Insurance Space

Television commercials urge investors to start investing in gold and silver, but investing in precious metals is as much of a risk as investing in the stock market. The value of gold, silver, and platinum is also subject to market fluctuations. A good investor diversifies his investments to minimize his risks of losing money. Fixed income investments offer a lower-risk option than other forms of investing. Many Americans are starting to include fixed-term investments as part of their portfolio.

The president signed a bill Thursday that extends funding for the National Flood Insurance Program, which had been allowed to lapse March 28.

Funding will be restored through May 31 under the legislation.

The lapse had threatened to complicate home closing on the Outer Banks because flood insurance is required by federal law on any bank-owned or government-backed mortgage loan, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA and USDA.

The insurance industry has long been associated with health. Some companies offer incentives to purchase fresh vegetables or other wholesome food.

These two industries stand in sharp contrast to each other. Now, researchers are finding out that the two industries are in partnership. For years, the insurance companies have been investing in fast food corporations.

Research by Wesley Boyd of Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts indicates that fast food corporations received investments from insurance companies. Corporate giants from McDonalds, to Arby’s and Pizza Hut are among the companies with a large influx of insurance industry dollars.

U.S. property and casualty insurance sales dropped the most in five decades last year as businesses cut spending and reduced coverage amid the recession, an industry trade group said.

Policy sales fell 3.7 percent to $419 billion, a third straight annual decline, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America said today in an e-mailed statement. The industry group began tracking data in 1959, and 2009’s decline is the largest on record, exceeding the 1.3 percent reduction in 2008.

The program, which is set to expire on June 30, is expected to be extended by at least six months or possibly through mid-2011, according to the paper.

The move signals that the U.S. government is not yet ready to drop the temporary measures adopted during the financial crisis to prop up the banking system, the Journal said.

Industry officials have warned that ending the program could lead to more bank failures because businesses would pull money from banks that they believe are in trouble, the paper said.

Mercury Insurance Group, a major backer of a hotly contested insurance measure on the June ballot, faces potentially costly fines in the wake of a new state report alleging that California’s third-largest insurer is violating state laws “despite agreements with the state to terminate illegal behavior.”

The report, released Monday by the state Department of Insurance, says Mercury apparently has violated the insurance code, “resulting in consumers being overcharged or denied coverage,” according to a statement from Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Poizner’s report on the company – which includes Mercury Insurance Co., Mercury Casualty Co. and California Automobile Insurance Co. – comes two months after state insurance officials made similar allegations against the firm.

The nation may be divided over the wisdom of President Barack Obama’s big new health care law, but it largely delivers on more than 30 specific promises he made as a candidate.

Americans basically got what the majority voted for when they elected Obama in 2008, although many people today might not realize there are costs as well as benefits in the health plan’s fine print.

“No one has the right to say they were misled during the campaign,” said health care industry consultant Robert Laszewski, a critic of the law. “For all the controversy, what (Obama) has done in health care is consistent with what he promised. It’s really very close.”

The Maryland Senate voted this morning to raise the minimum liability limits for vehicle owners’ auto insurance for the first time in 38 years. The final vote was 27-20, sending the bill to Gov. Martin O’Malley for his signature.

The bill was approved after a stiff fight led by the Senate’s Republicans, joined by a handful of Democrats.

Ohio universities, schools and cities will get $9 million from a giant insurance company accused of conspiring with its rivals to rig prices, state Attorney General Richard Cordray announced yesterday.

The state has settled a 2007 lawsuit against American International Group, which grew to become the world’s largest insurer before it was vilified for allegedly cheating investors and policy holders over the past decade. The company received a massive federal bailout in September 2008.

Ohio’s lawsuit accused AIG of colluding with Marsh & McLennan Co. and other insurers to set artificially high commercial-casualty premiums. Ohio settled a securities-fraud case against Marsh & McLennan for $400 million last year. The state still has a securities-fraud case pending against AIG.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist reinforced his message Wednesday to lawmakers considering legislation that would allow insurance companies to boost property insurance premiums on home and business owners.

His advice: Don’t do it.

“This is the last time that people need to have property insurance go up,” Crist warned. “If there is any legislation that comes to my desk that would do that I will veto it and happily do so.”

Crist said he didn’t think legislators would attempt to overturn it.

“I can’t imagine how many members of the House and Senate would want to override a veto that reduces property insurance,” he said. “They would do so at their own peril.”