Winifred "Wendy" Baker, who in 1990 became the first woman to lead a reinsurance company, will step down after nine years as president of Lloyd's America Inc. at the end of December 2007, A.M. Best has reported.
Baker managed Lloyd's offices in Montreal, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kentucky and the Virgin Islands.
Baker, who reportedly has stepped down to pursue other interests, has overseen corporate marketing and communications, broker development, distribution and compliance and regulatory issues in the Americas.
A.M. Best notes the United States is Lloyd's largest market, accounting for US$8.5 billion or around 40% of its business in 2004. ?Before joining Lloyd's in 1998, Baker had a long career at Continental Corp., advancing to become president of Continental Re in 1990.
She joined Minet Re North America, New York, as senior vice president in charge of developing new business opportunities for its reinsurance intermediary and retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations in North America.
December 2007 Archives
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) failed to prove an insured tried to defraud the corporation by faking the theft of his minivan, and B.C.'s provincial court ordered the public insurer to allow the claim.
In Brummitt vs. ICBC, Michael Brummitt filed a claim in June 2005 with ICBC that his 1999 Dodge Caravan was stolen from his driveway. A day or two later, the vehicle was recovered by police; the interior was extensively damaged by a fire that appeared to be deliberately set.
The theft occurred only days before the vehicle's insurance was due for renewal.
ICBC denied liability, alleging Brummitt took the mini-van or arranged with others to simulate a theft.
If a claimant asserts under oath that the vehicle was taken without his or her consent, the claimant does not have to prove that he or she did not participate in the loss, wrote Provincial Court of British Columbia Justice Ross Tweedale.
If the insurer alleges the claimant participated in the theft, that is an allegation of fraud the insurer must prove.
Fraud is a quasi-criminal allegation; accordingly, an insurer must prove fraud on a more stringent standard than simply a balance of probabilities, the judge wrote.
"Despite some aspects of Mr. Brummitt's evidence, his claim that his minivan was stolen is not highly unlikely," Tweedale found. He added that the evidence presented provided a basis for the conclusion that there were a number of ways for the Dodge to have been taken without Brummitt's knowledge.
"ICBC has not proven that Mr. Brummitt tried to defraud the corporation."
A group of 21 U.S. property and casualty reinsurers wrote US$17.9 billion of net premiums during the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007, compared to US$19.6 billion in net premium written during the same period in 2006, according to an analysis conducted by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA).
The combined ratio for the group was 94.1%, an improvement over the 95.4% combined ratio reported for the same period last year. The 2007 combined ratio takes into account a 65.6% loss ratio and an expense ratio of 28.5%, according to the RAA.
Gross premiums written totalled US$28 billion for the first nine months of 2007, and direct premiums written amounted to US$2.26 billion.
Swiss Reinsurance America Corp reported the highest gross premiums written, at US$4.1 billion. Second was National Indemnity Company, which reported US$3.3 billion.
Munich Re America Corporation reported the highest direct premiums written in the nine months ended Sept. 30, with US$5.59 million. Odyssey America Re reporting US$4.27 million.
Net underwriting gain was US$1.17 billion total for the first nine months, with nine of the 21 companies reporting a loss.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) on Jan. 1, 2008 is launching a project that will accurately track domestic oil spills in Atlantic Canada for the first time.
The data will be provided to governments as part of an effort to introduce and strengthen legislation for the installation, maintenance and replacement of domestic oil tanks.
"IBC is undertaking this project because there is a clear need to understand the extent of the growing problem of domestic oil spills," said Don Forgeron, vice president, Atlantic, of IBC. "While individual insurance companies have collected data on domestic oil tank spills for some time, this project introduces consistent reporting across the industry.
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