Information released on Monday says that in 2011, traffic fatalities on American roads were at their lowest level since safety regulators with the federal government first began tracking such things in 1949. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), preliminary data says there were 32,310 deaths caused by vehicle crashes last year, which is 1.7 percent fewer than in 2010. The final numbers will be shared later this year.

Many factors were identified in the lower number of traffic fatalities, including:

– Fewer miles driven. Americans drove 1.2 percent fewer miles in 2011 than in the year before, per the NHTSA. – Safer vehicles. Acc

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DLF, India’s biggest property company, plans to sell a majority stake in its life insurance joint venture to HCL Group for about 5 billion rupees, the Business Standard reported on Tuesday

Cash-strapped DLF aims to sell 51 percent in DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company and use the proceeds to pay a part of its debt, the newspaper said, citing people with knowledge of the situation KPMG has been appointed as advisor, it added

DLF has debt of about $42 billion and has been trying to reduce the burden by selling its non-core assets including the Amanresorts International hotel chain and a property in Mumbai

The company owns 74 percent in the joint venture and US-based Prudential International Insurance holds the remaining 26 percent

A DLF spokesman said the company does not comment on market speculation A spokeswoman at HCL Group, whose flagship is technology services firm HCL Technologies, also declined comment

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• INDIA
• DLFPRAMERICA
• HCL
• DLF
• HCL Technologies
• Business Standard
• HCL Group
• DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company
• Prudential International
• TopNews
• Top biz stories
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• DLF
• Real estate
• Infrastructure

Life insurance policies aren’t only for those who are employed and covered through a policy sponsored through their workplace; they are also for children. Purchasing term life insurance for children may seem a difficult decision to make but it is one that will provide the assurance of knowing should an unforeseen tragedy occur your family won’t be financially as well as emotionally devastated. Losing a child is one of life’s most difficult events and also one that parents and caregivers would rather not think about. Far t

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Today taking some time to buy a quality travel insurance plan is a must before departing on any trip. You have to know that travel insurance is able to protect you from different costly problems that could occur while traveling, including medical emergencies, trip cancellations and theft.

For sure, you do not want to find yourself paying thousands of dollars for something as a missed flight and thus it is a great idea to give yourself some time to shop around and find a comprehensive insurance plan.

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Some homeowners in North Carolina will see their homeowner’s insurance get more expensive this year because of a change in fire ratings, but according to insurance company officials, the rate hikes aren’t because of public policy, but because of GPS technology.

How does GPS affect insurance rates? Well, when insurers calculate premiums, one of the factors they consider is the distance to the nearest fire station. Traditionally, that determination has been made using maps, but recently, maps have been eschewed, in favor of more accurate measuring systems.

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India Inc might have to shell out more while renewing insurance policies, as global reinsurance rates are seen hardening by 20-25 per cent when such policies comes up for renewals from April

Global reinsurers such as Swiss Re and Munich Re, stung by record catastrophe losses in 2011, are demanding more for insurance cover in loss-affected areas

Buyers of global catastrophe programmes and business interruption cover are faced with lower limits, higher prices and requests for more information, following tough reinsurance renewals in January

“Reinsurance players are insisting on a cap on single limit covers of, say, Rs 25 crore for a single incident Unlimited covers are not available in the current situation as loss ratios have gone up,” said K G Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD and CEO, Future Generali India Insurance Company

Insurers are also being asked to provide more disclosures in terms of profitability, capacity and loss ratio of the portfolios

Insurers in India buy annual reinsurance protection in April In western markets, reinsurance programmes begin on January 1 In Asia-Pacific, it begins on April 1

Indian corporates are already facing the heat For instance, ONGC is likely to facing challenges in renewing its insurance policy, which comes up for renewal on May 11, 2012 Last month, ONGC, the holder of the biggest insurance policy in the country, has floated a tender to underwriters to primarily cover its offshore assets, worth $337 billion Premiums are likely to rise by 15-20 per cent for the new policy Last year ONGC paid $25-27 million for covering assets worth $326 billion

Last year was a particularly unfavorable time for insurers due to tsunami and earthquake in Japan, and floods in Australia and Thailand Global reinsurers had pegged economic loss at $800 billion

Reports by reinsurance majors indicated that in 2011, insurance industry took a hit of more than $100 billion, which is more than double the $45 billion claims in 2010

General Insurance Corporation, the designated national reinsurer, has taken a hit of around Rs 1,800 crore in net worth on account of the unprecedented claims arising from these global catastrophes

“The conditions for reinsurance treaties are also getting stringent, particularly for companies that have exposures worldwide,” said an official at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company “They are looking at the loss ratios and the profitability of the portfolio Reinsurers are trying to ensure that risks should be adequately priced”

Typically under reinsurance treaties, reinsurance support is around 70 per cent of the risk for covers below Rs 1,000 crore For large covers, 90 per cent of the risk is passed on or reinsured by global reinsurance majors

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• Reinsurance rates
• India Inc
• Global reinsurance rates
• Swiss Re
• Munich Re
• K G Krishnamoorthy Rao
• ONGC
• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company
• Future Generali India Insurance Company
• General Insurance Corporation

Here in the UK, if you have ever sat on a day off sick from work watching daytime TV, you will be fully aware that we have embraced the no win no fee claims mentality (although Jack Straw is quite rightly waging a campaign against this culture). Where there is blame, they tell us there is a claim. We will cover this in  a series of later blogs, suffice to say, that as a business you are more likely yo get sued than ever before in our history.

This makes it all the more important, as we have said time and time again, to get a good quality business insurance policy from a good quality, independent, business insurance broker.

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