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- <text id=90TT1052>
- <title>
- Apr. 23, 1990: If You Can't Trust Your Insurer. . .
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Apr. 23, 1990 Dan Quayle:No Joke
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- GRAPEVINE, Page 21
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>By Paul Gray/Reported by David Ellis
- </p>
- <p> IF YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR INSURER...There are ominous
- signs that the insurance industry may be facing a crisis that
- could rival the savings and loan debacle. Though insurers get
- income from premiums, most of their earnings come from
- investments, which have suffered major losses due to plunges in
- the real estate and junk-bond markets. Some are stuck with more
- than $1 billion in troubled mortgages, and the industry as a
- whole owns $60 billion worth of junk bonds. Compounding concerns
- is the fact that 1989 was one of the costliest years for
- accidents: tens of billions in claims are being processed after
- the Exxon oil spill, Hurricane Hugo and the San Francisco
- earthquake. Unlike savings institutions, insurance companies are
- not federally regulated or guaranteed. Some in Congress think
- it's time to intervene.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-