Business Insurance

The BI Top 10: Week of Aug. 9, 2021

Executive moves and changes dominate this week’s news, with three of the top five stories involving brokerages hiring former Willis Towers Watson execs.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Crypto platform Poly Network rewards hacker with ‘bug bounty’

Poly Network, the cryptocurrency platform that lost $610 million in a hack earlier this week, confirmed on Friday it had offered the hacker or hackers a $500,000 “bug bounty.”

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Gallagher ups price in second agreement to buy Willis reinsurance business

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced Friday that it has agreed to buy Willis Towers Watson PLC’s treaty reinsurance business in a deal that could rise to $4 billion.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Tropical Storm Fred disrupts travel in Dominican Republic

Tropical Storm Fred caused flooding and traffic and power disruptions as it made landfall in Dominican Republic on July 11.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Premiums rise almost 20% in India

Data from India’s General Insurance Council showed that nonlife insurance premiums rose 19.5% year-on-year to nearly 202 billion Indian rupees ($2.7 billion) in July.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Five cities under “red alert” after torrential rains, floods

Torrential rainfall on July 12 prompted the authorities to issue red alerts in five cities of the Chinese province Hubei.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

QBE back in black with net profit of $441 million

Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group Ltd.’s net profit reached $441 million in the first half of the year, compared to a net loss of $712 million in the year-ago comparable period.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Ageas relies on reinsurance to reduce impact of flood claims

Belgian insurer Ageas SA/NV expects up to €400 million ($470.5 million) in gross damage claims from the recent floods in Belgium.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Major Chinese port shuts down sparking supply disruption fears

After one port worker tested positive for COVID-19, the Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan suspended operations at its Meishan terminal on July 11, prompting fears of further supply chain disruptions just ahead of the key holiday shopping season.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Coal miners to self-insure as insurers shun industry

Australia’s coal mining industry is considering self-insuring after major insurers and investors withdraw from coal projects over mounting concerns around global warming.

Posted: Aug 13, 2021

Sompo launches epidemic and pandemic risk coverage

Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said it is introducing epidemic and pandemic risk coverage.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

2021 Innovation Award winners announced

Business Insurance on Thursday announced the winners of the 2021 Innovation Awards.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

High court orders reconsideration of worker’s nixed prescriptions

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Industrial Commission of Ohio to reconsider its earlier decision allowing an employer to stop paying for an injured worker’s prescriptions.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Aon names former TigerRisk exec to reinsurance post

Aon PLC said Thursday it has named former TigerRisk Partners LLC executive Joe Sergio Jackson to the newly created position of senior managing director of its Reinsurance Solutions unit.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Dual expands in US with $800 million purchase of Align

Dual Group, the underwriting arm of London-based brokerage Howden Group Holdings Ltd., on Thursday agreed to acquire Align Financial Holdings, a San Diego-based general agency and underwriting management group, for $800 million.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

McDonald’s franchise settles workers’ COVID-19 lawsuit

A McDonald’s Corp. franchise in Oakland, California, has agreed to take steps to protect workers from COVID-19 to settle a lawsuit claiming managers gave employees dog diapers and coffee filters to use as face masks.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

UnitedHealth settles denied coverage charges

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, has settled federal and New York state charges it illegally denied coverage to thousands of patients suffering from mental health problems and substance abuse.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Court upholds award to family of worker who died of asbestos exposure

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a $16 million jury award to the family of a maintenance worker at a polyester fiber plant who died following years of asbestos exposure.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Insured cat losses $42B in first half: Swiss Re

Insured catastrophe losses totaled $42 billion in the first half of 2021, including $40 billion of natural catastrophe losses, the second highest first-half total on record, according to a report Thursday from Swiss Re Institute, part of Swiss Re Co....

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Beecher Carlson hires two former Willis executives

Beecher Carlson Insurance Services LLC, a unit of Brown & Brown Inc., said Thursday it has hired two former Willis Towers Watson PLC executives as senior managing directors for its energy practice.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Zurich profit leaps as European insurers rebound from COVID-19

Zurich Insurance Group on Thursday joined other big European insurers in reporting a strong rebound in earnings as the impact from COVID-19 on their businesses eased.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

U.S. employers get religion with vaccine mandates

As coronavirus infections rise again, U.S. companies mandating vaccinations are confronting an uncomfortable question rarely asked by an employer – what is an employee’s religious belief?

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Gallagher acquires majority stake in Turkish broker

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co said Thursday it has acquired a majority stake in Turkey-based specialty broker BH Sigorta ve Reasürans Brokerligi A.S., which does business as Brokers’ House.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Shell settles 1970 oil spill case for over nearly $112 million

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has agreed to settle the 1970 Nigerian oil spill case with the local communities for around €95 million ($111.6 million).

Posted: Aug 12, 2021

Wildfires devour almost 100,000 hectares of forest in Greece

The European Forest Fire Information System said that the recent wildfires in Greece have burnt down nearly 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland in two weeks.

Posted: Aug 12, 2021