Edward Charles Harris, 32, was charged with five counts of obtaining property by false pretense, according to the North Carolina Department of Insurance.

Between March 2009 and September of 2009, Harris received the payments from Colonial Life Insurance Co. by presenting the false applications, regulators said.

Harris was processed at the Wayne County Jail on July 19 and placed under a $75,000 secured bond.

Agent paid $67,000 for allegedly bogus health insurance applications via IFAwebnews.

Developed by Arbitration Forums, Inc. E-Subro Hub allows participants in the subrogation process to more efficiently process their subrogation demands and responses and provides performance data, according to the company.

In addition to New York and New Jersey, the product will become available Aug. 2 in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. By the end of 2010, the E-Subro Hub will be available in more than 20 states.

E-Subro Hub currently operates in California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Seven of the nation’s ten largest insurance carriers are using the system. Users of E-Subro Hub are reporting that cases are frequently closed within days as opposed to weeks or months as in the past, according to the company.

“The expansion of E-Subro Hub represents a significant increase in the market dissemination of this cutting-edge subrogation solution,” said W. Russ Smith, AF president and CEO, in a statement. “E-Subro Hub lets carriers and self-insureds manage their subrogation workflow more effectively, reducing subrogation-related expenses and thereby lowering cycle times.”

AF also will introduce a new enhancement to the system on Aug. 2, allowing users to quickly identify if the company receiving its subrogation demand is participating in the E-Subro Hub system and is active in that particular state, further saving time and resources, the company said.

AF said it projects that the E-Subro Hub system rollout will save property-casualty insurance companies and self-insureds hundreds of millions of dollars annually by enabling users to electronically send and receive subrogation claims, attach supporting documents, manage subrogation claims and electronically file intercompany arbitration where necessary.

AF, a not-for-profit organization serving the property-casualty insurance industry, offers  E-Subro Hub at no cost to participants. AF is the nation’s largest arbitration and subrogation services provider, through which its members file more than 520,000 disputes worth nearly $2.5 billion in claims each year.

Web-based claims management system heading to N.Y., N.J., other states via IFAwebnews.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Alesia Burnette, 45, allegedly participated in five different staged accidents, between May 2006 and April 2009. She allegedly filed claims to GMAC Insurance Co. for $7,200 in phony injuries sustained in the staged crashes, officials said.

Arrest warrants were issued for two other alleged participants, Randall Lee Bass and Nicholas Allen, who remained at large.

Burnette was being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

N.C. woman linked to alleged staged-accident ring via IFAwebnews.

Paul Joseph Stafford, 43, owner of Ideas Architecture and New Ideas, allegedly canceled his employees’ Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and UnitedHealthcare group health insurance policies without providing the required 45-day notice, according to North Carolina Department of Insurance investigators.

At least two employees accrued health care costs totaling more than $2,000 from the time their coverage was canceled until they received cancellation letters from BCBSNC in June.

Both businesses have been shuttered.

Stafford was processed at the Wake County Public Safety Center and placed under a $3,000 secured bond.

Employer charged with illegally ending N.C. employees’ health plans via IFAwebnews.

Robert H. Hilb, who stepped down as chairman of the Glen Allen, Va.-based insurance firm more than a decade ago, has formed The Hilb Group with his son, Robert J. Hilb.

The Hilb Group seeks to take advantage of favorable market conditions and grow through targeted acquisition and strategic alliances in the middle-market insurance brokerage space, according to a statement. The company, also based in Glen Allen, has offices in Connecticut, New York and North Carolina.

Last month, The Hilb Group acquired the business of Joseph Caruso, who operates in Charlotte, N.C., and New York, N.Y. Caruso provides insurance brokerage and advisory services focusing on management liability and employee benefits for corporate clients across the country. Joseph Caruso, a former managing director of Willis New York, will lead The Hilb Group’s financial services practice.

Earlier this month, The Hilb Group merged with J.J. Jerome  Associates/EAI of Bay Shore, N.Y.  The firm, under the leadership of Jerry Jerome, provides specialized insurance programs to the physician and dental professions throughout New York.  J. J. Jerome  Associates/EAI has been in business for more than 50 years. James Jerome will head JJJ/EAI for The Hilb Group, along with the founder of JJJ/ EAI, Jerry Jerome.

Robert J. Hilb, president and CEO of The Hilb Group, said in a statement the combination of firms will “provide tremendous potential for organic growth and will serve as springboards for future strategic agency alliances and acquisitions.” added Hilb.

The Hilb Group was founded in 2009 by Robert H. Hilb, the former founder, CEO and Chairman of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, and Robert J. Hilb, a former corporate vice president of HRH.

Hilb father, son form new middle-market insurance brokerage via IFAwebnews.

The sale would allow it to increase returns and boost growth among its life insurance, asset management and pension operations, according to a Reuters’ report.

The sale by the Dutch insurer is not intended to generate cash to repay the Dutch government for aid it received last year during the global insurance crisis, the report said.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company is an operating unit of Transamerica Life Insurance Co. that tries to maximize the value of their life products portfolios through traditional life reinsurance and related services that attach to its core life reinsurance offering, according to its website.

AEGON eyes possible sale of U.S. arm of Transamerica Reinsurance via IFAwebnews.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based company opened offices in Ohio and California last year.

