Research Publications

Surveys of small businesses released in 1991 and 1989 explore attitudes and beliefs about insurance-related topics as they apply to U.S. businesses having between 2 and 49 employees. Topics covered include insurance coverages held, shopping patterns, availability/cost of business insurance, and claim satisfaction. The more recent study also reports on perceptions about the relative costs of business insurance and attitudes and beliefs about fraudulent insurance claiming behaviors.

Rising medical costs are a major cause of higher insurance costs for workers' compensation, general liability and automobile insurance. This report explores medical cost containment techniques used by insurers of those coverages and offers an assessment of their effectiveness.

Survey responses from 66 liability insurers and 679 government entities (municipalities, counties, school districts, etc.) provide the basis for this study, which explores problems in obtaining liability insurance, the reasons for those problems, and steps that might be taken to alleviate them. Specific questions were asked about cancellations and nonrenewals, premium increases, loss control measures, and favorable and unfavorable states.

This report describes how insurance companies assess the physical hazards involved in handling substances that can pollute the environment and generate liability insurance claims. Findings are based on a survey of 14 insurance companies writing pollution liability coverage and nine environmental consultants active in providing risk assessments for insurance purposes. The survey explores guidelines and procedures used by insurers and consultants to conduct pollution liability risk assessment, the technical skills and backgrounds of staff risk assessors, and the types of information that are most critical for completing a risk assessment.