Business Insurance

Insurer’s premiums grow despite COVID-19 challenges

Insurer PT Reliance Indonesia Insurance reported 15% year-on-year growth in premium in the nine months through September.

Posted: Nov 19, 2020

Pandemic, natural disasters slow market growth

According to U.K.-based data analytics firm GlobalData PLC, Vietnam’s general insurance market growth rate will slow down to 3.4% in 2020 as compared to 13.6% in 2019.

Posted: Nov 19, 2020

South African city lashed by tennis ball-sized hailstones

Hailstones battered Pietermaritzburg city in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, on Nov. 18, damaging properties and vehicles.

Posted: Nov 19, 2020

Biometric suit against Apple proceeds

A federal district court judge in Illinois has refused to dismiss putative class action litigation filed against Apple Inc. under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with its photo app’s alleged use of biometric information.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Apple, states reach $113M settlement on iPhone throttling

Apple Inc. will pay $113 million to settle allegations from 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that it slowed down iPhones to mask battery issues and get users to purchase new devices, state officials announced on Wednesday.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Insurer not obligated to pay for care after lapse in bills

An insurer’s medical payment responsibilities to an injured worker ended when more than two years passed between bills, an appellate court held.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Former college instructor’s age bias suit reinstated

A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling and reinstated an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former college math instructor, stating she met all the criteria for pursuing her lawsuit under the federal Age Discrimination in Empl...

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Courts addressing COVID-19 claims, pot reimbursement

The National Council on Compensation Insurance released on Tuesday its countrywide review of court cases affecting the workers compensation industry.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Google presses for quicker release of documents

A lawyer representing Alphabet Inc.’s Google LLC in the search and advertising giant’s legal fight with the government pressed on Wednesday for a faster release of documents used to write the complaint against the company.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Value of SEC public company settlements rises

The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed $1.6 billion in monetary settlements on defendants in public company and subsidiary actions in fiscal year 2020, compared with the previous fiscal year’s $1.5 billion, according to a report issued Wednes...

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Florida COVID-19 comp report shows fewer claims again

There were 568 COVID-19 workers compensation indemnity claims in Florida in October, down from 1,150 in September and 2,891 in August, according to a report released Tuesday by the state’s Department of Financial Services, Division of Workers’ Compen...

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

AssuredPartners appoints regional execs

AssuredPartners Inc. has named Dave Tacha regional president of its newly formed Mountain West region and Randy Russell regional president of the broker’s Central States region.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

New York fines NRA, imposes five-year ban on insurance sales

The National Rifle Association agreed to a five-year ban on doing insurance business in New York state and will pay a $2.5 million civil fine to settle charges it offered insurance to members without a license and concealed how it routinely kept some...

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Pinnacol reduces comp rates by 6% for Colorado businesses

Pinnacol Assurance will reduce workers compensation rates by an average of 6% in Colorado, the Denver-based insurer announced Tuesday.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Judge dismisses part of diesel case against Fiat Chrysler engineer

A judge in Detroit on Tuesday dismissed a portion of a criminal case against a Fiat Chrysler senior manager who was charged as part of the government's probe into cheating on diesel emissions tests by the automaker.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Lloyd’s sees global pandemic insurance losses above its estimates

Lloyd’s of London Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said on Wednesday global insurance losses from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 will be higher than previously estimated, with 16 different business lines facing claims at Lloyd’s.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

GM launches use-based auto insurance with OnStar vehicle data

General Motors Co. on Wednesday launched an auto insurance program with the help of its OnStar subsidiary, joining a growing field of companies hoping to cash in on the vast amounts of data generated by increasingly automated and connected cars.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Hyundai faces class-action lawsuit for Kona EV fires

A class-action lawsuit has been launched against South Korea-based carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. following several incidents of battery fire in its Kona electric vehicles.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Saudi insurers’ combined profits nearly double

Combined pre-tax profits of listed insurers in Saudi Arabia jumped by 84% year-on-year to 1.68 billion Saudi riyals ($457 million) in the first three quarters of the year.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Kazakhstan’s insurance market shows signs of recovery

A report by Fitch Ratings Inc. said that Kazakhstan’s insurance market showed signs of resilience against the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant recovery in premiums in the third quarter.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

UAE insurer records 7.5% rise in premiums

U.A.E-based takaful insurer Islamic Arab Insurance Co.'s gross written premium increased by 7.5% on a year-on-year basis to 949 million United Arab Emirates dirhams ($258 million) in the first three quarters of the year.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Costa Rica suffers $15 million in damage from hurricane

Hurricane Eta caused approximately $15 million in damages to Costa Rica’s road infrastructure and some 440 communities.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

TNB demands $18mn for damaged undersea cables

Malaysia-based electric utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd has sued property developer Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd and its subsidiary for 76.56 million Malaysian ringgits ($18.57 million), accusing them of damaging its undersea cables.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

British insurer RSA agrees to $9.6B takeover by overseas rivals

British insurance group RSA is backing a £7.2 billion pound ($9.55 billion) cash offer from Canada's Intact Financial and Denmark's Tryg in one of Europe's biggest financial takeover bids this year.

Posted: Nov 18, 2020

Failure to train workers on COVID-19 could lead to fines, lawsuits

As the pandemic rages on, more states are creating their own standards requiring employers to provide workers with proper COVID-19 training to prevent transmission of the virus, and failure to comply with these measures in some jurisdictions can lead...

Posted: Nov 18, 2020