Business Insurance

Reinsurers in race to improve risk underwriting

Juan Andrade, president and CEO of Bermuda-based reinsurer Everest Re Group Ltd., said that reinsurers are in an “arms race” for the latest technology and processes to improve their risk underwriting and pricing amid increasing frequency and severity...

Posted: Sep 10, 2021

The BI Top 10: Week of Sept. 6, 2021

Regular insurance and risk management stories were eclipsed this week by news of the killing of an industry executive.

Posted: Sep 10, 2021

DOJ looking into conduct of Allianz fund managers

The U.S. Department of Justice investigation into German insurer Allianz SE is looking at possible misconduct by fund managers and misrepresentation of risk to investors, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Posted: Sep 10, 2021

Drugmaker Endo settles opioid claims by N.Y., counties for $50M

Drugmaker Endo International PLC on Thursday said it has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve lawsuits by New York state and two of its largest counties related to the sale and marketing of opioids.

Posted: Sep 10, 2021

Insurers win suit with PBM over D&O, E&O cover

A federal appeals court Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of units of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings Ltd., Intact Insurance Group USA LLC and Travelers Cos. Inc. in litigation filed by a prescription benefit manager over their...

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Ruling against injured worker in retaliatory discharge case overturned

A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling against an injured worker who claimed retaliatory discharge after filing a workers compensation claim.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Offshore operators face big Ida losses as insurers trim cover

Offshore energy companies are likely to face greater financial losses from Hurricane Ida than from previous storms in the Gulf of Mexico, because of reduced coverage offered by insurers, risk modeler RMS said Thursday.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Willis CEO announces next cost-saving steps

Willis Towers Watson PLC on Thursday outlined a bold plan to deliver $10 billion+ in revenues and a 25% margin expansion by 2024 as it unveiled a $300 million cost-saving program and $4 billion in share buybacks.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

FM Global executive killed

Heidi Hull, Cleveland-based operations senior vice president for FM Global, was killed with her family in an apparent murder-suicide Tuesday.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Ukrainian insurance market grows by 18%

Data from the National Bank of Ukraine showed that the local insurance market grew by almost 18% year-on-year to 24.8 billion Ukrainian hryvnia ($922.8 million) in the first half of the year.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Indian insurance broker buys counterpart

India-based First Policy Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. has completed the acquisition of Indian counterpart Amicus Insurance Broking Services Pvt. Ltd., which specializes in marine, energy, liability, credit, and construction and property insurance.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Scor to strengthen primary corporate and specialty lines

French reinsurer Scor SE aims to strengthen its primary corporate and specialty insurance business over the next couple of years to diversify its overall portfolio and reduce exposure to more volatile natural catastrophe reinsurance.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Pirates attack vessel near Gabon coast, kidnap one crew member

Pirates attacked Indian firm ProActive Ship Management Pvt. Ltd.-managed vessel MV Tampen off the coast of the African country Gabon on Sept. 5, injuring two crew members and kidnapping one.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Insured loss from deadly China floods nears $2 billion

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has that floods that ravaged the Chinese province Henan in July resulted in an estimated 12.4 billion Chinese yuan ($1.9 billion) in insured losses.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

South African riots cause $1.7 billion in insured damage

South African state-owned insurer Sasria SOC Ltd. said that the civil riots in July caused 25 billion South African rand ($1.7 billion) worth of insured damage in the country.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Russia’s Yandex says it repelled biggest DDoS attack in history

A cyberattack on Russian tech giant Yandex’s servers in August and September was the largest known distributed denial-of-service attack in the history of the internet, the company said on Thursday.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Why people switch dentists is nothing to smile about

Chipping away at the reason why people tend to switch dentists, a new survey by dentalinsurance.com finds that for some it’s a matter of being sensitive about what a dentist says about their teeth.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Corvus unveils risk analytics platform

Corvus Insurance Holdings Inc. on Thursday introduced its Risk Aggregation Platform to help reinsurers and program managers analyze metrics including aggregate exposure data, ransomware scores and emerging threat information.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Oregon comp costs likely to drop for ninth straight year

Oregon employers on average in 2022 would see their workers compensation coverage costs decline for the 9th consecutive year, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced Wednesday.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Cowbell Cyber names former Lockton exec head of insurance

Cowbell Cyber Inc. said it has named Chris Reese, former Lockton Cos. LLC senior vice president and cyber & technology insurance practice lead, as its head of insurance, a new position.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

BRP agrees to buy Dallas-based agency

Broker BRP Group Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Dallas-based agency White Hill Plaza Inc., which operates as K&S Insurance Agency, through an indirect subsidiary.

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Lloyd’s rebounds to profit after underwriting ‘turnaround’

Lloyd’s of London reported a profit of £1.4 billion ($1.93 billion) for the first half of this year, compared with a loss of £400 million in the year-earlier period, after underwriting returned to a profit, helped by average premium rate increases of...

Posted: Sep 09, 2021

Cognizant reaches $95M settlement with shareholders

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. has reached a $95 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit accusing the information technology services company of defrauding shareholders by concealing bribes to officials in India.

Posted: Sep 08, 2021

Texas names insurance commissioner

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Cassie Brown commissioner of insurance on Monday, filling a post that has been unoccupied for over a year.

Posted: Sep 08, 2021

Health care workers sue over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Fifty-one health care workers in Detroit filed a lawsuit Monday against their hospital employer over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Posted: Sep 08, 2021