Insurance Journal

Product Liability Verdicts Are on the Rise but There Are Ways to Avoid Them

Nuclear verdicts in product liability suits are on the rise. But manufacturers and their insurance companies can take multiple steps to prevent and defend against large jury verdicts, insurance and legal experts said at a recent webinar hosted by Tra...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

Washington Workers’ Comp Average Premium Going up 4.9% in 2026

The average cost of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington is set to rise 4.9% for 2026. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced that employers and workers will pay on average $1.37 a week more for each full-t...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

California Labor Commissioner Cites Janitorial Companies, OptumCare $468K

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office has cited several janitorial companies, their owners, and OptumCare Management LLC $468,204 for wage theft violations that reportedly impacted more than 90 janitors who cleaned manufacturing, laborator...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

Litigation Finance Hits a Wall After Bets on Huge Gains Falter

Litigation finance is having a bad year. After predicting huge growth as recently as January 2024, the industry is now finding that hedge funds and other sources of capital are pulling back. The situation has led some litigation finance firms …

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

State Audit Finds Delays and Gaps in Vermont’s Food and Lodging Inspections

The Office of the State Auditor found significant shortcomings with how the Vermont Department of Health reviews complaints related to food and lodging establishments, according to a recent report. The report is the first audit of four planned for th...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

People Moves: Vermont Captive Insurance Commissioner Bigglestone to Retire

Sandy Bigglestone, deputy commissioner of the captive insurance division the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), is retiring from her position as of Jan. 1, 2026. Bigglestone’s career in state government began in 1997. As deputy c...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

CME Data Center Bolsters Backup Cooling After 10-Hour Outage

The data center that supports CME Group Inc., one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges, said it has bolstered its backup cooling capacity after overheating sparked a catastrophic 10-hour outage that roiled world markets on Friday. Cyrus...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

Texas Adds ID Restrictions on Vehicle Registrations, Renewals

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is implementing more stringent photo identification requirements for all vehicle registrations and renewals in an abrupt shift that could shut out undocumented residents from legally owning vehicles. Current pho...

Posted: Dec 01, 2025

GEICO Can’t Squirm Out of South Carolina Lawsuit That Claims the Company Owes $70 Million in Back Ta...

GEICO insurance companies can’t dismiss a South Carolina lawsuit that demands they pay almost $70 million in back taxes and penalties, a federal judge ruled in a case that could ultimately affect how insurance taxes are collected by cities in &...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Jury Awards $10 Million to Virginia Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student

A jury in Newport News, Virginia, has awarded $10 million to a teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student. Abby Zwerner, who was shot in January 2023 in her first-grade classroom, originally asked for $40 million against a former …

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

New York Now Requires Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently issued a consumer alert encouraging New Yorkers to report companies not disclosing their use of algorithmic pricing, as a new state law requires. Algorithmic pricing allows companies to automatically a...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Every Superman Has His Kryptonite: How to Protect Key Executives with Specialized Coverage

The success of any great company often traces back to the grit and determination of the person leading the charge. The corporate world can be a rock fight, and the one calling the plays must have an almost Superman-like belief …

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Industry Trends to Exploit for 2026: Part One

Agency owners must stay informed about significant new trends in the insurance industry. The following is part one of a two-part article highlighting seven industry trends insurance agencies should track for 2026. 2025 M&A Activity & Pricing...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Does Private Equity Create True Value?

A study published by Pitchbook (10/4/2025), a trade publication and data source for private equity, showed that private equity buyouts improve portfolio outcomes by 0.64% in annualized excess returns for the last 25 years. However, once the returns w...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

‘Clear’ Soft Market Pricing

Commercial lines premiums across all account sizes rose by less than 2% on average in the third quarter of 2025–a clear indication of soft market conditions across the board. That’s according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Broke...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Fortegra on the Growth Path for MGAs

At the recent Target Markets Annual Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, a gathering of 2,000 MGAs, program administrators, and carrier executives, Insurance Journal sat down with Abbie Taylor, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Jackso...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Study: Insurance, Other Factors Lead to ‘Hidden Costs’ of Home Ownership

Rising insurance costs are contributing to “hidden costs” that are putting more pressure on household incomes, a new study shows. A new study from Zillow and Thumbtack finds hidden costs of homeownership add up to $15,979. These costs inc...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Parkland Shooting Wasn’t Multiple Incidents with Multiple Deductibles, Court Says

In an age of frequent mass shootings, insurers cannot escape coverage by arguing that each pull of the trigger was a “separate occurrence” unless the policy unambiguously says so, a federal appeals court held last month in a case stemming...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Coverage Lawsuit Trends Signal a New Era of Insurance Litigation

A new wave of insurance coverage litigation has taken shape in U.S. federal courts, with lawsuit activity in insurance disputes since 2022 diverging sharply from the patterns of both the pandemic years and the decade preceding them. Recent analysis f...

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Kansas County to Pay $3M Over a Raid on a Small-Town Newspaper

By John Hanna and Heather Hollingsworth A rural Kansas county has agreed to pay a little more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on a small-town weekly newspaper in August 2023 that sparked an outcry over …

Posted: Nov 30, 2025

Taiping Insurance Shares Hit by Over $200 Million Exposure to Hong Kong Fire

Shares of China Taiping Insurance Holdings fell as much as 8% on Thursday [Nov. 27] on concerns about its coverage exposure of more than $200 million to a Hong Kong apartment complex where a huge fire killed at least 55 …

Posted: Nov 28, 2025

Illinois Roofing Company Sued for Race and Sex Harassment

Anthony Roofing Tecta America LLC and Tecta America Corporation, roofing services providers in Illinois and nationwide, violated federal law when they subjected African American and female employees of their Aurora, Illinois location to race and sex...

Posted: Nov 26, 2025

Tyson Foods’ Decision to Close Nebraska Beef Plant Could Hurt Ranchers Nationwide

Tyson Foods’ decision to close a beef plant that employs nearly one third of residents of Lexington, Nebraska, could devastate the small city and undermine the profits of ranchers nationwide. Closing a single slaughterhouse might not seem signi...

Posted: Nov 26, 2025

Tornado Damages More than 100 Homes Near Houston

More than 100 homes have been damaged after a tornado touched down in a residential area outside Houston, authorities in Texas said Monday. No injuries were reported. Photos and drone video posted on Facebook by the Harris County Precinct 4 …

Posted: Nov 26, 2025

West Texas County Struggles to Secure Funding for Flood Prevention

When it rains here, West Texans brace for the worst. With nowhere to go, water collects across sidewalks, roads and highways — the flat, desert landscape becomes a wetland in the blink of an eye. Local officials in Ector County, …

Posted: Nov 26, 2025