Business Insurance

Alera buys Vermont agency

Alera Group Inc. said Monday it has acquired Noyle Johnson Group, a Montpelier, Vermont-based agency.

Posted: Jul 18, 2022

Broker acquisitions keep rolling in 2022 first half

Mergers and acquisitions involving insurance agents and brokers rose to 427 in the first half of 2022, a 16% increase over the same period last year and 13% above the first-half five-year average, as brokers looked beyond traditional M&A targets, acc...

Posted: Jul 18, 2022

Falcon Risk to write admitted excess management liability

Falcon Risk Holdings LLC, a U.S. financial, professional and cyber lines managing general agent, said Monday it would write excess management liability coverage on an admitted form.

Posted: Jul 18, 2022

Florida comp regulators plan to revise physician dispensing rules

The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation this month published a notice in the Florida Administrative Register announcing plans to review physician dispensing rules.

Posted: Jul 18, 2022

Everest Re unit not obliged to defend or indemnify financial adviser

A federal appeals court on Thursday affirmed a lower court ruling and held that an Everest Re Group Ltd. unit does not have to defend or indemnify a financial adviser who sold a financial instrument issued by a company later sued by the U.S. Securiti...

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Colorado court allows COVID case to proceed

A Colorado state court on Wednesday refused to dismiss COVID-19 business interruption-related litigation filed by a senior living retirement operator against a CNA Financial Corp. unit.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Hylant adds former regulator to North Carolina captive business

Hylant Group Inc. said Friday it has hired former captive insurance regulator Leane Rafalko as a senior captive consultant based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Skittles are toxic, US lawsuit claims

Mars Inc. has been sued by a consumer who claims that Skittles candies are unfit to eat because they contain a known toxin that the company had pledged six years ago to phase out.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Contestant says all’s not fair in ‘Love Is Blind’

A contestant on the second season of Netflix’s “Love Is Blind” reality series is accusing the show’s producers of being blind to labor laws and worker safety.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

OSHA addresses ‘alarming rise’ in trench-related fatalities

Twenty-two workers died in trenching accidents in the first half of this year, a 68% increase over all of 2021 that has prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to launch an enhanced enforcement initiative to better protect workers...

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

SAS takes over $122 million hit from ongoing pilot strike

The ongoing pilots’ strike at Sweden-based Scandinavian Airlines Systems AB has cost the airline operator around 1.3 billion Swedish kronor ($122.5 million) so far.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

The BI Top 10: Week of July 11, 2022

Legal disputes between brokers over poaching lead this week’s Top 10. Also of note: Applied Underwriters raised staff salaries by 10% across the board to keep up with inflation.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

EU court labels VW’s emission defeat device, software “illegal”

The Court of Justice of the European Union recently ruled that German automaker Volkswagen AG used an illegal defeat device and software to alter its cars’ nitrogen oxide emissions.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Sasria settles 80% claims related to July civil riots

State-controlled insurer South African Special Risk Insurance Association SOC Ltd. has settled 80% of insurance claims worth 24 billion South African rand ($1.4 billion) related to the 2021 civil riots.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Corporate travel insurance rates see as much as 300% surge

Poppy Foxton, head of corporate insurance and risk solutions at Australia-based Honan Insurance Group Pty Ltd., said that corporate travel insurance premiums have jumped by up to 300%, as international travel resumes.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

AerCap sues AIG for $3.5 billion over jets seized by Russia

Ireland-based aircraft lessor AerCap Holdings NV has sued its insurers, including American International Group Inc., in the U.K. High Court after they denied its $3.5 billion claims related to jets seized by Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Banks in talks with regulators over texting fines: Bloomberg

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are in discussions with regulators to pay around $200 million each in fines over failing to monitor employees’ use of unauthorized messaging apps, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

Mortgage lender faces SEC probe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether mortgage lender Better.com and the special purpose acquisition company it has agreed to merge with, Aurora Acquisition Corp., violated federal securities laws.

Posted: Jul 15, 2022

US inland marine line premiums up sharply in 2021

U.S. inland marine line premiums increased 15% in 2021 after falling 2% in 2020, according to a report Thursday from A.M. Best & Co.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

EEOC allows employers to quiz workers over sickness symptoms

Employers can ask workers who report feeling ill or call in sick questions about their symptoms to determine if they have COVID-19, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in updated guidance.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

Ruling concerning FLSA status of medical service drivers overturned

A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s summary judgment and sent back a case concerning whether drivers for a medical service were employees — and therefore subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act ­— or independent contractors.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

Nevada comp regulators announce 5.5% increase in benefits

The Nevada Workers’ Compensation Section announced that the maximum monthly benefit increased 5.5% at the start of July because of an increase in the state’s average weekly wage.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

Premiums up by almost 10% in Bosnia and Herzegovina in first half

Data from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s insurance association showed that local insurers’ aggregate gross written premiums increased almost 10% year-on-year to 308 million Bosnian mark ($158 million) in the first half of the year.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

Mexico declares state of emergency due to drought

Severe drought and acute water shortage has forced Mexican authorities to declare emergency.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022

Semiconductor manufacturers threatened by coolant shortage

A months-long suspension of production at U.S.-based conglomerate 3M Co.’s Belgian factory in Zwijndrecht has created a shortage of specialist coolant fluids – widely used by semiconductor manufacturers and data centers worldwide.

Posted: Jul 14, 2022