Insurance Journal

Hong Kong’s Airlines Evacuate Planes as They Wait Out Typhoon Ragasa

As Typhoon Ragasa, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, approached Hong Kong this week, mass flight cancellations and lost revenue were not the only headache for airlines based at one of the world’s busiest airports. Ahea...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

Typhoon Ragasa Eclipses Mangkhut in Hong Kong’s Wild Weather Run

Super Typhoon Ragasa’s fierce winds have kept Hong Kong’s most severe storm warning in place for the second-longest ever duration, eclipsing storm Mangkhut but falling short of an all-out record. The city’s highest storm alert, sign...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

People Moves: XS Brokers Promotes Wirkus to CEO, McVicker President

Independent binding authority and wholesale brokerage XS Brokers recently announced Erik Wirkus has been promoted to chief executive officer. Wirkus has served as president of the Quincy, Massachusetts-based company since 2019. He has been with XS Br...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

New Visa Fees Spur Offshoring Talks, Hiring Turmoil

The Trump administration’s hefty new visa fees for H-1B workers have prompted high-level talks inside companies in Silicon Valley and beyond on the possibility of moving more jobs overseas—precisely the outcome the policy was meant to stop. U.S...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

Reviving RadioShack Online Turned Into Ponzi Scheme, SEC Claims

A company that snatched up distressed brick-and-mortar brands including RadioShack and Pier 1 Imports and promised investors big returns in a pivot to e-commerce operated as a Ponzi-like scheme, the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged. When...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

OneDigital Plans More Expansion With $2.3B Investment from Canada, Stone Point

Atlanta-based insurance and benefits brokerage OneDigital is the beneficiary of a $2.3 billion investment – a majority stake to be taken by the Canada Pension Plan and Stone Point Capital. The investment comes through an acquisition of a stake from &...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

People Moves: LP Insurance Appoints Thompson as First Chief Financial Officer

LP Insurance named Heather Thompson as its first chief financial officer. Thompson joined LP in 2018 as a financial analyst and was promoted to controller, overseeing all of LP’s accounting and finance operations in 2022. As CFO, she leads LP&#...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

ALKEME Acquires New York City Real Estate Specialist Gotham Brokerage

California-based ALKEME Insurance reports it has acquired Gotham Brokerage Co., a New York City insurance agency specializing in insurance for condos, co-ops, and apartments with a concentration in the high-value real estate markets of Brooklyn and M...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

Karen Read’s Lawyers Ask Judge to Dismiss Part of Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Karen Read’s lawyers asked a judge on Monday to dismiss part of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of her former Boston police officer boyfriend, whose killing she was acquitted of earlier this year after two highly publicized &#823...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

Guillermo del Toro Almost Lost His Movie Memorabilia in California Wildfire

Many fled when wildfires devastated Los Angeles earlier this year, but Guillermo del Toro rushed back in, determined to save his lifelong collection of horror memorabilia. It’s the same loyalty that finds him making another tough decision to pr...

Posted: Sep 24, 2025

Root Insurance Expands Driving Behavior Product to Washington

Root Insurance has brought its driving behavior insuring pricing model to Washington in an expansion of its West Coast footprint. Root now offers its product to drivers in Washington, Oregon and California. Root’s model is designed to measure d...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Michigan Reaches Settlements With Paper Mill Over PFAS Contamination

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has reached two settlement agreements with the current and past owners of a paper mill in White Pigeon, Michigan. The two settlements secure funding for response activities to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl sub...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Man Pleads Guilty to Setting Fires at 2 Minnesota Mosques

A man who set fires at two mosques in Minnesota in 2023 pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday, federal prosecutors said. Jackie Rahm Little, 38, admitted to one count of arson and one count of damage to religious property for …

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

AM Best Revises Credit Rating Outlook to Positive for Texas’ National Unity

AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICR of “bbb” (Good) of National Unity Insuranc...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Parents Slam OpenAI, Character.AI Over Safety in Senate Hearing

The father of a teenager who died by suicide this spring delivered emotional congressional testimony, alleging OpenAI’s ChatGPT “groomed” his 16-year-old son to take his own life and the company prioritized speed and market share ov...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

West Texas Wants to Sell Natural Gas to Power AI Data Centers, But Lacks Infrastructure

Big data centers that power the artificial intelligence industry demand an abundance of energy. West Texas — known for producing 40% of the nation’s crude oil — also has an extraordinary amount of natural gas that could power those data …

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Bank of England’s Bailey Says AI Can Help Regulators to Find the ‘Smoking Gun’

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Monday that he and other regulators who oversee the financial services industry should use artificial intelligence to help them spot problems among the firms that they supervise. “I think we’...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Markets/Coverages: Tokio Marine Kiln Launches Enhanced Cyber Product Suite

Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK), the Lloyd’s specialist insurer, announced the launch of its enhanced “Cyber Ctrl” cyber product suite. This cyber risk solution features new products and wordings, including Professional Ctrl for technology,...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

New Jersey Panel Issues Recommendations on Social Media Use by Teens

Students should be banned from using cell phones in school, parents should delay their child’s access to social media, and social media companies should restrict access for users younger than 16. Those are among the recommendations of the New J...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Banks Improperly Requesting Additional Insured Status – Part 2

Our friend, Christopher Boggs, Chief Consultant with Boggs Risk and Insurance Consulting, returns to respond to a great comment left on his recent post. He’ll tell you more below. Happy reading. Several days ago I published an article entitled,...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Chinese Regulator Summons ByteDance, Alibaba’s Platforms Over Content Violations

China’s cyberspace regulator summoned ByteDance’s news platform Toutiao and Alibaba’s internet browser operator UCWeb over content violations, making them the latest companies to be targeted by a government crackdown on user behavio...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

[Video] In Construction, Labor Shortages Now Compounded by Tariff Concerns

Nationwide may not have felt much change in the construction sector during the first half of 2025, but there are now some signs of shifting due to the unknowns of tariffs. “[We’re] definitely started to see a little of the …

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Trump Warns Against Tylenol in Pregnancy Over Unproven Autism Fears

The Trump administration linked Tylenol to autism and urged pregnant women to avoid the common pain medication despite the lack of widely accepted scientific evidence supporting the risk. “So taking Tylenol is not good — I’ll say it — it&...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Hong Kong Braces for Fierce Winds as Super Typhoon Nears

Hong Kong is facing a night of destructive winds and drenching rain as Super Typhoon Ragasa tracks toward the financial hub, potentially becoming the most damaging storm since Mangkhut in 2018. The typhoon is packing top sustained winds of 220 &#8230...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Update: Hong Kong Braces for Fierce Winds as Super Typhoon Nears

Hong Kong is facing a night of destructive winds and drenching rain as Super Typhoon Ragasa tracks toward the financial hub, potentially becoming the most damaging storm since Mangkhut in 2018. The typhoon weakened slightly on Tuesday as it moved &#8...

Posted: Sep 23, 2025