Pillar of Berkshire empire

Being a big insurer will amount Berkshire Hathaway Inc. dearly back astringent catastrophes strike, but it is a acceptable abode to be in the bosom of an bread-and-butter downturn, Chairman Warren Buffett said.

"We are lucky," said Mr. Buffett, as he addressed bags of shareholders at Berkshire's anniversary affair in his hometown of Omaha, Neb., on Saturday. Insurance, forth with utilities, addition big business for Berkshire, are sectors "relatively artless by the recession," he said.

Berkshire operates almost 80 businesses, including See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom underwear and bogus homebuilder Clayton Homes, but generates about bisected its after-effects from insurance.

U.S. insurers accept been abominably aged back aftermost year by advance losses, circuitous now by attenuated appeal amidst the bread-and-butter recession.
Among Berkshire's allowance companies are the auto insurer Geico Corp., reinsurer General Re Corp. and band insurer Berkshire Hathaway Assurance.

"The balance ability of (Berkshire's insurance) businesses was not as acceptable aftermost year as normal," Mr. Buffett conceded. "And it won't be as acceptable this year. But best of them will do well, and abounding of them will do exceptionally. Allowance gives us a lot of balance ability that we are activity to access over time."

Mr. Buffett said Berkshire's allowance businesses had a first-quarter underwriting accumulation that was "a little more good than aftermost year," but the recession aching after-effects at abounding added businesses, blame all-embracing operating accumulation bottomward about 12% from a year ago.

Many in Omaha this weekend said their better affair was the broader bread-and-butter turmoil. A almanac 35,000 showed up at the anniversary meeting, area Mr. Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answered bristles hours of questions on Berkshire, the abridgement and added issues.

query: can I sue the title company for using the wrong lot number

Well, I guess you can sue anybody for any reason if you so desire. Will you win? That's another matter. Have your attorney carefully review your owner policy. If you have suffered a loss due to the error, you may have a basis for a title insurance claim.When a typographical error is discovered, such as an incorrect lot number, the title agent or title company would normally prepare and file

query: can I sue the title company for using the wrong lot number

Well, I guess you can sue anybody for any reason if you so desire. Will you win? That's another matter. Have your attorney carefully review your owner policy. If you have suffered a loss due to the error, you may have a basis for a title insurance claim.When a typographical error is discovered, such as an incorrect lot number, the title agent or title company would normally prepare and file

Aspen Profit

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. on Wednesday reported $91.4 million in net income for the first quarter of 2009, a 12.6% rise compared with the same period in 2008.

Gross written premiums were up 6.8% in the period to $636.8 million, while net earned premiums rose 14.2% to $447.3 million, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer said.

Aspen’s property reinsurance segment reported a 19.7% rise in gross written premiums to $220.5 million in the quarter, which it attributed to improving market conditions and favorable prior-year premium development.

Gross written premiums in Aspen's casualty reinsurance operations increased 2.6% to $186.8 million.

For its insurance business, Aspen's U.S. insurance segment reported a 13.7% increase in gross written premiums to $34.8 million in the quarter. But its international insurance segment saw gross written premiums slide 2.3% in the quarter to $194.7 million.

Aspen's combined ratio improved to 84.5% in the quarter vs. 85.4% in 2008, it said.

Mexico, Flu pandemic imminent

Mexican President Felipe Calderon told his people to stay home from Friday for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organisation said a swine flu pandemic was imminent.

Mr. Calderon ordered government offices and private businesses not crucial to the economy to stop work to avoid further infections from the new virus, which has killed up to 176 people in Mexico and is now spreading around the world.

"There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," Mr. Calderon said in his first televised address since the crisis erupted last week.

Twelve countries have reported cases of the H1N1 strain, with the Netherlands the latest to join the list. It said a three year-old child had contracted the virus.

Switzerland also confirmed its first case on Thursday, saying a man returning from Mexico had tested positive for the flu. Peru reported the first case in Latin America outside Mexico.

Texas officials on Wednesday reported the first swine flu death outside Mexico, a 22-month-old Mexican boy on a visit.

The WHO raised the official alert level to phase 5, the last step before a pandemic. "Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world," WHO Director General Margaret Chan told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday.

"The biggest question is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start," Ms. Chan said.

The world "is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history", she said. WHO has stopped short of recommending travel restrictions, border closures or any limitation on the movement of people, goods or services.

Demotech releases report

The collapse of the financial markets compounded these losses in operations and consequently led to a decrease in Net Investments of 28 percent for all companies from the previous year. These results contributed to a Net Loss of nearly $400 million for the industry. While all of the NAIC Title underwriter groups reported a Net Loss, the unaffiliated Title underwriters combined for a Net Gain.

Demotech releases report

The collapse of the financial markets compounded these losses in operations and consequently led to a decrease in Net Investments of 28 percent for all companies from the previous year. These results contributed to a Net Loss of nearly $400 million for the industry. While all of the NAIC Title underwriter groups reported a Net Loss, the unaffiliated Title underwriters combined for a Net Gain.