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The three leading global credit insurers Atradius, Coface and Euler Hermes currently benefit from a supportive economic environment that is limiting corporate insolvencies, according to Moody’s https://www.intelligentinsurer.com/news/credit-insurers-buoyed-by-economic-environment-15083

IAT Insurance Group has agreed to acquire IFIC Surety Group which includes International Fidelity Insurance Company and its subsidiary Allegheny Casualty Company. Through the deal IAT will enter the surety market. IFIC Surety Group is said to be the eighth largest surety writer in the US with over $150 million in gross written premium. IAT intends to maintain the...

A South Abington Twp. insurance agent pleaded guilty to collecting insurance premiums from construction companies and never buying the insurance on their behalf. Timothy A. Hewitt, 41, billed six clients more than $200,000 for performance bond insurance without buying the insurance from Liberty Mutual, Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney C.J. Rotteveel said Wednesday. Hewitt pleaded guilty Monday in Lackawanna...

Southwestern Community College is seeking compensation for damage to the Balsam Center building that it believes resulted from the R-5000 road project, a 0.7-mile connector road between N.C. 107 and N.C. 116 that wound up costing $30 million. A three-way finger-pointing contest over the damage has been ongoing since 2015, with SCC blaming DeVere Construction Company Inc. and the...

As of June 2018, Pennsylvania non-bank mortgage loan servicers have to get licensed in order to operate in the state. The changes are introduced by Senate Bill 751, which makes alterations to the Pennsylvania Mortgage Licensing Act (MLA) The bill sets licensing requirements for mortgage servicers, such as meeting surety bond requirements, as well as posting a fidelity bond....

Is the Decision in Valard Construction Ltd v. Bird Construction Co.1 Really Revolutionary in Quebec? The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled on the obligation, whose existence and degree of intensity vary according to the circumstances, to disclose the existence of a surety bond for construction wages and materials to potential beneficiaries, pursuant to general principles of Common Law...

2018 Agent Study reveals the level of satisfaction with insurers, and how producers perceive the quality of commercial carriers. In 2017, NU forged an alliance with the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) and Flaspöhler | NMG to conduct the inaugural Independent Agent Study — a research project designed to annually take the pulse of independent Property &...

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled in its recent decision, Valard Construction Ltd. v. Bird Construction Co. (Valard Construction), that an “obligee” or trustee under a labour and material payment bond (usually the owner or general contractor) may be required to disclose the bond’s existence to its beneficiaries (usually subcontractors). Prior to this decision, Canadian courts held that...

While surety is technically an insurance product, most insurance agents know it’s significantly different than traditional P&C coverages. Surety experts know what to look for in a client’s submission to give them the best possible chance of qualifying for the bond they need. In fact, I would argue that surety is more like banking than insurance. However, many insurance...

In a recent decision,(1) the Supreme Court clarified its position on sureties payable on first demand and confirmed its view on the interpretation of contractual undertakings (eg, guarantees or sureties)(2) by which one party assumes a personal liability for a third-party debt. Considering the significant different legal consequences for a beneficiary’s position following a qualification as either an abstract...