

If a risk manager does a great job and nobody knows about it, does it do any good?

Florida's chief financial officer, Tom Gallagher, has opened a criminal fraud investigation into whether executives at Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's insurer of last resort, took bribes to award business to adjusters.

A total of seven natural catastrophes in the third quarter of this year cost the nation's property and casualty insurers an all-time high of $40.8 billion in insured property losses in 14 states.

Key issues of interest to the property and casualty insurance industry were explored in depth in 50 different seminars during the four-day Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Annual Meeting held in Atlanta Oct. 22-25.