Claims Journal

Hyundai Warns Owners to Park Outside, Recalls 180,000 SUVs

DETROIT — For the second time this month, Hyundai is telling some SUV owners to park outdoors because an electrical short in a computer could cause vehicles to catch fire. The Korean automaker is recalling about 180,000 Tucson SUVs in …

Posted: Sep 14, 2020

Hurricane Laura Evacuees Now Facing Threats Of Eviction

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ Nearly 200 families forced hundreds of miles from their homes when Hurricane Laura struck southwest Louisiana are now facing threats of eviction, an attorney said Saturday. Bill Quigley, an attorney at Loyola University’s College o...

Posted: Sep 14, 2020

What’s Next? Devastating Fires Are Latest Challenge in West

SALEM, Ore. — The path of devastation spans thousands of miles where flames have consumed people, homes and cars while leaving a barren, gray landscape. But the massive wildfires aren’t done chewing through the West, shrouding the skies with choking...

Posted: Sep 14, 2020

$40K Reward Offered For Information About Fatal Denver Fire

DENVER (– Police on Wednesday announced a $40,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of those responsible for setting a house fire in Denver that killed five recent immigrants from the West African nation of Senegal. Lt. Matt Clark …

Posted: Sep 14, 2020

Movie Producer Sues Chubb for Breaking Renewal Promise Over COVID-19

A movie production company that signed Ben Affleck to star in its latest “large-budget action thriller” accuses a Chubb insurer of violating longstanding custom and practice by refusing to extend a $58 million insurance policy after the film was dela...

Posted: Sep 14, 2020

Storm Threats Loom Across Atlantic From Gulf of Mexico to Africa

While a tropical storm approaches Bermuda, the threat of more powerful systems is expanding across the Atlantic, from the Gulf of Mexico to Africa. Tropical Storm Paulette probably will become a hurricane on Sept. 13 as it nears Bermuda, possibly …

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

OSHA Cites Smithfield Foods For Failing to Protect Workers From Coronavirus

CHICAGO, Sept 10 — The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday it cited Smithfield Foods for failing to protect employees from the coronavirus, making it the first major meatpacker to face a fine after outbreaks at slaughterhouses infected thousands o...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

Fires Without Precedent Rage in Usually Cool, Wet Northwest

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Numerous wildfires burned in Oregon’s forested valleys and along the coast, destroying hundreds of homes and causing mass evacuations. Farther north, flames devoured buildings and huge tracts of land in Washington state. Officials...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

California Fire That Killed 3 Threatens Thousands of Homes

OROVILLE, Calif. — A Northern California wildfire threatened thousands of homes Thursday after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people. Several other people have been crit...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

West Virginia Hospital Settles Whistleblower Suit For $50M

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A financially strapped West Virginia hospital has agreed to pay the federal government $50 million to resolve claims that it improperly issued payments and kickbacks to physicians under the direction of management, the U.S. Justic...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

Huge Fire Breaks Out at Beirut Port a Month After Explosion

BEIRUT — A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, sending up a thick column of black smoke and raising new panic among traumatized residents after last month’s catastrophic blast at the same site killed nearly 200 …

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

Claims People: Church Mutual, Blank Rome, Freeborn & Peters, Tower MSA Partners

Church Mutual Hires Claims Leader Church Mutual has appointed Becky Hudzik-Presson as chief claims officer. She will lead the entire claims organization for the Merrill, Wisconsin-based carrier, which specializes in religious institutions and nonprof...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

Auto Property Claim Volume Still Low, But Storm Damages Pushed Numbers

Motorists who are hunkering down because of social distancing are continuing to file fewer collision claims, but a rash of windstorms, hailstorms and wildfires in August may bring total auto property damage claims numbers almost to normal levels if t...

Posted: Sep 11, 2020

La Nina Is Here, Threatening Even Bigger Blazes and Storms

The extreme weather that’s hammered California with runaway wildfires and hit Louisiana with its most powerful hurricane in 160 years may be about to get even worse. La Nina — a phenomenon that occurs when the surface of the Pacific …

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

In Covid Bankruptcy Valuation Brawls, the Best Spreadsheet Wins

Pinning a dollar value on a bankrupt enterprise is hard in the best of times. During a pandemic, it’s an invitation for a fight. The Covid-19 outbreak has skewed everything from revenues and expenses to cash flows and net income, …

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

Department Store Century 21 Shutting Down, Blames Insurers

Century 21 Stores, an iconic New York off-price department store chain, filed for bankruptcy with plans to shut down, becoming the latest victim of the retail industry carnage that’s accelerated during the pandemic. The retailer will hold going out o...

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

Tezos Legal Settlement Gets Final OK, Ending 3-Year Court Battle

A three-year-long U.S. court battle over a cryptocurrency fundraiser, one of the largest initial coin offerings ever, has ended with a Swiss foundation paying $25 million to participants who lost money and their lawyers. The litigation followed a Reu...

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

Working Virtually? Swap Skyrises For Ocean Views, Says Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda — When the coronavirus pandemic hit and office workers were asked to work remotely, Abbie Shepherd saw it as an opportunity to swap London’s skyrises for something more exotic. Shepherd, who is chief of staff at Cameo, which …

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

Heat, Winds Fuel Destructive Northwest Wildfires

SALEM, Ore. — Strong winds and high temperatures continued to fuel catastrophic fires in many parts of Oregon on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people to flee from their homes. Huge wildfires also continued to grow in neighboring Washington state. O...

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

How California’s Wildfires Could Spark a Financial Crisis

Wildfires across the U.S. West are among the sparks from climate change that could ignite a U.S. financial crisis by damaging home values, state tourism and local government budgets, an advisory panel to a U.S. markets regulator found. Those effects...

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

Claims Business: Sedgwick, Justpoint, One Inc.

Sedgwick Acquires Nationwide Appraisals Sedgwick has acquired Nationwide Appraisals, a national auto damage appraiser based inElgin, Illinois. Sedgwick said the Nationwide Appraisals purchase brings a nationwide network of claims professionals that w...

Posted: Sep 10, 2020

An Activist Investor Crusades Against Forced Arbitration at Tesla

When Tesla Inc.’s shareholders gather September 22 for their annual meeting, Kristin Hull will have roughly three minutes to make the case against the company’s use of mandatory arbitration for employee sexual harassment and racial discrimination cla...

Posted: Sep 09, 2020

Judge Voids Trump ‘Joint Employer’ Rule That U.S. States Called Anti-Labor

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Trump administration rule that narrowed the definition of “joint employer,” and which the attorneys general of 17 states and Washington, D.C. said would eliminate important labor protections for wor...

Posted: Sep 09, 2020

Start Of School in Hartford Delayed by Ransomware Attack

HARTFORD, Conn. — One the worst cyberattacks yet against Connecticut’s capital city forced officials to postpone the first day of school Tuesday, disrupting the day for thousands of families as city computer experts rushed to restore systems vital fo...

Posted: Sep 09, 2020

Hurricane-Force Winds Kick Up Pacific Northwest Wildfires

PORTLAND, Ore. — Hurricane-force winds and high temperatures kicked up wildfires across parts of the Pacific Northwest over the Labor Day weekend, burning hundreds of thousands of acres and mostly destroying the small town of Malden in eastern Washin...

Posted: Sep 09, 2020