Insurance Journal

California Department of Insurance Taking Actions Against Tesla Over Claims Handling

The California Department of Insurance launched enforcement actions against Tesla Insurance Services Inc. and Tesla Insurance Company companies for allegedly failing to adequately handle hundreds of California automobile policy claims. The actions ar...

Posted: Oct 06, 2025

Katrina 2005-2025: How Property Policies Changed

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005, with the eye of the Category 3 hurricane centered on Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, though the storm is remembered largely because of the devastation to New Orleans, Louisiana. Over 1,800 people died &...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Private Equity vs. Industry Bank Financing

As mergers and acquisitions continue to reshape the insurance landscape, independent agency owners face increasingly complex decisions about financing growth. Among the most prominent capital sources are private equity (PE) and industry-focused bank...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Being Pleasant Is Key to Success at Small but Growing Southern California Firm

By Don Jergler Being pleasant may not sound like it’s part of a recipe for success at a firm operating in a space where people survive and thrive by making sales, but it’s among the core philosophies at Kulchin Ross …

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Hurricane Katrina Impacts Then and Now

I recently read several articles marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The articles covered a plethora of changes, including ISO form changes, the quality of claims serviced, the enormous financial cost, the unreal people cost, the impro...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Industry Reps Back Reauthorization of Federal Terrorism Backstop

By Chad Hemenway Michelle Sartain, president Marsh U.S. and Canada, who has worked at Marsh for more than 28 years, encouraged lawmakers on Capitol Hill last month to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. More than two decades after Marsh &#8...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Customers Look to Alternatives as Home Insurance Premiums Rise

Homeowners’ insurance rates are rising at a pace not seen in more than a decade, so more customers are asking why they should stay loyal if they perceive their insurer isn’t reciprocating. According to a recent survey from J.D. Power, &#8...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Keeping the Independent Agent Channel Prominent in a Volatile Market

To say the independent agent–one of the lynchpins of the insurance industry–is operating in challenging and sometimes unforgiving times would be an understatement. Market volatility has remained a defining force for independent agents in...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

3 Emerging Risks to Watch: Biogenic Materials, Modular Nuclear Reactors, Farm Technology

Lately, it seems as though we’re surrounded by discussions about how best to grow the American industrial sector. A key component of this discussion hinges on how to supply and power these industries in both cost-effective and environmentally c...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Be a Leader by Listening to Employees and Clients

By William Rabb For the second straight year, Brightway Insurance in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, has made the list of finalists for the Insurance Journal’s Best Agencies to Work For – Southeast. This year, the agency made it to the &#8230...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Six-Month Review

An early look by AM Best at the financial results of the U.S. property/casualty industry revealed insurers recorded an estimated $11.2 billion in net underwriting income in the first half of 2025. That’s a significant jump from last year when &...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

How We’re Harnessing AI for Proactive Risk Management in Workers’ Compensation

Over the past decade, the insurance industry has undergone an increasingly rapid transformation, driven by advancements in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and now generative AI technologies. These advancements have enabled insurers to auto...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Higginbotham’s Extraordinary Growth Fueled by Recognizing Talent at Every Level

By Ezra Amacher It’s not by accident that Higginbotham continually finds itself on the shortlist of best independent insurance agencies to work for. The Fort Worth, Texas-based firm is intentional about every aspect of its business, from being...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Best Agencies to Work For 2025

The votes are in for the 2025 Best Independent Insurance Agency to Work For survey by Insurance Journal. Employees in 2025 highlighted the importance of competitive salaries, employee benefits, training and education, resources, and other employee pe...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

DSP Doubles Down on Independence by Developing From Within

By Ezra Amacher As president of DSP Insurance Services, Taylor Virgil is proud to say that the Schaumburg, Illinois-based agency has taken the road less traveled. At a time when many agencies of its size are being bought out by …

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

AM Best: Commercial Auto Liability Drags Down Segment, and It Could Get Worse

Commercial auto has been a dark cloud hanging over the U.S. property/casualty industry for more than a dozen years–and things are getting worse. Commercial auto has posted an underwriting loss for the 14th consecutive year and has accumulated m...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Cleary Insurance: Supportive, Family Atmosphere That Puts Employees and Clients First

By Jahna Jacobson Cleary Insurance Inc. is an insurance company with a great team, a winning atmosphere, and a “family vibe.” That’s according to employees who nominated Cleary Insurance Inc., Insurance Journal’s Best Agency t...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Improves Flood Rating

Residents of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana could soon see a reduction in flood insurance premiums, after the parish improved its class rating for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Jefferson Parish’s Community Rating System (CRS) will i...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

Insurers Fighting $345 Million Georgia School Abuse Award, With Policy Wording Again at Issue

In one of the longest-running and most-litigated episodes of alleged child sexual abuse at a private school, the key question in a case now before the Georgia Court of Appeals is whether insurers’ recent policies barred coverage for incidents t...

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

A Lost Art: The Submission Letter

In the olden days, before Zoom or Microsoft TEAMS, or even before (gasp) email … when a surety agent would submit an account to a surety underwriter there was this weird thing that would be attached: a submission letter!!!! The …

Posted: Oct 05, 2025

California State University Targeted by EEOC Antisemitism Inquiry

Federal officials have opened inquiries into California State University for allegations of antisemitism and claims of racial discrimination tied to a diversity hiring initiative. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched an inves...

Posted: Oct 03, 2025

OpenAI Says Musk’s xAI Filed Secrets Suit to ‘Bully’ Ex-Workers

OpenAI Inc. says a lawsuit accusing it of stealing technology from xAI is just Elon Musk’s latest attempt to distract attention from the failures of his own generative artificial intelligence company. “Unable to match OpenAI’s innov...

Posted: Oct 03, 2025

White Mountains Insurance to Sell Unit to CVC in $1.75 Billion Deal

White Mountains Insurance said on Friday it would sell a controlling interest in insurance distribution platform Bamboo to European private equity firm CVC in a deal that values the company at $1.75 billion. Shares of Hamilton, Bermuda-based White Mo...

Posted: Oct 03, 2025

More NC Outer Banks Homes Collapse into Surf as Hurricanes Stay Far Offshore

Six unoccupied houses along North Carolina’s Outer Banks have collapsed into the ocean as Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda rumble in the Atlantic, the latest private beachfront structures to fall as sea levels rise due to global warming. Five of...

Posted: Oct 03, 2025

Howden Acquires Insurance Broker Gott & Wynne in North Wales

Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group, announced the acquisition of Gott & Wynne Ltd., a property-casualty insurance broker based in Llandudno, North Wales, specializing in both personal and commercial lines. This acquisition give...

Posted: Oct 03, 2025