The nation's bank holding companies experienced a slight decline of 1.3 percent in their total insurance revenue last year, according to a report by the .

Bucking the trend, the Palmetto State's , parent company of , jumped 14 spots in the ABIA's revenue league to 50th. The findings are based on data reported to the by top-tier holding companies. The analysis measures the banking industry's insurance business and provides some benchmarks that gauge bank insurance performance.

As you dry your eyes, take comfort in the news that the industry's insurance brokerage fee income continued to grow, increasing 10.6 percent from $10.9 billion in 2005 to a record $12.1 billion last year.

Insurance underwriting income has grown at a compound annual rate of 3.1 percent since 2001, the report said, while insurance brokerage fee income has raced upward at a compound yearly average of nearly 20 percent during the same period.

According to ABIA, bank holding companies with the largest slice of total insurance fee income last year were ($3.2 billion), ($1.3 billion) and ($1.2 billion).

If you remember, I told you about letters the nation's No. 2 property and casualty insurer, , sent to its policy holders requesting them to remove trees that Allstate company inspectors deemed too close to their homes.

Louisiana's insurance chief has ordered Allstate to stop using a "drive-by" inspection process that has led to the cancellation of 4,700 homeowners policies in parishes hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Insurance Commissioner said Allstate could face fines if it fails to comply with the order and reinstate homeowners whose policies were dropped because of the inspections.

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