Business Insurance

Refunds in store for those who bought ‘risk-free’ products

Want to sell golf balls and kitchen appliances on subscription with a risk-free cancellation policy wrought with confusion? Don’t try it.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Tornado damage estimate $1.1B, Croatia quake $300M: Aon

March tornadoes in Tennessee caused $1.1 billion in damages, and a powerful earthquake in Croatia in March caused almost $300 million in estimated damages, according to a report Thursday from Aon PLC’s Impact Forecasting.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Audrey Rampinelli receives RIMS lifetime achievement award

The Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. on Thursday named its 2020 honorees and award winners, including the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award for lifetime achievement in risk management.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

OSHA to employers: Cannot retaliate for COVID-19 safety complaints

Employees are filing coronavirus-related whistleblower complaints, prompting the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to remind employers they cannot retaliate against workers who report unsafe working conditions.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

No advisory pure premium rate filing for mid-year 2020: WCIRB

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Wednesday announced that it would not submit its July 1 mid-year filing given the business impacts of coronavirus.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Ohio comp bureau proposes up to $1.6 billion dividend

The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and Gov. Mike DeWine have proposed a dividend of up to $1.6 billion to help relieve some of the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the state’s business community, the bureau announced in a statement...

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

State-backed hackers taking advantage of outbreak: Officials

American and British cybersecurity officials are warning that state-backed hackers and online criminals are taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to further their operations, echoing concerns from digital safety experts.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Shifts in manufacturing create new exposures: Experts

As manufacturers shift gears and repurpose their operations to meet changing customer demand, or to produce sorely needed gowns, masks and ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they need to be sure that their insurance coverage is appropriate, expe...

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Outbreak could cost nearly $775 million in air travel revenue

The International Air Transport Association predicted that Hong Kong could lose $6 billion Hong Kong ($774 million) in air travel revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Cyclone Harold hits Tonga

Cyclone Harold slammed Tonga on April 9, after leaving a trail of destruction in Vanuatu and Fiji.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Automakers to lose more than $300 million daily due to outbreak

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers expects the automobile industry to lose 23 billion Indian rupees ($303 million) per day because of production loss due to India’s coronavirus lockdown.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Insurance fraud grows

The Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea has said that fraudulent insurance claims increased more than 10% year-over-year to 880 billion South Korean won ($722 million) in 2019.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

English soccer could lose more than $1 billion due outbreak

English soccer could lose more than $1 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic and clubs could go out of business.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

IAG's CEO to retire by year-end

Peter Harmer, managing director and chief executive of Insurance Australia Group Ltd., plans to retire by the end of the year.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Russian volcano spews ash up to 10km above sea level

The Shiveluch volcano in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula spewed ash as high as 10km above sea level on April 8.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Vietnam asks insurers to halt sale of COVID-19 related products

Vietnam's finance ministry has asked insurers to stop selling insurance products related to COVID-19.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Fire at under-construction museum damages entrance

A blast at the construction site of the Humboldt Forum museum in Berlin has damaged the building's entranceway and injured a worker.

Posted: Apr 09, 2020

Hotel fall for traveling employee doing his laundry not compensable

A traveling employee who slipped and fell in a hotel lobby while retrieving his laundry is not eligible for worker compensation benefits because in part he could not prove he needed to do laundry as part of his work trip, an appeals court in North Ca...

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

Texas Mutual to pay out comp dividends early

Policyholders with Texas Mutual Insurance Co. will receive about $330 million in dividends two months ahead of schedule, the insurer reported in a statement Friday.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

When shopping is the answer to low employee morale

Results of a recent survey aim to give employers a glimpse on how to manage the risk of crumbling morale among now telecommuting and possibly disengaged workers in light of the coronavirus shutdowns.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

P/C insurers’ capital positions remain strong: Fitch

Property/casualty insurers’ capital positions should be strong enough to withstand asset losses due to falling markets and expected claims costs amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a webinar presentation Wednesday by Fitch Ratings Inc.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

Emergency rule to provide comp benefits to first responders

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday announced he has directed the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to implement an emergency rule that will provide workers compensation benefits to first responders who contract COVID-19.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

Minnesota provides COVID-19 coverage to first responders

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed into law Tuesday evening legislation to provide worker compensation for first responders who contract COVID-19 on the job.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

Commercial insurance rates rise in Q1: Ivans

All major commercial property/casualty lines of business saw higher average premium renewal rates in the first quarter of 2020, compared with the prior quarter, and a ‘marked change’ is coming due to COVID-19, insurance exchange Ivans Insurance Solut...

Posted: Apr 08, 2020

Zoom sued for not disclosing privacy, security flaws

Zoom Video Communications Inc. was slapped with a class-action suit by one of its shareholders on Tuesday, accusing the video-conferencing app of overstating its privacy standards and failing to disclose that its service was not end-to-end encrypted.

Posted: Apr 08, 2020