If your home was destroyed by a hurricane, flood or other disaster, be cautious. Unfortunately, there are dishonest service providers that prey on disaster victims. Here are some basic guidelines for hiring service providers.

From a profitability perspective, 2018 will likely turn out to be a good year—maybe the best in more than a decade, in part because it started out quite well. The first half of 2018 produced a $6.0 billion underwriting gain vs. a $4.6 billion loss in the first half of 2017.  It is too soon, however, to know how the storms of the third quarter will affect full-year underwriting results, but at the least this first-half profit will moderate any underwriting losses that emerge.