Insurance Journal

T-Mobile Caught Hackers Early, Averting Data Leak

T-Mobile US Inc. was able to contain a recent network breach before it reached customers’ phones, according to people familiar with the matter. Hackers accessed edge-routing infrastructure and gained unauthorized access to a limited number of d...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

$1M Settlement for Woman After Police Dog in California Bit into Her Scalp

A Northern California city has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging police used excessive force after a K-9 dog bit into a woman’s scalp during her arrest, requiring her to get more than 200 stitches …

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

New York Insurance Broker Caught in $38 Million Nursing Home Tax Fraud Scheme

Prosecutors report that a New York insurance broker has admitted his role in a $38 million employment tax fraud scheme involving nursing homes he owned across the country, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced that Joseph Schwartz, of Suffern,...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

How Will the Antitrust Showdown Launched Under Biden Change Under Trump?

The U.S. antitrust watchdogs that pounced on Big Tech and deterred corporate deal making throughout President Joe Biden’s administration may be kept on a shorter leash by Donald Trump after he returns to the White House next year. Although regu...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Markets/Coverages: Rokstone Launches Global Parametric Product

Rokstone, the London-based speciality re/insurance MGA that is part of the Aventum Group, has launched Rokstone Parametric in partnership with NormanMax Lloyd’s Syndicate 3939. With an initial US$10 million worldwide facility, the product cover...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Slot Machine Operator International Game Reports Hacker Incident

International Game Technology Plc, operator of popular slot machines in casinos, said an unauthorized third party gained access to certain of its systems. The company has experienced disruptions in portions of its internal information technology syst...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Judge Weighs ‘Real Housewives of New York’ Cast Member’s Abuse Allegations

The lawyer for a former cast member of the “Real Housewives of New York” told a federal judge Thursday that the First Amendment cannot shield the show’s creators from a lawsuit alleging that the show’s participants were subjec...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Modern Cars Are Surveillance Devices on Wheels With Major Privacy Risks: Report

New research reveals serious privacy flaws in the data practices of new internet connected cars in Australia. It’s yet another reason why we need urgent reform of privacy laws. Modern cars are increasingly equipped with internet-enabled feature...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Accused of Going Too Far, UK Finance Regulator Plots Where to Go Next

The UK’s top financial regulator has spent much of its eleven-year history in combat with the industry it oversees, a tone set by its first chief executive Martin Wheatley, whose zeal for fining banks got him ousted in 2015. Now, …

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Bank of Spain Estimates Floods Cost 0.2% of GDP in 4th Quarter

Last month’s catastrophic floods in eastern Spain are likely to have a negative impact of 0.2 percentage points on the country’s gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday. More than 200 people died...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

Cybersecurity in Insurance: Why Your Data and Compliance Can’t Afford to Slip

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Data is at the core of the insurance industry. From the smallest independent agencies to the largest legacy carriers, insurance organizations of all sizes house data. This includes distribution ch...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

US Faces Growing Crisis Over High Traffic Deaths, NTSB Chair Says

The United States must address a growing public-health crisis over traffic deaths that remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday. “Unlike most developed nations, U...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

US High Court Declines Appeal, Upholds Coverage Ruling on Treated Wood

Insurance carriers may want to examine policy language – and what information they request from insureds – after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling which could force Argo Group to cover claims that a wood-treating company &...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

California Labor Commissioner Fines Hotel $10M for Worker Recall Law Violations

The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina was fined $9.4 million by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office for violating the state’s worker recall law. The penalty is for the hotel’s reported failure to rehire 15 employees laid off...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

More Logging Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in Pacific Northwest

U.S. officials would allow increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three...

Posted: Nov 20, 2024

New York City Issues First Drought Warning in 22 Years

New York City has issued its first drought warning in 22 years after months of little rain — and will restart the flow of drinking water from an out-of-service aqueduct as supplies run low. Dry conditions across the Northeast have …

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Massachusetts Police Charge Man With Intentionally Setting Brush Fires

A man was arrested on suspicion of intentionally setting brush fires in Massachusetts during a time of dry conditions that have led to blazes throughout the Northeast, police said Monday. Police said they arrested the 72-year-old Attleboro man during...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

TWIA Board Reviews 2025 Budget After $455 Million Loss from Hurricane Beryl

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Board of Directors met last week to review information related to the agency’s 2025 budget. The meeting presented new information on TWIA losses from 2024 storms as projected policy growth in the coming...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

People Moves: Great American Insurance Group Promotes Gambrell to Divisional President, Excess Liabi...

Great American Insurance Group, headquartered in Cincinnati, promoted Todd D. Gambrell to divisional president, excess liability, effective Jan.1, 2025. Gambrell will succeed John V. Bracca, who will retire in January after more than 30 years of serv...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Texas Medical Center Settles Racial Hiring Discrimination Case

The U.S. Department of Labor and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have entered into a conciliation agreement in which the federal contractor will pay $900,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring aff...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Hydrogen Wildcatters Are Betting Big on Kansas to Strike It Rich

A new Gold Rush is taking shape on a quiet stretch of Kansas prairie. There, a clutch of startups backed by the likes of Bill Gates are searching below the surface for naturally occurring hydrogen, a fuel that can generate …

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Bankruptcy Judge Approves Rockville Centre Diocese $320M Sex Abuse Claims Fund

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a Chapter 11 plan for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York that includes a $320 million fund to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse and settles insurance issues. Judge Martin Glenn &#8...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Biden Requests $98.6 Billion in Emergency Disaster Aid Funds

President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking $98.6 billion in emergency disaster relief funding from Congress to address the devastation from recent back-to-back hurricanes that hammered the US southeast and left billions in damage. The pres...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Ford Faces Two Recall Probes as Carmaker Combats Quality Woes

US auto safety regulators are probing two recent recalls by Ford Motor Co. as the carmaker struggles to contain quality lapses in its vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating an April recall of more than 450,000 B...

Posted: Nov 19, 2024

Trump Team Is Seeking to Ease US Rules for Self-Driving Cars

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter....

Posted: Nov 19, 2024