NATIONAL NEWS ZONE......

* Cover-All Technologies Inc., a provider of comprehensive business solutions for the property and casualty industry, announced the release of a new workers’ comp product as part of their My Insurance Center (MIC) NexGen suite.

Cover-All partnered with one of its customers in the development of this complex coverage. The product is capable of rating and issuance, supporting full policy lifecycle in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) and was designed with business needs in mind. Key objectives included functionality to enhance productivity, facilitate greater compliance, improve underwriting and risk selection, provide configurable views and collaborative tools linking agents and underwriters, ensure ease of use, provides real-time integrated document generation and management capabilities, and the flexibility to quickly customize to meet ever-changing market demands.

For further information, contact Miguel Edwards at medwards@cover-all.com

• Fitch Ratings has published its annual hurricane season reference guide for insurance investors, providing analysis on the potential effects of a major storm season on large insurance companies and the industry as a whole.

The consensus among the forecasting organizations is for the hurricane season to be slightly above historical averages with around 13-15 named storms in 2009. The 2009 season, however, is expected to be less active relative to 2008. The state of the economy and the financial market make it unclear as to whether the insurance industry would be able to 'reload' capital losses should 2009 be a major loss year. If new capital does not flow into the market should a major loss occurs, the result would be a much harder market than usually follows a loss. Fitch's report also provides an extended analysis of the Florida insurance market, which remains strained following significant losses in 2004-05 and the deteriorated regional economy. There remains uncertainty as to whether the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) could meet all of its obligations in a severe storm season.

Fitch's 'Hurricane Season 2009: A Desk Reference for Insurance Investors' is available on the Fitch Web site at http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fitchratings.com&esheet=5968746&lan=en_US&anchor=www.fitchratings.com&index=1.