Boston-based Liberty Mutual has created the Foundation for Success program, which will publish guides and other tools on some of the key issues facing benefits buyers.

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., which operates an industrial hygiene research facility in Hopkinton, has been assessed an $8,000 penalty by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) for violating state hazardous waste management and industrial wastewater regulations.

Qunicy-based Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation recently completed the third year of its “Let’s Drive Out Hunger” program, raising $71,233 for 93 different food pantries in Massachusetts.

In 2010, total annuity sales through banks hit lows not seen since the turn of the 21st century, according to a recent report from Kehrer-LIMRA.

Quincy’s fire department had high hopes for a new moneymaking program last year: To ease budget woes, the department could pay for auto accident responses by sending the bill to private insurance companies.

Banks sold a record $1.8 billion in life insurance premium in 2010, a 40 percent increase from the previous record of $1.3 billion set in 2004, according to a recent report from Kehrer-LIMRA .

The number of women who own life insurance is now nearly equal to that of men, according to a recent study from LIMRA.

Liberty Mutual Group has become the newest member of the Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE), which dubs itself as the only trade association that focuses exclusively on accounting and solvency issues.

Bank brokerage executives are forecasting a “brilliant 2011,” according to a recent survey from Kehrer-LIMRA.

Springfield-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) is donating $100,000 to support victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and will also match eligible employee and financial professional donations during the next six months.

Insurance mergers and acquisitions increased by 35 percent in 2010, according to a new report from Hartford, Conn.-based Conning Research & Consulting.

Draft legislation to overhaul the nation’s National Flood Insurance Program will be unveiled next week, said the Republican chairman of a congressional insurance oversight panel.

The board of directors of Worcester-based The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of 27.5-cents per share on the issued and outstanding common stock of the company, payable March 29 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15.

Springfield’s Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) reported solid financial results for 2010, including strong increases in earnings and surplus, as well as assets under management for the company and its subsidiaries.

Westborough-based Hospitality Mutual Insurance Co. (HMIC) has acquired Marlborough-based shell company Eastern Casualty Insurance Co. (ECIC), which will allow HMIC to expand its business into other states.

Morrill Group, an independent insurance agency based in Norwood, has acquired Goldman Ernest & Liner Insurance Agency of Needham.

On many of this winter’s mornings, the voicemail at Partners Insurance Group’s five South Shore locations are full of new problems – a fender-bender here, some roof damage there. Ice damming has been a particular problem, and in one case a Partners customer had a roof cave-in.