Insurance Journal

Google Gemini Accused of Coaching Florida Man to Suicide

Google is facing a lawsuit from the family of a 36-year-old Florida man who allegedly considered carrying out a “mass casualty attack” and ultimately killed himself under the influence of the company’s Gemini chatbot. According to a...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

AI Gives Unloved Downtown Buildings New Life as Data Centers

The Kansas City Star built a $200 million complex to house a state-of-the-art printing press in 2006. Less than 15 years later, the iconic structure of blue and green glass came to symbolize the collapse of print news when parent …

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Two People Saved from Hot-Air Balloon Entangled on Tower in East Texas

Crews in East Texas rescued two people stranded hundreds of feet in the air after a hot-air balloon became entangled on a communications tower over the weekend. Firefighters responding to the tower on Saturday morning found the balloon entangled more...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Texans for Lawsuit Reform Suffer String of Primary Losses

Nearly every state legislative incumbent was poised to win their primary on Tuesday, in a stark change from the conservative bloodletting rendered in the Texas House two years ago. Two years ago, intraparty warfare resulted in a massive scrambling on...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Justin Timberlake Sues to Block Release of Police Video From 2024 Drunk Driving Arrest

Justin Timberlake is suing to block the release of police body camera footage from his drunken driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons in 2024. The pop star’s lawyers argued in a lawsuit filed Monday against the village of Sag Harbor &#8230...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

New York Taxi Insurer Failed to Defend Uber in Crash Cases, Judge Says

A US judge sided with Uber Technologies Inc. in its complaint that American Transit Insurance Co., the largest taxi insurer in New York City, failed to defend the ride-hailing company in crash cases involving its drivers. ATIC breached its duty &#823...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Trump’s Hormuz Assurances Are Only a Partial Fix, Shippers Say

President Donald Trump says the US will ensure the free flow of energy through the Persian Gulf with insurance guarantees and even naval escorts. But the shipping industry sees it — at best — as only a partial solution to …

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

People Moves: Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers Promotes in RFL Exec Team

Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers, the underwriting management division of Ryan Specialty, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, promoted three members of the Ryan Financial Lines (RFL) executive team. Deborah Egel-Fergus, president of lawyers E&#38...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Trump Orders Oil Tanker Insurance Support, Says Navy Could Escort Ships in Gulf

The U.S. Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, adding he had ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and fi...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Property, Auto Insurance Shopping Up as Consumers Feel Economic Pressures

Looking for deals, consumers are increasingly shopping year-round for home and auto insurance, bucking seasonal trends and insurer expectations. Elevated insurance shopping trends seen throughout 2024 and earlier in 2025 continued through the end of...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

What Berkshire’s CEO Abel Said About Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive had the unusual task of reporting lower 2025 underwriting and investment income for GEICO and other insurance and reinsurance operations in his first report to investors recently. After two years of rising u...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Georgia Insurance Law is About to Get an Upgrade With Multiple Changes

A Georgia bill that would bring larger insurer fines, more fraud enforcement and more wind-mitigation funding now moves to state Senate, where it is expected to pass in the next few weeks. The Georgia House of Representatives late last month …

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Georgia Insurance Law Is About to Get an Upgrade With Multiple Changes

A Georgia bill that would bring larger insurer fines, more fraud enforcement and more wind-mitigation funding now moves to state Senate, where it is expected to pass in the next few weeks. The Georgia House of Representatives late last month …

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

SullivanCurtisMonroe Acquries Stepco Insurance Agency

SullivanCurtisMonroe has acquired Stepco Insurance Agency. The Stepco group will join SCM’s Pasadena team. Stepco was founded in 1962 as George Joseph & Associates, dba Mercury Insurance Agency. In 1983, CEO Steve Stepanian took over the ag...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Maine County Rebuilds Its Destroyed Dunes. It’s Just the Start to Save the Coastline

A crew guided a York County barge equipped with a giant sea vacuum across the waters of Wells Harbor last week. One contractor nudged the so-called dredge in a tiny tugboat. Another manned the equipment, which sucked up sand from …

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Little Ceasars Franchise in California Settles for $409K Over Worker Pay

The operator of a pizza parlor in California must pay back wages following an investigation that showed the business did not pay the required minimum wage and overtime. The U.S. Department of Labor reached a settlement agreement with the operator &#8...

Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Transgender Men Sue Kansas Over Law Invalidating Their Driver’s Licenses

Two transgender men are suing Kansas over a new law that invalidated their driver’s licenses and about 1,700 others for reflecting people’s gender identities and not their sex assigned at birth, arguing that the measure is “dehumani...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

Louisiana Couple Arrested for Insurance Fraud

A Baton Rouge, Louisiana couple was recently arrested for attempting to defraud an insurance company of approximately $30,000 and on other related charges, the Louisiana Office of the Attorney General announced this week. Agents with Attorney General...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

Louisiana Dept. of Insurance Enters Partnership to Fight Litigation Funding

The Louisiana Department of Insurance is entering a partnership with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and digital intelligence company 4WARN to combat third-party litigation funding (TPLF) marketing tactics. The department said the partners...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

Bolivia Raids Homes Looking for Millions in Cash Taken From Plane-Wreck Site

Bolivia’s security forces have raided at least 22 homes near the site where a military plane carrying millions of dollars in cash crashed last week, seeking to recover banknotes stolen after the accident. At least 24 people died in the …

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

Buyer’s Market: Low Terrorism Insurance Pricing Despite Rising Instability

Terrorism insurance pricing in the U.S. is hovering at an all-time low — a surprising reality at a time when geopolitical tensions, domestic extremism, and global instability dominate headlines. It comes down to the age-old dynamic of supply and dema...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

Texas Business Owners Sue State Over HUB Program Removal

Four business owners and a trade association sued the state of Texas on Monday, seeking to reverse acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock’s emergency rules altering a state program intended to give additional exposure to economically disadvantaged gr...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

NextEra Utility Giant Agrees to $8M Settlement in Employee Retirement Class Action

Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., one of the world’s largest electric utilities, has settled a class-action lawsuit, agreeing to pay $8 million to some 20,000 employees who said the company had mishandled retirement funds. Plaintiffs’ at...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

People Moves: Holmes Murphy Adds Julik in North Dakota

Holmes Murphy announced its expansion into North Dakota with the hiring of Mark Julik. Julik joins Holmes Murphy with a wealth of insurance and construction–industry expertise, shaped by more than 18 years at Marsh McLennan Agency. During his tenure...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026

London Marine Insurers Widen High-Risk Zone in Mideast Gulf as Conflict Escalates

London’s marine insurance market has widened the area in the Gulf it deems as high risk as the conflict in the Middle East escalates, according to an advisory issued on Tuesday. Guidance from the Joint War Committee, which comprises syndicate &...

Posted: Mar 03, 2026