NEWS IN BRIEF

The storm system... that generated more than 50 tornadoes in the south-central US earlier this week, has caused major flooding in Florida, washing out streets, breaking water and gas lines and flooding homes. Pensacola and other parts of the state were swamped with more than two feet of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising the death toll since Sunday’s initial tornado outbreak to 38. States of emergency have been declared in 26 Florida counties. The system is expected to bring heavy rains up the east coast as far as New York before moving over the Atlantic on Thursday. Figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) … show that the average UK comprehensive private motor insurance premium in the first quarter of 2014 was £358, 6% lower than in Q1 2013. Since the first quarter of 2012 the average cost of a comprehensive private motor insurance policy has fallen by 14%, the ABI said. Nearly 1,700... homes were evacuated in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday with the outbreak of a wildfire in nearby foothills. Dry Santa Ana winds with gusts of up to 90 mph fanned the so-called Etiwanda fire, which by late Wednesday had charred around 1,000 acres, and prevented fire-fighting aircraft from taking off. Wind advisories remain in effect through Thursday afternoon. ACE and international law firm Clyde & Co… have published a report that encourages multinationals to review the way in which they insure environmental risk exposures. The insurer said legal frameworks for environmental protection have been strengthened in the US, EU and Australia and individual directors and officers of companies have become increasingly exposed to civil and criminal liabilities resulting from environmental incidents. Emerging markets with China, India, Thailand and several Latin American countries are also now establishing legal frameworks. US workers’ compensation group Employers Holdings... has closed Q1 with net income of $10.8m, an increase of 44% that was driven in part by a more than quadrupling of realized investment gains to $3.3m. The Nevada-based carrier’s combined ratio improved by 1.8 points to 105.1%, as earned premiums grew 13% to $167.2m and claims costs rose 12.9% to $122.3m. Louisiana-based workers’ compensation insurer Amerisafe... saw Q1 net earnings rise 19.2% to $10.5m, as earned premiums climbed 11.9% to $89.2m and claims costs increased 9.4% to $61.3m. The combined ratio improved by two full points to 92.7%. Florida-based p/c group United Insurance Holdings... saw Q1 net income more than double to $11.4m from $4.4m, as earned premiums climbed 51% to $64m and claims costs grew 35% to $27.7m. The combined ratio improved to 77.6% from 87.5%. UK insurer RSA… has promoted Paul Hirst to the role of Mid Market Regions Director. In his new role, Mr Hirst will lead a team of more than 450 people. He has worked at RSA for almost 22 years in a number of different roles in both personal and commercial lines and was most recently director of RSA Motability, the group’s European fleet motor unit. Fitch Ratings… has affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength ratings of France-based SCOR A+ with a stable outlook. The affirmation reflects SCOR's strong solvency and acceptable debt leverage for its risk profile, Fitch said. Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group… has announced the retirement of Nick MacAndrew, who had served as an independent non-executive director since July 2005 and as a senior independent director since 2009 - that role has now passed to Richard Harvey.