“Given the dramatic changes occurring throughout our industry,” said John Pickett, who will run the Dallas office, “I believe specialty firms like CAPTRUST, having reached a certain level of scale and resources, are better positioned to provide clients with strong and clear guidance amidst a dynamic environment.”

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors provides services to plan fiduciaries, executives and high net-worth private investors with other offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

National financial advisor firm opens office in Texas via IFAwebnews.

Courtesy: FEMA

Since that storm in 2005, the costliest and fifth deadliest in U.S. history, property-casualty insurers have been collecting increased premiums during four calm hurricane seasons.

The calm could be ending this year, as forecasters say this hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30, could be among the worst in recent years.

Three forecasters predict four intense hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin, well above the long-term average of two to three intense storms. Warmer sea surface temperatures and a transition to neutral El Niño conditions are expected to enhance hurricane activity.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts in its Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook an 85% chance of an above normal season for the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, where hurricane activity could hamper recovery efforts in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster.

NOAA predicts a 70% probability of between 14 and 23 named storms and eight to 14 hurricanes, with three to seven of them being major.

Forecasters say the conditions expected this year have historically produced some very active Atlantic hurricane seasons.

Industry bracing for impact

After significant catastrophe losses in first quarter, U.S. property-casualty insurers and global reinsurers are hoping their balance sheets don’t face further financial risks, according to A.M. Best, an insurance industry ratings service.

The industry enters the season on the strength of underwriting and financial results that rebounded in 2009 after deteriorating in 2008, a year marked by catastrophe losses from hurricanes Ike and Gustav and poor investment returns associated with the global financial turmoil, the ratings service said.

It added that state wind and beach plans, and last-resort insurers saw in-force liabilities grow by double and even triple-digit percentages from 2005 to 2009 in states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas.

Insurance companies have reacted in the wake of the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina, which caused 1,836 confirmed deaths and more than $81.2 billion in losses.

The ratings service’s data indicates insurers’ efforts to exit hurricane prone states accelerated from 2005 to 2009, compared with homeowners’ multi-peril business written earlier in the decade.

Major writers of homeowners’ multiperil, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation in Florida and Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., have shifted market share to other carriers through takeout programs, the service reported.

The top 10 A.M. Best rated writers’ market share fell more than eight percentage points from 2005 to 2009 in Louisiana; about three percentage points in Mississippi; and more than nine percentage points in Texas.

Forecasts for hurricane season rivaling 2005 put insurers on edge via IFAwebnews.

Terry Cavanaugh

Erie, which operates in 11 states and Washington, D.C., earned the award in the company’s 2010 Insurance Shopping Study, which evaluates the experience of customers purchasing a new auto insurance policy.

Jeremy Bowler, a senior director with J.D. Power and co-author of the study, told IFAwebnews.com that Erie scored 886 in customer satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale, which he said is essentially 9 out of 10 satisfied customers. The industry average, Bowler noted, was 851 out of 1,000 points, or what he called 8 ½ out of 10 satisfied customers.

Following Erie, The Hartford ranked second overall with a score of 868, followed closely by Auto-Owners Insurance with a score of 867, according to J.D. Power.

The annual study examines the purchasing behaviors and overall satisfaction of buyers shopping for a new auto insurer, using three key measurements: distribution, price and policy offerings.

Terry Cavanaugh, president and chief operating officer for Erie, said the award, “reflects the continued promise of Erie Insurance employees and agents to be above all in service to our customers and consumers.

“To receive this outstanding recognition for three consecutive years is phenomenal,” he said. “Our knowledgeable independent Erie Agents continue guiding customers in their communities to make the best insurance coverage decisions.”

Based in Pennsylvania, Erie is the 14th largest auto insurer in the U.S. based on direct premiums written and the 18th largest property-casualty insurer nationwide. It operates in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Erie Insurance claims third straight customer satisfaction award via IFAwebnews.

Wayne Goodwin

Senate President Pro-Tempore Marc Basnight, a 13-term Democrat who represents the state’s coastal counties, including Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Tyrrell, and Washington, included language in a Senate budget proposal that would have stripped the insurance commissioner of his authority to regulate insurance activity in the state, according to the Richmond County Daily Journal newspaper.

Instead, Basnight wants an appointed commission to regulate insurance.

Later, Basnight said the proposed change should not have been included in the budget. He told the newspaper he intends to propose creating a seven-member commission to regulate maximum rates for the 20 coastal counties in the state. His original proposal was to have a commission regulate rates throughout the state.

In August 2009, Goodwin resolved problems with the Coastal Property Insurance Pool, which provides insurance to property owners living along the Atlantic Ocean in the state. His plan called for premium increases, a reduction in coverage from $1 million to $750,000, and state funding for losses exceeding $1 million if the result of a catastrophic hurricane or other natural disaster, the newspaper said.

Goodwin “worked us up real good in the 20 coastal counties when they stuck it to us with the rate increases we experienced,” Basnight was quoted as saying at a press conference. “It was unfair. It was not something that was needed and it was simply wrong.”

Goodwin told the newspaper that as an elected commissioner, his performance is reviewed by voters every four years, whereas an appointed commission would be “unelected and unaccountable.”

N.C. insurance commissioner’s regulatory authority under threat via IFAwebnews.