Claims Journal

British Insurers to Pay $1.5 Billion in Virus Claims, ABI Says

British insurers are on the hook for more than 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in claims from businesses and individuals hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the industry’s trade body. Initial estimates put payments for business interrupti...

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Major Retailers Call on States to Adopt Uniform Reopening Plans

The top two trade groups representing major retailers such as Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. are calling on governors to adopt uniform reopening standards as the pandemic subsides, including allowing warehouses and distribution centers n...

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Man Beaten in Dodgers Parking Lot Sues Team For Negligence

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are being sued for negligence by a man who was attacked in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium and left with brain damage, his lawyers announced Friday. The lawsuit, filed this week by …

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Labor Department Issues New Guidance For Meatpacking Workers

The U.S. Labor Department issued new guidelines on Sunday for U.S. meatpacking and meat-processing plants that have seen a rash of coronavirus outbreaks, saying employees should be spaced at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and screened before they start …

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Companies Bet On AI Cameras to Track Social Distancing, Limit Liability

Stores and workplaces eager to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus are equipping existing security cameras with artificial intelligence software that can track compliance with health guidelines including social distancing and mask-wearing. Several...

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Bayer Takes Tough Stance In Glyphosate Settlement Talks Due To Downturn

FRANKFURT — Bayer said the economic downturn and the need to preserve cash means it is taking a tougher stance in talks to settle claims over accusations that its glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer, even as its earnings rose. The pandemic …

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Some Insurance Regulators Skeptical About Business Interruption Claims

Insurance commissioners in at least seven states have advised business owners not to get their hopes up if pursuing business-interruption claims. Scott Seaman, a partner with the Hinshaw & Culbertson law firm in Chicago, posted a blog on Friday that...

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Analyst Projects COVID-19 Presumption for Work Comp Will Cost $10 Billion

While the potential cost of relaxing a tenet of the workers compensation system to deal with extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 could top $50 billion, it’s more likely to be one-fifth of that, an analyst reported last week. States like Michigan...

Posted: Apr 27, 2020

Mall Shoppers Are Scared to Return When U.S. Stores Reopen

When their doors finally open after mandatory shutdowns, American malls could face another hurdle: consumer fears. Only one-third of American adults surveyed April 20 said that they will feel safe shopping in a mall after stores reopen, according to...

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Apple Says “No Evidence” iPhone Mail Flaw Used Against Customers

Apple Inc said on Thursday it has found “no evidence” a flaw in its email app for iPhones and iPads has been used against customers, and that it believes the flaw does “not pose an immediate risk to our users.” …

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Insurers Feel the Heat as Chefs, Trump Join Calls for Payouts

LONDON/NEW YORK — Daniel Duckett, owner of the Lazy Claire patisserie in Belfast, was hoping for an insurance payout of up to 100,000 pounds ($123,460.00) to cover losses during the coronavirus lockdown. Now he fears for the future as he …

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Stopping Virus a Huge Challenge at Crowded Meat Plants

OMAHA, Neb. — Daily reports of giant meat-processing plants closing because workers tested positive for the coronavirus have called into question whether slaughterhouses can remain virus-free. According to experts, the answer may be no. Given that th...

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

At Least Five Dead as Storms Hit Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana

MADILL, Okla. — Severe weather was moving through Mississippi early Thursday after apparent tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, where five deaths included a trailer factory worker whose body was found a quarter mile from hi...

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Belgian Port to Test Virus Bracelets Amid Tech Tracing Fears

ANTWERP, Belgium — As the spread of the coronavirus eases and people gradually return to work pondering the impact it might have on their jobs, Europe’s second-biggest port is getting ready to test a device aimed at helping thousands of …

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Consumer Groups Say Some Auto Insurer Lockdown Rebates Are Too Small

Two consumer groups said on Thursday that some of the largest U.S. auto insurers, including billionaire Warren Buffett’s Geico Corp, are short-changing customers on premium rebates as Americans drive less due to stay-at-home orders aimed at curbing t...

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Viewpoint: What If You Go Back to the Office and Get COVID-19?

If America is going to restart its economy, at whatever pace, it needs to think about a major roadblock: liability from COVID-19. If a university or workplace reopens, and some employees or students get sick, should they have the right …

Posted: Apr 24, 2020

Viewpoint: Washington Needs to Embrace Its Role as Ultimate Risk Manager

The actions that the federal, state and local governments in the U.S. have taken to stop the spread of the new coronavirus and to mitigate the resulting economic fallout have been tagged with the term “unprecedented” a lot over the …

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

Free Fast Food and Coupons Latest Virus-Related Hacker Scam

Hackers have been having a field day exploiting the coronavirus, sending phony emails with malicious links purporting to be from health agencies or other trusted sources. In one recent cyber scam, state-backed hackers posed as American fast-food fran...

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

At Beleaguered U.S. Meat Plants, Inspectors Are Getting Sick Too

One hundred U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors have tested positive for the coronavirus as the illness ravages the nation’s meat processing plants. The workers are part of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which employs about 6,500 inspe...

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

FBI Official: Number of Coronavirus Cyber Complaints on Rise

WASHINGTON — Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the pandemic, including hackers who target hospitals and medical research institutions that are studying the coronavirus, the head of the FBI’s cyber division said Tuesday. The FBI has received thou...

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

SBA Reports Data Breach in Disaster Loan Application Website

NEW YORK — Thousands of small business owners reeling from the aggressive measures taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus may have had their personal information exposed last month on a government website that handles disaster loan applications....

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

More States Make Plans to Reopen; California Holds Firm

More states in the U.S. South and Midwest signaled readiness on Wednesday to reopen their economies in hopes the worst of the coronavirus pandemic had passed, but California’s governor held firm to sweeping stay-at-home orders and business closures....

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

Houses in Hurricane Strike Zones are Built Back Bigger

A study of hurricane-hit areas of the United States has revealed a trend of larger homes being built to replace smaller ones in the years following a storm. The research, led by the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom …

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

Plaintiffs Hope to Consolidate COVID-19 Business-Interruption Lawsuits

Two groups of plaintiffs — one in Philadelphia, the other in Chicago — are asking federal courts to consolidate lawsuits filed by businesses that are seeking coverage for business-interruption losses caused by coronavirus stay-home orders. Attorneys...

Posted: Apr 23, 2020

Families Sue Helicopter Company in Deadly Kobe Bryant Crash

LOS ANGELES — Family members of four passengers killed in a helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant and his daughter have joined the NBA star’s widow in filing wrongful death lawsuits against the companies that owned and operated the aircraft. The …

Posted: Apr 22, 2020