What’s new: In brief (February 06, 2005)

Zurich Financial Services Group says it will pay Equitas US$547 million to commute policies purchased from Zurich’s Centre operation by Lloyd’s syndicates reinsured by Equitas. Zurich says the agreement ends Centre’s exposure to those syndicates. “This commutation represents significant progress in the overall run-off of Centre’s liabilities,” notes a Zurich statement.

A study by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia suggests children who are passengers of teen drivers are at much higher risk of injury, specifically when those passengers are young teens aged 13-15. The hospital and insurer State Farm, who jointly formed the Partners for Child Passenger Safety research program, look at almost 20,000 children in over 12,000 accidents reported to State Farm. It found children were three-times more likely to be injured when being driven by a teen, and links this to the higher severity of teen driver crashes, the reduced likelihood of seat belts being worn and the higher rate of young teens being front-seat passengers.

The Toronto Insurance Women’s Association (TIWA) is reminding everyone that time is running out to purchase tickets for the annual “Wine & Cheese” event. The event is set for Thursday, February 17 at the Metro Convention Center in Toronto. TIWA is also hosting its annual Public Speaking Contest and dinner meeting on February 15. More information and registration on TIWA events can be found at www.tiwa.org.