Our Affordable Housing team continually monitors insurance industry trends that impact organizations working in the various sectors of affordable housing – from developers to property managers to investors. In today’s challenging insurance market, careful consideration of and strategic action on the following items is important. Continue reading
Nearly 800 contractors, suppliers, service providers and guests attended the Carolina’s Associated General Contractors (CAGC) Summer Summit last month to discuss issues impacting the construction industry throughout the region. The topics discussed at the conference were focused on the building, utility and highway divisions of construction; however, several trends permeate the entire industry and even other industries with a similar workforce and/or risk exposures.
At the beginning of this month, a change in Virginia Code became effective impacting how Va. employers release employee records. The types of records impacted by this law cover several personnel areas, but I want to highlight that it includes information surrounding workplace injuries. The below post from Hancock Daniel, provides further detail surrounding the amended statute. Please contact me or another one of our Risk Advisors in Virginia with any questions about the updated law or best practices for record keeping of workplace injuries or incidents. Continue reading
UPDATE: This market outlook provided our reaction to market trends and some pricing expectations. With Q3 and Q4 of 2019 now behind us, we thought it would be beneficial to share an update with new insights and observations to better prepare our clients for current pricing pressures and provide guidance for managing the net impact. Read our Property & Casualty Market Update (January 2020) here.
At Scott Insurance, our clients often ask us to predict how their property & casualty insurance costs will change year-over-year. While each company has their own unique characteristics that affect pricing, we can make some general market observations to help clients prepare for the future.
Looking back, 2017 brought near-record highs in U.S. catastrophe losses due to the hurricane trifecta of Harvey, Irma and Maria. While 2018 saw a reduction in these losses (down to $37 billion versus $53 billion*), hurricane Michael and historic wildfires in California made it the second highest loss year since 2011. Despite two near-record-setting catastrophe loss years, carriers are posting lower combined ratios due to a combination of diligent underwriting discipline, moderate price increases, favorable loss development and higher interest rates. Continue reading
A topic of continual discussion with our Affordable Housing clients is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). This critical tool is fundamental to success in the industry, but as it is currently administered, it creates significant exposures that must be addressed – both with proper insurance coverage and also with appropriate lobbying efforts to hopefully foster future change to alleviate some of the risk.