Insurance Journal

Missouri Farmer Who Stars in Reality TV Series Pleads Guilty to Crop Insurance Fraud

A Missouri farmer who appears in a reality TV show about his family’s farming operation pleaded guilty this week to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme involving federal crop insurance benefits. Steve A. McBee, 52, waived his right to a grand &...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

People Moves: Grange Insurance Names Carter VP, PL Sales & Strategic Distribution

Grange Insurance Company, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, named Nicole Carter as vice president, public liability sales and strategic distribution, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Carter has nearly 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Before jo...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

People Moves: Grange Insurance Names Carter VP, Personal Lines Sales & Strategic Distribution

Grange Insurance Company, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, named Nicole Carter as vice president, personal lines sales and strategic distribution, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Carter has nearly 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Before join...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Biden Rushing Study That Threatens to Slow Trump’s LNG Plans

The Biden administration is racing to complete a study that could complicate President-Elect Donald Trump’s plan to immediately approve new liquefied natural gas export terminals, according to people familiar with the matter. The study, underwa...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

People Moves: Marsh Names Fraser as Int’l Corporate & Commercial Leader; Clear Group Appoints Chisho...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the brokers Marsh and Clear Group. A summary of these new hires follows here. Marsh Names Fraser as Int’l Corporate & Commercial Leader Marsh, the insurance broker, risk adv...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

SageSure Expands HO Business in Mississippi, Louisiana

SageSure, a managing general underwriter for catastrophe-exposed markets, said it has joined with Auros Reciprocal Insurance Exchange to bring more homeowners coverage to Louisiana and Mississippi. Auros is a property insurance company domiciled in M...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Volkswagen to Recall Over 114,000 US Vehicles Over Airbag Concern, NHTSA Says

Volkswagen will recall 114,478 vehicles in the United States on concerns over the driver-side airbag, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday. The recall consists of some Beetle and Passat vehicles from model years 2006-20...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

H.W. International Agrees to Sell UK, French and Greek Operations to Steadfast Group

H.W. International B.V., the Amsterdam-based, privately owned insurance broker, announced the sale of H.W. Wood Ltd. and HWI France to Steadfast Group, the largest general insurance broker network and underwriting agency group in Australasia and owne...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

SC Man Sentenced for Taregeting Drivers in Parking Lot Insurance Fraud Scheme

A 44-year-old South Carolina man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to an auto insurance fraud scheme that targeted elderly drivers in parking lots. In 2020 through 2022, Cornelius Jones, 44, of Lake City, would …

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

SC Man Sentenced for Targeting Drivers in Parking Lot Insurance Fraud Scheme

A 44-year-old South Carolina man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to an auto insurance fraud scheme that targeted elderly drivers in parking lots. In 2020 through 2022, Cornelius Jones, 44, of Lake City, would …

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Liberty Mutual Quadruples Q3 Net Income Despite Catastrophe Losses

Liberty Mutual Holding Company said consolidated third quarter net income more than quadrupled to $897 million compared to $215 million during the same period a year ago. Catastrophe losses remained elevated at nearly $1.1 billion, nearly matching th...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Washington Sawmill Fined $126K for 61 Safety and Health Violations

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is levying more than $126,000 in fines for 61 reported safety and health violations by a lumber seller. Fox Lumber Sales buys leftover wood, cuts it down, and sells it for pallet …

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Danone Wins Dismissal of Evian Microplastics Lawsuit

The maker of Evian spring water, Danone, won the dismissal of a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing it of defrauding consumers with labels that claim the water is “natural” even though it contains microplastics that seep from the bottle. U.S. Dis...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Renewable Energy Offers a Cost and Opportunity to Insurance Sector

Policyholders in the renewable energy insurance market are paying between 20%-40% more for cover today than a year ago as insurers seek to recover the cost of “devastating claims” in regions hit by natural catastrophes, industry sources s...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

2024 Will Be World’s Hottest Year on Record, EU Scientists Say

This year is “virtually certain” to eclipse 2023 as the world’s warmest since records began, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. The data was released ahead of next week’s U.N....

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

CITA Insurance Services and Ascot Insurance Company announce nationwide real estate agents and broke...

ORANGE, CA, November 6, 2024 – CITA Insurance Services and Ascot Insurance Company (Ascot) have partnered to deliver a new real estate agents and brokers error & omissions (E&O) program nationwide. This admitted insurance product was designed...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Zurich’s Exposure to Hurricanes Helene, Milton Below $360M as Catastrophe Losses Rise

Zurich Insurance Group said on Thursday that its exposure to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which recently wreaked havoc in the United States, would be less than $360 million, as insurers face increasing losses from natural catastrophes. Analysts expe...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Swiss Re Cuts 2024 Profit Target After Raising US Reserves

Swiss Re AG lowered its 2024 net income target after being hit by more claims in its Property and Reinsurance business for previous years than it had budgeted for. The Zurich based reinsurer on Thursday said that, following a review, …

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

About 17% of Gulf of Mexico Oil Production Shut Due to Hurricane Rafael

About 17% of crude oil production and 7% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut in response to Hurricane Rafael, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Wednesday. Energy producers had shut …

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

‘Board Certified’ Could Soon be an Advertising Thing for Florida Insurance Lawyers

By this time next year, plaintiffs lawyers, who have frequently been held up as thorns in the side of the Florida property insurance industry for their sometimes-aggressive pursuit of policyholder claims litigation, could have a stamp of credibility...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Massachusetts Voters Allow Uber, Lyft Drivers to Unionize

Massachusetts voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that would allow ride-share drivers to unionize, becoming the first U.S. state to allow drivers for app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to do so. With 94% of precincts reporting, 53.9% of &...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Company Vows to Sue Over Damages After New Mexico Authorities Destroy Cannabis Crops

State police have destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico, marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of cannabis in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation l...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Company Vows to Sue Over Damages After New Mexico Police Destroy Cannabis Crops

State police have destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana plants at greenhouses in northwestern New Mexico, marking what regulators say is the largest seizure and destruction of cannabis in New Mexico since new possession and cultivation l...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Time Dwindling For Flood-Affected Connecticuters to Apply for Assistance

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently reminded homeowners, renters and businessowners in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties that less than two weeks remain to apply for federal disaster assistance to support recovery for uninsured or und...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024

Pennsylvania Prohibits Fires on State Lands As Dry Conditions Persist

Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) announced that it is prohibiting campfires on state park and forest lands until further notice. The department also encouraged Pennsylvanians to avoid burning...

Posted: Nov 07, 2024