Homeowners insurance premiums are starting to rise after tornadoes, hail, winds and lightning slammed U.S. insurance companies’ balance sheets throughout 2011.

Storms along the East Coast, tornadoes in the Southeast and in Joplin, Mo., and earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand wreaked havoc on insurance company finances, especially firms that might have too many policyholders in certain geographic areas, says Bob Skow, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa.

The numbers aren’t in yet, since renewals don’t all happen at one time, but Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, says customers are starting to feel the cost of years of heavy losses, particularly in the Southeast and Midwest.

“We’ve had record losses for four straight years,” he said. “My sense i Read more…

According to recent research, many young people have no idea where their passport is. The Identity and Passport Service says many students and young people are risking the safety of their passport, and other important documents like travel insurance policies, with careless handling. Losing a passport close to your vacation could result in you needing to use your trip cancellation insurance.

According to the survey, only half of the young people knew the location of their passport without having to look for it. Two thirds of the young people could not say, without checking their passport, when it was due for renewal.

Nearly half the youngsters said they didn’t keep their passport in a safe place or locked away. M

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Speaking at the Sesame Symposium, Iain Clark, managing director of protection at LV=, said that the sector is a long way from offering the easiest sales process that it should to customers.

He said: “”Where we are and where we need to be is a very big leap. We are very good at the virtues of policies like income protection or critical illness cover, but we are not very good at doing the second, third or fourth sale.

“We need to make it easier for consumers to buy that second or third product. We are overcomplicating things for the customer and they are afraid of making a mistake.”

He added: “We need to build the blocks up for customers.

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The property/casualty insurance industry has entered an “unusual” period, according to an analysis by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.

In “2012 Outlook: Are We There Yet?” New York-based KBW notes that insurer capital remains plentiful and pricing is improving from the perspective of insurers, but that return on equity appears likely to decline.

“What is historically unusual is that this shift is occurring despite solid capital positions, which are allowing many leading players to buy back stock,” KBW said in the report dated Sunday.

The report’s authors said they believe the industry is reacting to “increasingly common ‘unusual’ large-loss events” and other pressures on earnings.

The report projects that rate increases will be moderate, not uniform and “not in any way a traditional hard market.” Well-positioned insurers might find such an environment to be “a boon, but for others, it simply won’t be enough,” said KBW.

Last month, KBW released an analysis of third-quarter property/casualty insurers saying that while pricing might be improving, underwriting results continue to be weak.