‘Not as consumer-friendly as we would have liked’
Posted on November 3, 2009 at 8:16 amDirect General on Friday closed — temporarily, it hopes — a number of its Florida stores after seeing a spike in losses it thinks are being caused by fraud.
Direct General spokeswoman Courtney Ryder said the inquiry has been under way “for quite some time,” but the company opted for a rather abrupt closure of its stores after it became concerned that fraud was widespread and customers were being affected.
“Many innocent people are being impacted by fraudulent behavior and the wrongs being committed here,” the company said in a statement. “We don’t want our customers to be among them.”
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Agency to help small biz cover their assets
Posted on October 13, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Nashville agency Zander Insurance has developed a data breach protection product aimed at small and mid-sized businesses.
“Most business owners think that their client and employee information has to be maliciously stolen to have a breach when the simple theft of a computer or paper files can devastate a company’s financial stability and consumer confidence,” says Zander.
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First Acceptance wants options-for-shares swap
Posted on October 6, 2009 at 7:21 amAuto insurer First Acceptance wants its shareholders to approve a new incentive compensation plan that would replace more than 600,000 options that have been underwater for more than two years with restricted shares. The options’ average exercise price is $6.64; the stock (Ticker: FAC) hasn’t been above $5 since September 2007. That’s not good for executive talent retention.
Because of the continued challenging economic environment, we believe the Exchange Options are no longer effective as incentives to motivate and retain the members of our senior management. Furthermore, although the Exchange Options are not likely to be exercised as long as our stock price is lower than the applicable exercise price, the Exchange Options continue to impact our financial statements and have the potential to dilute our stockholders’ interests for up to the full remaining term of the Exchange Options, while delivering little or no retentive or incentive value and no opportunity to recapture value from the associated compensation expense, unless they are surrendered or cancelled.
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Brentwood Services unit promotes exec
Posted on September 8, 2009 at 6:48 am
Brentwood Services Administrators, which keeps a close eye on companies’ workers’ comp claims, has promoted Rick Whitten to VP in its client services division. He also will continue to run a Charlotte-based subsidiary.
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Permanent General invests in customer service
Posted on September 3, 2009 at 8:08 amThe Nashville-based auto insurer has signed a contract with Atlanta-based Jacada to streamline its customer service technology.
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First Acceptance jumps
Posted on August 21, 2009 at 12:41 pmThere doesn’t appear to be a real solid reason — auto insurance stocks aren’t that closely correlated to housing sales, are they? — but shares of First Acceptance (Ticker: FAC) are up almost 20 percent on light volume.
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Insurance jobs moving here
Posted on July 24, 2009 at 11:14 amAllstate is closing a claims center in Mississippi and relocating about 30 jobs to its Nashville regional hub and a center in Kentucky.
SEE ALSO: New leader for local Allstate operations
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Insurer’s check in the mail for Noranda
Posted on June 25, 2009 at 8:31 amAluminum producer Noranda will get $44 million to settle some of the claims stemming from a January ice storm that knocked out its large Missouri plant. In its most recent quarterly report, the Franklin-based company has $77 million of coverage. (Search for ‘January 26.’)
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NHC-owned insurer upgraded
Posted on May 19, 2009 at 11:20 pmA.M. Best says Premier Group Insurance, a small company that writes workers’ comp business, is in good enough shape to be called ‘excellent.’
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AIG chief: Rebuilding company could take till 2014
Posted on May 13, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Testifying before a House committee, Edward Liddy says the fallen insurance giant and owner of Brentwood’s American General has a long way to go to clear up its corporate structure.
“We must take the time and exercise the diligence to do this restructuring properly,” Mr. Liddy told lawmakers. “Let me be clear — our plan is explicitly designed to avoid having to divest A.I.G. assets at fire-sale prices.”
…
In a recent memo to A.I.G. employees, Mr. Liddy said the company had developed a restructuring plan called “Project Destiny” that entails either spinning off many of the insurance subsidiaries, either by selling them to other companies or by turning them into independent companies and selling minority stakes through in public stock offerings.
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First Acceptance motors on
Posted on May 11, 2009 at 10:47 pmAuto insurer First Acceptance (Ticker: FAC) continues to tiptoe its way through the recession. Premium volume is way off, but so are costs. In addition, selected price hikes are lifting profits.
We attribute this improvement to the impact of the rate increases taken in early calendar 2008 in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Texas and South Carolina and the continued improvement in our underwriting and claim handling practices, as well as favorable severity trends most notably in our property damage and physical damage coverages.
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Willis names local exec to head Eastern division
Posted on April 22, 2009 at 3:05 pmThe insurance broker which runs its North American business from Nashville has named Douglas Pera the chief of its Atlantic region. Pera comes to the company from Aon Risk Services.
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How green is your insurer?
Posted on April 14, 2009 at 3:05 pm
A new locally based Web site – brought to you by the same folks who have developed fartfactory.com – features a framework of factors that will tell you.
Publisher Michael O’Dell says, “The U.S. is behind much of the developed world in choosing eco-friendly auto insurance. So this site is a way for the nation’s green consumers to start speaking with their wallets when looking to insure a car.”
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Local insurer’s sale nears finish line
Posted on April 1, 2009 at 9:02 am
The policyholders of Franklin-based PICA have voted in favor of a $120 million demutualization that will make the specialty liability insurer a unit of Birmingham-based ProAssurance.
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Willis adding to Tampa footprint
Posted on March 22, 2009 at 3:20 pmThe global insurance broker, which houses its North American HQ in Nashville, has renewed and enlarged its lease in Tampa.
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