Insurance Journal

How Flood Risk Is Driving an Insurance Protection Gap in the US

It is likely that you have read recent headlines sounding the alarm over a potentially uninsurable future. The ongoing threat of more frequent and damaging extreme weather is making it increasingly difficult for homeowners to secure affordable insura...

Posted: Oct 06, 2024

Insuring the Unique Risks of a Bed & Breakfast

Big brand hotels give the customer the exact experience that they expect. When you go to one in Florida, it’s essentially the same as going to one in Ohio. Boutique hotels are normally a bit more unique and offer an …

Posted: Oct 06, 2024

Owner Compensation Performance Based – Part One

The amount of money an owner makes is directly proportional to the perceived importance, or success, to the person taking the money home. It is well known that there are factors that dilute this rule, but it still is a …

Posted: Oct 06, 2024

California Commissioner Orders 1-Year Moratorium for Residents Affected by Boyles Fire

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies to preserve residential insurance coverage for more than 16,000 policyholders affected by the Boyles Fire located in Lake County. The commiss...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Optio to Acquire Luxembourg-Based Film and Events MGA, Circles Group

Optio Group, the London-based specialty managing general agent, announced it has acquired the Luxembourg-based MGA, Circles Group for an undisclosed sum, subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition of Circles, Optio’s largest in Europe to d...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

AM Best Withdraws Credit Rating of Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. of Michigan

AM Best has revised the outlook to negative from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of C++ (Marginal) and the Long-Term ICR of “b+” (Marginal) of Farmers Mutual I...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Tesla Recalls Over 27,000 Cybertrucks in Fifth Callback This Year

Tesla said on Thursday it would recall more than 27,000 Cybertrucks in the United States due to delayed rear-view camera images that could impair driver visibility and increase crash risks. This is the fifth recall issued by Tesla for 2024 …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Texas AG Sues TikTok For Violating State’s New Social Media Law

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday for sharing and selling minors’ personal information, violating a new state law that seeks to protect children who are active on social media, accusations that the company denied hours l...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

People Moves: Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers Appoints Leadership Team Members

Ryan Specialty, headquartered in Chicago, named new leadership within its specialty underwriting segment, Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (RSUM). Eric Quinn was promoted to executive vice president – capital and product strategy. Quinn joi...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Officials Identify Driver Who Crashed Into Texas Pipeline, Sparking Fire

The driver of a vehicle that crashed into a pipeline valve and sparked a four-day fire that forced the evacuation of nearby neighborhoods in a Houston suburb was a local 51-year-old man, according to police. Remains found in the SUV …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Live Nation Found Not Liable for Death of 3 Campers at Michigan Music Fest

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Concert promoter Live Nation isn’t responsible for the deaths of three young men who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator while camping at a Michigan music festival in 2021, the state appeals court said...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Africa Specialty Risks Begins Operating as Lloyd’s Service Company

Africa Specialty Risks (ASR), the pan-African and Middle East-focused reinsurance group, announced that has begun operating as a Lloyd’s service company. As a Lloyd’s service company, ASR’s UK based entity, Africa Specialty Risks Lt...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Rebuild or What? Florida Towns Hit Three Times by Hurricanes Face Tough Choice

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was just a month ago that Brooke Hiers left the state-issued emergency trailer where her family had lived since Hurricane Idalia slammed into her Gulf Coast fishing village of Horseshoe Beach in August 2023. …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Becton Dickinson Hernia-Mesh Settlements Will Exceed $1 Billion

Becton Dickinson & Co. will pay more than $1 billion to resolve more than 38,000 lawsuits alleging medical patients suffered damaged organs from surgical mesh improperly used to treat hernias, according to people familiar with the deal who weren&...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Yanks Dentist’s COVID Insurance Coverage Win

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reversed lower court rulings and denied a dentist’s bid for coverage for loss of use of his offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The high court concluded in a case involving CNA and Valley Forge …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

NC Town That Produces Quartz for Tech Products is Devastated by Helene

SPRUCE PINE, N.C. (AP) — Two North Carolina facilities that manufacture the high-purity quartz used for making semiconductors, solar panels and fiber-optic cables have been shut down by Hurricane Helene with no reopening date in sight. Sibelco and Th...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Helene-Soaked Florida Faces New Threat: Up to a Foot of Rain

One week after Hurricane Helene barreled ashore, Florida is bracing for another round of heavy rainfall and strong winds from a tropical system brewing in the Atlantic. The potential storm could bring as much as a foot of rain to …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Helene’s Flooding a Reminder of Appalachia’s Growing Risk From Violent Storms

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Helene dumped trillions of gallons of water hundreds of miles inland, devastating communities nestled in mountains far from the threat of storm surge or sea level rise. But that distance can conceal a history of...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Massachusetts Governor Healey Names Caljouw as Insurance Commissioner

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced the appointment of Michael T. Caljouw as state’s new insurance commissioner. Caljouw comes to DOI with 33 years of experience in insurance law and policy in the state, including most recently as gov...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Shipping Containers Are Regularly Lost at Sea. What Happens When They Burst Open?

Russ Lewis has picked up some strange things along the coast of Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state over the years: Hot Wheels bicycle helmets with feather tufts, life-size plastic turkey decoys made for hunters, colorful squirt guns. And Crocs...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Antarctica Had Less Winter Sea Ice in 2024 Than Any Year Except 2023

Antarctic sea ice at its annual peak this year covered the second-lowest area on record. It was just shy of last year’s record low, continuing what scientists fear is a trend caused by climate change. The ice covered 17.16 million …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Taiwan Reopens, Clearing Up Damage After Typhoon Krathon

Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major port city, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened. Krathon, now downgraded …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

US Dockworkers Suspend Three-Day Strike After Contract Extension

US dockworkers agreed to end a three-day strike that had paralyzed trade on the US East and Gulf coasts and threatened to become a factor in the presidential election. The International Longshoremen’s Association and the US Maritime Association...

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Softbank Says Credit Suisse to Blame For Fund’s $440 Million Greensill Los

Softbank Group Corp., facing a $440 million lawsuit from Credit Suisse, said the bank was to blame for some of the investor losses tied to the collapse of Greensill Capital. In the latest stage of the long-running dispute, Softbank said …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024

Softbank Says Credit Suisse to Blame For Fund’s $440 Million Greensill Loss

Softbank Group Corp., facing a $440 million lawsuit from Credit Suisse, said the bank was to blame for some of the investor losses tied to the collapse of Greensill Capital. In the latest stage of the long-running dispute, Softbank said …

Posted: Oct 04, 2024