State insurance regulators have negotiated a $500 million-plus settlement with associates of a failed Henrico County reinsurer, according to legal filings at the State Corporation Commission. The filings, released this week, seek to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. The money would go to settle claims that the failed insurer, Reciprocal of America, was unable to honor before regulators placed it into receivership in January 2003.

Virginia regulators want to suspend the nation’s oldest black-owned insurer from doing business in Virginia, saying its finances are in hazardous condition. But North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. is working on raising capital to boost its balance sheet, spokeswoman Kimberly Moore said this week. The Durham, N.C.-based insurer also is reducing expenses and has cut back on signing up new business, which eases financial pressures on the company as well, she said.

Steadier housing markets across much of the country are leading Genworth Financial Inc. to ease some rules for writing the coverage buyers need to get into a home. In nearly 200 markets in 45 states, Henrico County-based Genworth has gone back to issuing mortgage insurance for homebuyers making 5 percent down payments, the company disclosed. Mortgage insurance, which homebuyers pay for, repays banks if homeowners stop paying their mortgage.

Getting an H1N1 flu shot probably won’t cost you anything if you are insured through major health plans. Insurers UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield all have agreed to cover fees charged by providers to give the shots. The federal government is providing the vaccine, needles, syringes, alcohol swabs and sharps-disposal containers at no cost, but providers can charge a fee for their time and overhead to give the shots.

Alan I. Kirshner, chairman and CEO of the $9.5 billion Markel Corp., and cousins Steven and Anthony Markel have run the specialty insurer since the 1970s.

Kirshner is the glue, the peacemaker of the trio — and the rabid art collector.

“Sometimes, I’d say I was the highest-paid umpire in the United States,” Kirshner joked about negotiating between the cousins. 

He also likes to talk things through. 

“He talks to lots of people, and he’s always trying to get this person talking to that person to make things happen,” said Wendy Kreuter, vice president of operations at the Faison School for Autism, which Kirshner helped found in 1999.

Executive has help build one of the nation’s biggest specialty insurers as well as a school that’s been the last chance for scores of Virginia children with autism.

The State Corporation Commission has approved selling 15 percent of Shenandoah Life Insurance’s business to beef up the troubled insurer’s shrinking surplus of capital. The commission put the Roanoke-based company into receivership in February, after the insurer was hit hard by declines in the value of some of the assets it used to back its promises to pay claims.

A small Virginia insurer, hammered by having put its faith in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds, has lost almost all its capital since it was forced into receivership seven months ago. Shenendoah Life had just $4.4 million in surplus as of June 30, according to its filings with the State Corporation Commission. It had had $78.3 million of surplus as of Sept. 30, 2008, according to the filings. That figure is after accounting for funds it had set aside as a $1.28 billion reserve to pay claims.

The Senate Finance Committee has delivered a small victory to the American people by defeating two Democratic proposals to create a “public option” for health insurance. The taxpayer-subsidized, and almost certainly deficit-financed, system would have underbid private insurance companies. The Obama administration calls that “keeping them honest.“ When foreign competitors such as China do it, it is called “dumping.“

A poll of 200 small businesses in Virginia found that most consider health-care reform important to getting the economy back on track, according to Small Business Majority. The survey also found that 54 percent of Virginia small businesses do not provide health insurance, with the vast majority saying they could not afford it. The poll was conducted by Lake Research for Small Business Majority, a California-based nonprofit that says it brings a nonpartisan, small-business perspective to the health-care reform debate. It sponsored a conference call Tuesday with several Virginia small-business owners to discuss results of a June telephone survey on how business owners feel about health-care reform.

Gregory Herceg likes knowing he can call the Insurance Advocacy Group anytime he needs to. “Whenever I have an issue that relates to property and casualty, they jump right on it,“ said Herceg, president and CEO of the Kloke Group, a residential and commercial moving and storage company. Kloke spends hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on property and casualty insurance. It’s the company’s fourth-largest expense.

While you may have scored a great deal on a new car under the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, insuring it could be costly. Auto insurance premiums for a new vehicle are generally much higher than what you probably paid for your jalopy, particularly if you’re financing it, as a higher level of coverage is required. But there are ways to trim costs, which means inquiring about your insurance rate early on in the setup process.

Virginia Commonwealth University junior Yasmeen Telsem doesn’t have renters insurance. Until this week, she didn’t even know it existed. “What is it?“ she asked. The insurance covers personal property in case of theft, damage or calamities for those who rent. It also includes some liability exposures. A study released this week by Allstate Insurance Co. found that more than half of college-aged renters in Virginia (53 percent) reported owning $10,000 to $50,000 worth of possessions, including electronics, furnishings and clothing.

Fire and lightning
Windstorm or hail
Explosion
Riot or civil commotion
Vehicles
Smoke
Vandalism
Theft
Accidental water or steam damage from plumbing, heating or air-conditioning systems
Sewer back-up
Earthquakes
Power failures
Neglect
War
Nuclear hazard
Intentional acts

John Glander and Robert Meadows of Professional Risk Associates Inc. understand the nuances of medical malpractice insurance. Their company has specialized in medical malpractice insurance for physicians and physician groups since Glander founded the firm in 1989. He started the company with one employee, Don Riley. The company employs 25 people, all of whom are now shareholders.