Insurance Journal

World Insurance Adds Two Agencies in South Carolina

New Jersey-based World Insurance Associates, one of the larger brokerages in the country, has continued its expansion plans with the recent acquisition of two agencies in South Carolina, the firm announced this week. Owens Insurance Agency, in Greer,...

Posted: May 21, 2025

Alphabet’s Waymo Gets California Nod for Robotaxi Expansion in Bay Area

Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo said on Monday it received approval from California to expand its robotaxi operations in more areas of the San Francisco Peninsula and further south, including San Jose. Waymo’s permission from Californi...

Posted: May 21, 2025

Senate Will Try to Block California Vehicle Standards That Would Phase Out Gas-Powered Cars

The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Senate Will Try to Block California Vehicle Standards to Phase Out Gas-Powered Cars

The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Central US Severe Weather Outbreak Caused Billions in Damages, AccuWeather Says

A multiday severe weather outbreak across the central U.S. caused an estimated $9 billion to $11 billion in total damages and economic loss, according to AccuWeather preliminary estimates. More than 70 tornadoes have been reported since May 16. Autho...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Ryan Specialty Acquires Irish MGU 360° Underwriting

Ryan Specialty, the Chicago-based international specialty insurance firm, announce that it has acquired 360° Underwriting (360), a managing general underwriter specializing in commercial construction. 360 is based in Dublin and Galway, Ireland, and w...

Posted: May 20, 2025

No NOAA Large-Disaster Data to Hurt Insurers’ Grasp of Secondary Perils, Says AM Best

Insurance industry financial strength rating agency AM Best said today that a decision to stop updating a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disaster database could be detrimental to insurers and may require the rethinking of some produc...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Iowa-Based Ice Cream Manufacturer Issues Recall Over Plastic Concerns

An Iowa-based ice cream manufacturer has recalled nearly 18,000 containers of ice cream and frozen yogurt over concerns they could contain pieces of plastic. Wells Enterprises issued the voluntary recall last month, according to recently released inf...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Stablecoin Bill Advances in US Senate in Big Win for Crypto

Stablecoin legislation overcame a procedural blockade in the US Senate, marking a major victory for the crypto industry after a group of Democrats dropped their opposition Monday. The industry-backed regulatory bill is now set for debate on the Senat...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Massachusetts Denies 7.1% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike After 2024 ‘Excessive’ Cut

Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw has rejected an industry proposal to raise workers’ compensation rates by 7.1%. As a result, existing rates, which reflect a 14.6% decrease ordered last July, will remain in effect for polici...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Bayer Seeks Roundup Settlement, Explores Monsanto Bankruptcy: Reports

Bayer is preparing a plan to settle some of its mass lawsuits over Roundup weedkiller in Missouri, and may also seek bankruptcy for its Monsanto unit if the effort fails, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. The German pharmaceutical &#8...

Posted: May 20, 2025

New England’s Shield Health Settles Data Breach Cases for $15.3 Million

Shields Health Care Group has agreed to pay $15.3 million to settle federal and state class actions filed against it by patients over a 2022 data breach. Shields operates medical imaging and surgical centers in 50 locations across the New …

Posted: May 20, 2025

Japan’s Big Non-Life Insurers Plan to Sell Cross Shareholdings

Japan’s three major casualty insurers plan to sell a total of about ¥1.37 trillion ($9.5 billion) of cross-held shares in the fiscal year started April in a push to reduce strategic holdings in line with government policy. Tokio Marine Holdings...

Posted: May 20, 2025

People Moves: Boroughs Named Chubb Group Vice Chairman, Hogan Succeeds Boroughs as Investment Office...

Boroughs Named Vice Chairman, Chubb Group; Hogan Succeeds Boroughs as Chubb Group Chief Investment Officer Chubb Limited, with U.S. headquarters in Warren, New Jersey, named Tim Boroughs vice chairman, Chubb Group and executive chairman, asset manage...

Posted: May 20, 2025

More Tornadoes Plow Through Central US, Leaving Thousands Without Power

More tornadoes plowed through the central U.S. on Monday and thousands were without power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of …

Posted: May 20, 2025

Could Your Tech Stack Use a Spring Cleaning? How to Reduce Insurance IT Complexity with APIs

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Today’s insurance agencies rely on an average of 5.7 to 11.9 different technology platforms for day-to-day operations, depending on their total revenue. For large-scale carriers managing mul...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Driverless Trucking Firm Aurora Puts Human Back in Driver’s Seat

Driverless vehicle developer Aurora Innovation Inc. is putting a human back in front of the wheel of big rigs operating in Texas, reversing course less than three weeks after the company began commercial autonomous service there. The decision to move...

Posted: May 20, 2025

APCIA: Record Shows ‘Minimal Complaints’ on Hurricane Milton, Helene Claims

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) chimed in to a recent Senate subcommittee hearing to defend the industry’s response to claims following hurricanes Milton and Helene. “The vast majority of claims from Hurricane...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Italy’s Data Watchdog Fines AI Company Replika’s Developer $5.6 Million

Italy’s data protection agency has fined the developer of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot company Replika 5 million euros ($5.64 million) for breaching rules designed to protect users’ personal data, the authority said on Monday. Lau...

Posted: May 20, 2025

EY Negligently Missed Huge Fraud at Collapsed Hospital Operator, $3B UK Trial Hears

EY failed to spot a major fraud by main shareholders of UAE hospital operator NMC Health in what lawyers for the firm’s administrators described as disgraceful auditing, at the start of a roughly $3 billion London trial on Monday. The …

Posted: May 20, 2025

EU Will Propose to G7 Nations a Reduction in Sanctions Price Cap for Russian Oil

The EU will propose to G7 finance ministers this week to lower the current $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil as part of the new sanctions package against Moscow, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday. …

Posted: May 20, 2025

Motion Specialty Launches Lloyd’s MGU, Founded by Former Hiscox Executives

Motion Specialty has been approved as a Lloyd’s of London coverholder, founded by former Hiscox executives Dan Alpay and Alex Kickham. The business writes on behalf of Lloyd’s Syndicate 1301, managed by Inigo Ltd., and is supported by Joh...

Posted: May 20, 2025

FCC Approves Verizon Deal to Acquire Frontier After DEI Changes

The Federal Communications Commission said it was approving Verizon Communication’s $20 billion deal to acquire fiber-optic internet providers Frontier Communications after the largest U.S. telecom company agreed to end its diversity, equity an...

Posted: May 20, 2025

People Moves: O’Day Named Acting Director of Oregon DCBS, Keen as Acting Insurance Commissioner

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek named Sean O’Day as acting director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). O’Day is currently the deputy director for DCBS. In his new role, he replaces Andrew R. Stolfi, who the Oregon &...

Posted: May 20, 2025

Maryland Officials Say Autopsies Misclassified Deaths in Police Custody

An audit of Maryland autopsies has uncovered at least 36 deaths in police custody that should have been considered homicides, state officials announced Thursday following a comprehensive review of such cases spurred by widespread concerns about the f...

Posted: May 20, 2025