Archive for August, 2009

Posted by Admin | August 29, 2009

Greenberg, AIG agree to arbitration to end disputes

In a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, AIG said the parties agreed to submit to binding arbitration to settle several disputes, including shareholder derivative litigation, and will consider arbitration on other AIG claims against former affiliate Starr International Co. Inc., which Mr. Greenberg now controls.

In June 2007, AIG took over a $1 billion shareholder derivative suit against Messrs. Greenberg and Smith over alleged wrongdoing—related to accounting and other practices—and resulting losses to the company (BI, June 18, 2007). That suit prompted a counterclaim from Messrs. Greenberg and Smith against AIG.

Mr. Greenberg, AIG’s former chairman and chief executive officer, and Mr. Smith, the insurer’s former chief financial officer, left AIG in 2005 amid investigations into the company’s accounting.

The arbitration will not include any claims currently being prosecuted in pending cases by AIG shareholders against Messrs. Greenberg and Smith, AIG said.

The parties have agreed to propose lists of potential arbitrators by Sept. 15, 2009, and aim to have a final binding decision set by March 31, 2010, the filing said.

In a statement, AIG said the private arbitration would be “more expeditious and cost-effective.”

Earlier this month, Messrs. Greenberg and Smith and a group of other former executives agreed to pay $115 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit over allegedly false statements regarding the insurer’s financial results. In addition, th

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Posted by Admin | August 25, 2009

AIG’s Taiwan unit gets three low bids: Sources

Friday was the deadline for the second-round bidders to submit their offers for the insurance unit.

The low-ball bids might scuttle the unit sale, based on comments made by Robert Benmosche, who on Aug. 10 was named AIG’s new chief executive officer. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Mr. Benmosche said he did not favor shedding assets at any price, a reversal of AIG’s fire sale strategy of the past year.

Taiwan’s Cathay Financial, the consortium of Primus Financial and China Strategic, and Carlyle Group and Taiwanese partner Fubon Financial have each submitted a bid of less than $1.5 billion, the sources said.

The sources did not wish to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

In addition, private equity firm Bain Capital has pulled out of its joint bid with Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan’s top credit card issuer, said a different source close to one of the companies.

Chinatrust Chief Investment Officer Daniel Wu declined to say whether the firm was bidding on its own or with a partner.

However, late on Friday Chinatrust released a statement saying that it had submitted a bid for Nan Shan. It also said that it planned to raise up to $47 billion Taiwanese ($1.4 billion) via a private placement based on Friday’s closing price of $18.8 Taiwanese, but did not give any further details.

The other bidders and Nan Shan could not be immediately reached for comment.

Price, union disputes eyed

New York-based AIG is on the hook to repay more than $80 billion in U.S.

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Posted by Admin | August 24, 2009

Chaucer reports higher profits, investment return

Chaucer, which covers marine, energy, aviation and several other lines of business, said Thursday that its gross written premiums for the first half increased 38.2% to 491 million ($809.6 million). Chaucer’s combined ratio improved to 91.3% compared with 97.2% a year ago.

Chaucer’s net investment return increased to 34.6 million ($57.1 million) for the first half of this year, compared with 1.5 million ($2.5 million) in 2008’s first six months.

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Posted by Admin | August 22, 2009

Business Travel Insurance

Business travel insurance is a very important consideration for the person who considers traveling a major requirement of their work. There is coverage for people when both domestic and international matters are a consideration. When searching for a policy it is important to list the itinerary destinations and activities planned as part of the trip to make sure the policy purchased covers all potential possibilities of occurrences. With international businesses travel insurance, the main issue is to assure that the traveler, any companions and belongings make their way back to the origination point in any case.

For many, these policies are to be supplied as part of the job to their traveling employees. Generally, these are those employees who travel as a significant portion of their job. The occasional business travel insurance is paid for by the employee at the discretion of the employer and the purpose of the trip. When businesses travel insurance is not reimbursed, the amount can be deducted on the employee’s tax return on IRS Form 2106 or 2106EZ. The amount allowed for deduction will transfer to Schedule A.

International policies cover the possibilities of emergencies within the destination country or countries. Occurrences covered include events such as emergency evacuations for medical or political reasons, repatriation of remains in the event of the traveler’s death, and the normal business travel insurance occurrences of loss of baggage, trip cancellation or interruption, and accidental death and dismemberment. Read more…

No Comments » Tags: Business Travel, Business Travel Insurance, insurance, Travel Insurance
Posted by Admin | August 20, 2009

Insurers must reimburse spinach retailer: Court

Salinas, Calif.-based Fresh Express Inc. purchased a product recall/brand protection policy from Lloyd’s of London Syndicate 2623/623 that was managed by Beazley and QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd. Fresh Express filed a claim in September 2006 during the E. coli outbreak after initial investigations determined it had violated its own food safety policies and protocols in acquiring and processing some of its spinach, risking harm to others.

According to court papers, Fresh Express purchased spinach in August 2006 from two growers that were known suppliers to Natural Selection Foods, the San Juan Bautista, Calif.-based specialty salad supplier that ultimately was found to be the source of the contaminated spinach.

In one instance, Fresh Express found that it failed to conduct a food safety audit of a field prior to purchasing spinach. In the other case, Fresh Express purchased spinach from a lot placed on a list of “prohibited” fields by its food safety group because it was too close to a cattle feedlot, a known source of E. coli.

Ultimately, Fresh Express found no E. coli in any of its products and never made a recall. However, it did incur more than $12 million in expenses and sought to be reimbursed by its product recall insurers.

In denying the claim, Beazley and QBE argued, among other things, that Fresh Express’ purchasing errors did not fall within requirements set forth in the policy and that the company’s losses were excluded from coverage because they were caused by a “governmental ban” or “loss of confidence.” In the wake of the outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Adm

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Posted by Admin | August 19, 2009

Commercial Auto Insurance

There are several types of commercial auto insurance including Liability, Collision, Uninsured, Personal Insurance Protection, and Gap Insurance. 

The most common type of commercial auto Insurance is Liability Coverage.  Most states in the US require liability auto insurance.  Liability covers you personally when you are liable for destroying someones car or body parts. 

Collison is another form of commercial auto insurance.  Collison insurance will cover the damage that is done to the policy holders car pending that the policy holder is at fault.  If another party wrecks your car their liability pays for repairs. 

Uninsured and under-insured coverage is required by most states and will cover you if the other party is liable and they do not have coverage.  Seventeen percent of drivers on the road typically are under-insured. 

Personal Injury Protection covers medical bills and lost wages regardless of the party at fault.  This is a great benefit to offer your employees when they do a lot of driving. 

Gap Insurance will cover the difference of what the car is worth and what you owe as the lessee.  Gap Commercial Auto Insurance is very important for companies who provide leased autos for their employees to drive.  What kind of damages would you incur if an employee totaled a car, van or truck in your fleet? 

Commercial auto insurance is a must for any business that uses a vehicle for the owner and especially their employees.  Do you want to put your business at risk if you or one of your employees has an accident and hurts somebody?  Get a quote today by clicking on commercial auto insurance. 

No Comments » Tags: Auto Insurance, Commercial Auto, Commercial Auto Insurance, insurance