Business Insurance

Association of British Insurers defends COVID response

The Association of British Insurers on Wednesday stressed that forcing insurers to pay for COVID-19 related claims that aren’t covered in contracts would be “a shortcut to insolvency.”

Posted: May 13, 2020

Missouri lawmakers pass bill to limit punitive damages

The Missouri Senate and House on Tuesday approved a bill that would limit when punitive damages can be awarded.

Posted: May 13, 2020

SEC, DOJ told to review RBS whistleblower case

The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission must review whether an ex-Royal Bank of Scotland employee is owed a whistleblower payout and provide documents relating to his case, a federal U.S. court said on Tuesday.

Posted: May 13, 2020

US accuses China-linked hackers of stealing COVID research

China-linked hackers are breaking into American organizations carrying out research into COVID-19, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, warning both scientists and public health officials to be on the lookout for cyber theft.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Tips to SEC surge amid pandemic: Official

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has handled a surge in tips, complaints and referrals and opened hundreds of new probes since mid-March despite being forced to work remotely due to the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Tuesday.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Britain offers to guarantee trade credit insurance during pandemic

Britain said on Wednesday it would temporarily guarantee business-to-business transactions until December for companies struggling to pay trade credit insurance during the coronavirus pandemic.

Posted: May 13, 2020

France's Covea backs out of purchase of Exor's PartnerRe

French insurer Covea has walked away from its planned $9 billion purchase of PartnerRe, the Bermuda-based reinsurer owned by Exor, the holding firm of Italy's Agnelli family, saying it could no longer buy under the terms of their agreement.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Insurer Brit and Google Cloud to launch first digital Lloyd’s syndicate

Insurance company Brit and Google Cloud are together launching the first digital Lloyd’s of London syndicate, accessible from anywhere and at any time.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Comp sector well-positioned for COVID-19 fallout: NCCI

Years of profitable underwriting and healthy reserves in 2019 in the workers compensation sector will help the industry weather coronavirus-related claims and lower premium in the coming months, officials with the National Council for Compensation In...

Posted: May 13, 2020

COVID-19 costs China's retail industry more than $420 million

Vijay Bhupathiraju, retail analyst at U.K.-based data analytics firm GlobalData PLC, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has cost the Chinese retail industry 3 trillion Chinese yuan ($423 billion) in lost sales.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Pandemic to cost Arab nations $323 billion

Hamdi Al-Tabba, head of the Arab Businessmen Union, said that Arab nations could lose nearly $323 billion due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Premiums fall more than 7.5%

Data from the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia showed that overall premiums fell more than 7.5% year-over-year to 17.5 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($1.2 billion) in the first quarter.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Cyber attacks double: PwC

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that cyber attacks on Indian firms have doubled between January and March, with remote work infrastructure being heavily targeted, along with identity theft and malicious payload delivery.

Posted: May 13, 2020

Insurers' recapitalization deadline could be extended again

Eddie Efekoha, president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, expects the deadline for insurers to recapitalize to be extended further due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted: May 13, 2020

D&O rates jump in Q1: Aon

Directors and officers liability insurance pricing rose dramatically in the first quarter with the price per million for Aon PLC clients, increasing 73% when adjusted for certain items.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Hotel group, day care center sue for COVID-19 cover

The range of businesses taking insurers to court for coronavirus-related losses continued to expand last week with a New Orleans-based hotel group and a day care center in New York suing their insurers.

Posted: May 12, 2020

State attorneys general ask Amazon for COVID-19 data

A group of 13 state attorneys general asked Amazon.com on Tuesday to provide data on coronavirus-linked infections and deaths among its workforce, along with evidence of the company's compliance with paid sick leave laws.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Outpatient surgery fees growing for states without fee schedules

Outpatient hospital payments are higher and growing at a faster rate in states without fee schedules, according to a study released Tuesday from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Pandemic changes M&A talks but broker deals still happening

The coronavirus pandemic is changing some of the dynamics of broker mergers and acquisitions, but deals will continue to be made amid the outbreak, according to Marc Cohen, president and CEO of Hub International Ltd.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Shoddy construction not accident covered by CGL policy

Allegedly shoddy work cannot be considered an accident, and therefore is not an occurrence under a commercial general liability policy, a federal appeals court said Monday, in a case involving a grain storage and distribution facility’s construction.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Oklahoma bill would add chiropractic care to comp

Oklahoma lawmakers have passed legislation to allow for the coverage of chiropractic treatment in workers compensation.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Okla. Senate passes bill to protect firms from virus lawsuits

A Republican bill that would protect businesses from lawsuits arising from the COVID-19 pandemic passed the Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Federal appeals court makes up mind, tosses makeup suit

Eight women attempted to sue L’Oréal USA Inc. claiming that the cosmetics company trapped liquid product in its pumps and women were ripped off as a result of a few less drops of anti-aging face creams.

Posted: May 12, 2020

Morgan Stanley pays $5M to settle charges it misled clients

A unit of Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $5 million fine to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges it misled retail investing clients about the costs of a "wrap fee" program, the regulator said on Tuesday.

Posted: May 12, 2020