Car insurance provider Allstate saw profits jump 340 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2011, a development that’s being largely attributed to the absence of the types of natural disasters in the fourth quarter that wreaked havoc in the third.

The amount of catastrophic losses suffered by the company plummeted 94 percent between the third and fourth quarters, dropping from $1.08 billion down to $66 million. Insurance companies generally consider catastrophic losses to be events that cause $25 million or more in insured losses.

Allstate’s fourth quarter profits were $724 million, which is up considerably from the $165 million in third-quarter profits and the $296 million in profits the company reaped in the fourth quarter of 2010.

But the catastrophic weather events still took their toll on the year-end numbers.

Between 2010 and 2011, yearly profits for the insurer dropped 15 percent, to $788 million.

That reverses the trend seen between 2009 and 2010, when the company saw an increase in yearly profits of 8.7 percent.

Allstate remains one of the top rated auto insurance companies in the country. As o

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New York Life Insurance Co., America’s largest mutual life insurer, is re-organizing into two major business units, the company announced.

Ted Mathas

The company will have an insurance group and an investment group, thus streamlining its providing of protection, wealth accumulation, and guaranteed income products and solutions.

New York Life writes the most new life insurance premium in the U.S., with a 11.7% market share.

As part of the reorganization, New York Life Investments and New York Lifes Retirement Income Security (RIS) business, formed in 2008, will be combined. T

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In a , AEI health care policy expert Thomas (Tom) Miller explains why current Medicare reform proposals are mostly “policy concepts devoid of structural details.” Miller points out that even the Ryan-Wyden proposal which “makes an honest effort to start this process at the ‘high-concept’ level,” needs “a more detailed script that begins to answer at least 13 more questions.”

Miller first asks:

“What is the primary policy goal of premium support (or other Medicare reform alternatives)? Is it a more efficient and higher-value health care? To lower the future rate of growth of Medicare spending? Or, jus

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It is important for people to understand that buying the cheapest auto insurance coverage might not be the best decision that they have ever made. In todays economy, many people have decided to just have minimum liability coverage on their vehicles. The problem is that most of the time, this coverage only comes with $10,000 in coverage for repairs.

This is great if you hit a 1990 Ford Escort but what happens if you hit a driver who is driving an expensive car such as a Mercedes which can cost more than $50,000? In this scenario, your auto insurance company would pay $10,000 to repair or replace the car.

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In recent years, there has been a huge increase in popularity of stag and hen parties taking part overseas. Traditionally, soon-to-be weds would hold their pre-wedding celebrations near to where they lived but these days many stag and hen parties celebrate with a long weekend abroad, with the consequence that related travel insurance claims have increased.

It is important for individuals going on these sorts of trips to be aware of the kind of risks they may be putting themselves under and they therefore should ensure they have adequate travel insurance that will cover them for such possibilities.

The Need For Travel Insurance

Over the past two years, 5.7 million Brits have travelled abroad for hen or stag parties – and considering the fun-filled antics that will surely take place, there is a whole host of complications that may occur on such trips.

In fact, of those surveyed by Direct Line Travel Insurance, 12% stated that they had once become lost in a foreign country, with the result that 2% ended up missing their flights home. A

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