Personal Lines

Agent satisfaction with their carrier partners shows little change from last year and regional carriers would appear to be doing a better job with agents than the national carriers, according to an agents association survey.

Read what Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, has to say about his successor, his companys insurance operations, the economy, and a newspaper-throwing challenge.

Berkshire Hathaways insurance group reported a 30.5 percent drop in pre-tax earnings in 2011, driven mainly by $2.6 billion in pre-tax losses from catastrophe events.

Just how big is the Classic & Collectible Car niche? No one is quite sure, with estimates of annual premium ranging from $500 million to $2 billionalthough the majority of industry experts feel $1 billion is a pretty accurate estimate.

Although many collector cars are of the type that call out for pedal-to-the-metal speedsFerraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratisinsurers are, not surprisingly, touchy about these six-, seven- and even eight-figure vehicles competing on the racetrack.

Its not only carriers with a focus on high-net-worth clients and classic-car managing general agents that cater to this niche of business; the auto-insurance giants are players as well.