A total of 19 states and Washington, D.C., reached an agreement with The Prudential Group, one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S., in a case involving its unclaimed property practices.

Natural disasters cost insurance companies more than $32 billion in direct insured losses in the first nine months of 2011, nearly double the average of other years, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is acquiring S. A. Freerks & Associates, a St. Louis-based managing general agent and wholesale insurance broker.

A Souderton, Pa.-based insurance company introduced product solutions designed to cover those who have been or who otherwise would be turned down for long-term care insurance.

Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) eroded “significantly” in the last decade, although federal health reform is expected to reverse the decline for small employers, two studies say.

The U.S. Justice Department has expanded an investigation of Blue Cross/Blue Shield licensees’ alleged anti-competitive agreements with hospitals beyond Michigan, where it filed an antitrust lawsuit against the insurer.

Two tax preparers, one from Florida and the other from Missouri, have been sued by federal authorities for allegedly claiming fictitious withholdings on customers’ returns so they could attempt to claim large tax refunds.

Two men, including a man now in prison, were charged in connection with the murder of a St. Charles, Mo., insurance agent three years ago.

MoneyRates.com rated Virginia as the sixth best state and Maryland as the fifth worst state in two lists naming the 10 best and worst states in which to retire.

An Atlanta-based employee benefits agency plans to expand its presence by buying “top-performing brokerages” in U.S. cities in preparation for the effects of health care reform.