Claims Journal

Waymo Opens Driverless Robo-Taxi Service to the Public in Phoenix

DETROIT — Waymo on Thursday will relaunch and expand its fully automated, robo-taxi ride hailing service in Phoenix, rebooting its effort to transform years of autonomous vehicle research into a revenue-producing business. Waymo, the self-driving veh...

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Hyundai Motor to Recall Kona EV in S.Korea Over Concern of Fire Risk

Hyundai Motor Co will voluntarily recall its Kona electric vehicles as a possible short circuit due to what may be faulty manufacturing of its high-voltage battery cells could pose a fire risk, South Korea’s transport ministry said on Thursday. Start...

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Canada’s Struggling Hospitality Businesses Face ‘Perfect Storm’ as Insurers Flee

TORONTO — Canadian hospitality businesses, already reeling from the downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, are facing yet another existential threat as insurance companies spike premiums or exit the space, citing losses and the sector’s risks....

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Boil-Water Notice Lifted From Texas City Where Microbe Found

LAKE JACKSON, Texas — A boil-water notice was lifted Tuesday from the drinking-water system of a Houston-area city where water tainted with a deadly, microscopic parasite was blamed for the death of a 6-year-old boy. In a statement, the Texas …

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Hurricane Delta Makes Landfall in Mexico, Toppling Trees

CANCUN, Mexico — Hurricane Delta made landfall Wednesday just south of the Mexican resort of Cancun as an extremely dangerous Category 2 storm, downing trees and knocking out power along the northeastern coast of Yucatan Peninsula, but without immedi...

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Court Documents Ask Parkland Parents to Prove Mental Anguish

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Parents who sued a school district after their children died in a mass shooting at a Florida high school are being asked to turn over their psychiatric records to prove they have suffered mental anguish. The …

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Supreme Court Takes Up Energy Companies’ Appeal Over Baltimore Climate Suit

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by energy companies including BP PLC, Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell PLC contesting a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore seeking damages for …

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

California COVID Presumption Law Creates New Data Tracking Burdens

A California law enacted last month that eases the path to workers’ compensation benefits for employees who contract COVID-19 will require an unprecedented level of documentation and communication between claims managers and employers. “I have joked...

Posted: Oct 08, 2020

Walmart Must Turn Over Files on Alleged Opioid Mishandling

Walmart Inc. must disclose some internal files related to alleged mishandling of opioid painkillers sold through the company’s in-store pharmacies, after a judge ruled in favor of investors who claim directors failed in their oversight. Two pension f...

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Hurricane Delta Hits Mexican Coast With Dangerous Storm Surge

Hurricane Delta weakened to a Category 3 storm just before slamming into the coast of Mexico, but remains life-threatening. Delta came ashore along the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula near Puerto Morelos, the National Hurricane Center said at 6:49 a.m...

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Oxycontin Maker Purdue Nears Guilty Plea Agreement in U.S. Criminal Probe-Sources

NEW YORK — Purdue Pharma LP, the OxyContin maker controlled by members of the wealthy Sackler family, is nearing an agreement to plead guilty to criminal charges as part of a broader deal to resolve U.S. Justice Department probes into …

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Floods in France, Italy Swept Bodies Out of Cemeteries

BREIL-SUR-ROYA, France — The grim job of searching for flood victims in Alpine villages and on the nearby French and Italian coasts has grown even more gruesome: Along with storm casualties, authorities say corpses from cemeteries have also been foun...

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

California Wildfires Are Huge This Year, But Not Deadliest

SAN FRANCISCO — With months still to go in California’s fire season, the state has already shattered records for the amount of land scorched in a single year — more than 4 million acres to date, with one blaze alone …

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Gusty Winds Fan Big Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada Wildfires

CreplaceENNE, Wyo. — Two big Rocky Mountain wildfires flared up again Monday as dry, gusty winds blew embers past areas where firefighters had been making progress. Firefighters at the Mullen Fire on the Wyoming-Colorado line and the Cameron Peak Fir...

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Claims Business: Ontellus, Claim Central, BDO, and Aon

Ontellus Acquires Medical Records Canvassers Ontellus, a nationwide provider of claims related data for insurers, has acquired two medical records canvassing companies: MasterTrace and Intertel. All three companies provide insurance companies with da...

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

U.S. Gulf Oil Platforms Shutting As Hurricane Delta Strengthens

HOUSTON — Energy companies were securing offshore production platforms and evacuating workers on Tuesday, some for the sixth time this year, as a major hurricane took aim at U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Delta, the 25th …

Posted: Oct 07, 2020

Hyundai Confident on Flying Cars, Steps Up Plans for Full Lineup

South Korea’s biggest automaker is stepping up its pursuit of flying cars, planning a full lineup of aerial vehicles that it envisages zigzagging city skies within a decade. Hyundai Motor Group is developing models that will carry five or six …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Cisco Is Ordered to Pay $1.9 Billion in U.S. Patent Lawsuit, Plans Appeal

A U.S. judge on Monday ordered Cisco Systems Inc to pay $1.9 billion to a Virginia company that accused it of copying its cybersecurity patents. U.S. District Judge Henry Morgan in Norfolk, Virginia, concluded after a monthlong non-jury trial that …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Delta Becomes Category 4 Hurricane, Threatens to Wreck Cancun

Hurricane Delta has strengthened to a building-wrecking Category 4 hurricane as it barrels toward Cancun, where it could cause $10 billion in losses before plowing across the Gulf of Mexico and coming ashore again between Louisiana and Florida. Delta...

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Seward Area Hit by Severe Flooding Due to Heavy Rain, Winds

KENAI, Alaska — The Seward area of Alaska experienced severe flooding as heavy rain and high winds hit the area over the weekend, officials said. Heavy equipment operators spent Friday and Saturday repairing berms along area waterways that were damag...

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Thousands of Minks Dead in Covid Outbreak on Utah Farms

Thousands of minks at Utah fur farms have died because of the coronavirus in the past 10 days, forcing nine sites in three counties to quarantine, but the state veterinarian said people don’t appear to be at risk from the …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

NTSB Urged to Send Staffer to Prominent Attorney Crash Site

CORFU, N.Y. — Two members of Congress from New York called on the National Transportation Safety Board to reverse its decision not to send an investigator to the scene of a small plane crash that killed a prominent attorney and …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Court Finds Rental Contract Shifted Liability for Lift Accident to Renter

United Rentals’ insurance carrier is not liable for damages caused by an accident involving one its electric boom lifts because the small business that rented the equipment signed a contract that, in effect, placed all of the liability on its …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

General Contractor Overhead And Profit And AOB Insurance Scams

A storm is rising, and it is not the type which causes damage to homes and vehicles. It causes damage of a much more insidious nature. Following a storm or other natural disaster, canvassers hired by the “hail cartel”—lawyers or …

Posted: Oct 06, 2020

Judges Nix Consolidating COVID Business Interruption Suits Against Big Insurers

A panel of federal judges has decided against consolidation of hundreds of lawsuits seeking coverage for coronavirus-related business interruption claims against major national insurers Travelers, The Hartford, Cincinnati Insurance and Lloyd’s. The i...

Posted: Oct 05, 2020