Insurance customers who interact with a local agency tend to be more satisfied than customers who interact with their insurer’s call center, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Insurance Customer Contact Study released Nov. 21. The inaugural study is ... [full story]

  NEW YORK—The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry saw a sharp decline in performance in the first nine months of 2008, and full-year results are likely to follow the same trend, Fitch Ratings Ltd. analysts say. Investment losses, compounded by catastrophe claims, ... [full story]

  LONDON (Reuters)—A.P. Moller-Maersk, one of the world's biggest shipping firms, said on Thursday it was rerouting some of its huge merchant fleet to avoid the Gulf of Aden because of piracy. "Vessels without adequate speed or freeboard will for the time ... [full story]

LONDON (AP) — Piracy on the high seas used to be a simple affair: Climb on board, take the valuables, and go. But now on the volatile waters off east Africa, pirates are carrying rocket launchers, demanding multimillion dollar ransoms and ... [full story]

  The total insured losses from three wildfires which have swept across California are likely to be between $600 million and $800 million, according to AIR Worldwide Corp. The catastrophe risk modeling firm’s loss estimate accounts for the Freeway Complex, Sayre ... [full story]

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian officials proposed tougher restrictions on teen drivers in Ontario, including a prohibition on new motorists 19 and younger from driving with more than one teenage friend, prompting thousands of young drivers to protest online. The bill, introduced ... [full story]