Business Insurance

Don’t drink so close to me

Will a bump become the new glass-toasting cheers? Bars and restaurants excited to reopen are getting creative with social distancing requirements to comply with municipal guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Lawmakers give green light to comp bill on audible trauma

Colorado lawmakers on Tuesday sent to Gov. Jared Polis a bill that would make workers subjected to audible psychological trauma eligible for workers compensation benefits.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Airbus warns it may sue airlines over undelivered jets

Airbus is ready to sue airlines that refuse to honor contracts to take aircraft, its chief executive was quoted on Friday as saying, raising the stakes in a stand-off between some manufacturers and airlines over the coronavirus crisis.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

The BI Top 10: Week of June 1, 2020

Annual rankings of the highest-paid insurance and brokerage executives topped this week’s news. An analysis of the combined impact of the recent rioting and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on lost income claims also has generated much interest.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Trade credit insurers ask Treasury, Fed to back pandemic payouts

U.S. trade credit insurers have approached the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve seeking financial backing for claims payments to support business supply chains hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic, three people familiar with the matter s...

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

PIB Group acquires German reinsurance broker

U.K.-based insurance broker PIB Group Ltd. has acquired Germany-based Marx Re-Insurance Brokers GmbH for an undisclosed amount, expanding its presence in the reinsurance market.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Blasted chemical factory insured for more than $40 million

The chemical factory in the Indian state of Gujarat, where a boiler blast on June 3 killed eight workers and injured 50 others, is insured for more than 3.1 billion Indian rupees ($41 million).

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Siberian oil spill causes nearly $90 million damage to waterways

Greenpeace Russia said that the spill of more than 20,000 liters of diesel into a Siberian river has caused at least 6 billion Russian rubles ($87 million) worth of damage to waterways above the Arctic Circle.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

UK cat reinsurer proposes multi-peril risk transfer structure

U.K.-based systematic catastrophe reinsurer TotusRe Ltd. has proposed a cell insurance structure and the use of retrocessional reinsurance to cover multiple risks of national importance.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Airline insurers expect rise in claims, but reinsurance to offer cover

Airline insurers in India expect a rise in claims after two cyclones hit the country in quick succession, but they do not expect to take a big hit due to adequate reinsurance cover.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

All flights grounded after passengers fail to comply with rules

Indonesian low-cost airline PT Lion Mentari Airlines grounded all its international and domestic flights on June 5 until further notice, just five days after it resumed flying.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Insurers report premium growth despite nat cat loses

U.S.-based Moody's Corp. said that Japan's top three property/casualty insurers reported solid premium growth, profitability and capitalization in the financial year ended March, despite natural catastrophe losses.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

Lower oil prices, economic slowdown to hit GCC insurers

A report by U.S.-based A.M. Best Co. Inc. said that lower oil prices and economic slowdown in the Gulf Cooperation Council will hurt underwriting and the assets of insurers in the region.

Posted: Jun 05, 2020

SEC needs to address overseas accounting: Nasdaq CEO

Regulators need to address transparency and accounting issues at companies based in foreign jurisdictions that are looking to go public through the U.S. markets, Nasdaq Inc. Chief Executive Adena Friedman said on Thursday.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Physicians need specialized training on cannabis risks: Experts

As medicinal cannabis is made legal in an increasing number of states, physicians should ensure they are fully informed on the effects of the drug, even if they don’t prescribe cannabis themselves, a panel of experts said.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Higginbotham buys entertainment brokerage

Higginbotham Insurance Group Inc. has acquired Ascend Insurance Brokerage, a Dallas-based firm specializing in placing insurance for the entertainment industry.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Olympics postponement creates insurance hurdle

Next event in the pandemic’s is-this-covered insurance Olympics: the Olympics itself. Specifically, whether the $650 million it is going to potentially cost to postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021 will be covered by the event’s insurance policy.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Insurer CEOs optimistic business interruption wordings will hold

U.S. insurer CEOs expressed optimism Thursday that business interruption policy wordings on commercial property insurance policies related to the coronavirus pandemic will hold.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Bias case award against Port Authority must be cut

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a jury’s $2.2 million compensatory damages award to a former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employee in a discrimination case and gave him the choice of either a new trial or accepting a $250,00...

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Bills would provide rebuttable presumption for workers with COVID

Kansas lawmakers introduced three bills Wednesday that would extend coverage to workers who acquire coronavirus on the job.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Kansas lawmakers introduce bill to legalize medical marijuana

Lawmakers in Kansas on Wednesday introduced a comprehensive bill that would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and create a medical cannabis advisory board, among a long list of sweeping changes.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Sompo introduces US environmental unit

Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday it is launching a new U.S. insurance environmental unit.

Posted: Jun 04, 2020

Rulings on AssuredPartners M&A litigation mixed

A Delaware judge, ruling for two different state courts, is permitting some charges filed by the previous owners of a Virginia brokerage acquired by AssuredPartners Inc. to continue, while dismissing others, in mixed rulings.

Posted: Jun 02, 2020

More than half of employers to screen workers for COVID: Survey

Fifty-eight percent of employers are planning to conduct employee temperature or health screenings as part of reopening business plans, according a survey of 1,010 executives released Tuesday by the San Francisco-based employment law firm Littler Men...

Posted: Jun 02, 2020

Appeals court affirms OSHA finding in burn injury

A serious citation issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to a construction company that failed to ensure “appropriate” personal protective equipment was worn by an electrician who was seriously burned while connecting wires...

Posted: Jun 02, 2020