Insurance Journal

Thinking About Hiring an Internal Recruiter? Here’s Our Advice to Get You Started.

In 2015, my partners and I started the buy-out process at Capstone. In 2018, the purchase was complete, but the real work had just begun. We thought about how to grow the company, which included hiring additional recruiters. For us, …

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Agency Partnerships in Hard Markets and Beyond

By Andrea Wells Finding the right partner can help make or break a business. That’s also true of finding the right agency partnership or network, especially as market cycles change and what agents need from a partner changes, as well. …

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Ransomware Study: 78% of Attack Victims Paid Ransom; 74% Suffered Multiple Strikes

A survey of nearly 1,000 IT and security professionals shows numerous organizations were targeted by ransomware attacks in the past year with a high degree of success, with most paying a ransom — many of which paid multiple times. Semperis, &#8...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Auto Shopping Continues

Auto insurance shopping volume set a new record for the second consecutive quarter of 2024. The number of U.S. consumers shopping for auto insurance was up 7%, compared to Q2 2023, according to TransUnion’s latest quarterly Insurance Personal L...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Navigating Professional Liability for Design Firms

The professional liability market for architects and engineers is continuously adapting to new trends and challenges. These shifts bring both opportunities and obstacles for brokers and design professionals. While there remains a strong interest in t...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

FirstEnergy to Pay $20M Settlement Over Ohio Bribery Scheme

The energy company at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio will pay $20 million and avoid criminal charges as part of a deal with state prosecutors to resolve its role in the scandal. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. …

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Energy Giant Reports Violating Air Emissions Limits in Louisiana

By Jack Brook British energy giant Drax Global, already under scrutiny for running afoul of environmental laws in multiple states, has disclosed to the state of Louisiana that its wood pellet production facilities emit hazardous air pollutants above...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

California Commissioner Moves to Implement Rate Review Reforms

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in mid-August released a statement on his latest administrative action designed to address the state’s homeowners insurance crisis. Lara issued a bulletin implementing rate review reforms he says w...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

Downward Departure: Florida Insurance Agent Charged with Embezzling Premiums After He Was Hit with...

Florida authorities in August arrested a well-known southwest Florida insurance agent, charging him with larceny and embezzlement of premiums. Reid McDaniel, 33, who was named the honorary mayor of North Fort Myers last year but who also was facing a...

Posted: Sep 01, 2024

California Legislature Passes Bill to Support Insurance Fraud Detectives

California lawmakers passed a bill to help close the pay gap between the California Department of Insurance’s fraud detectives and officers in other state agencies. The California Senate and Assembly this week passed Assembly Bill 2872, which w...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

‘Potentially Explosive’ Military Devices Involved in Deadly Arkansas Crash

BRINKLEY, Ark. (AP) — A crash on Interstate 40 in Arkansas involving two tractor-trailers and a truck carrying “potentially explosive” military devices killed one person and backed up traffic for hours on the busy highway, officials said....

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

RLI Insurance Wants 16% Rate Hike in Florida on Umbrella, Filing Shows

Florida’s insurance commissioner in early August noted that rate increases by property-casualty insurers in the state have slowed significantly since 2023 legislative reforms were enacted, with 12 carriers asking for a small decrease this year...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

TDI to Hold Two Public Meetings on TWIA’s Filing of 10% Rate Increase

The Texas Department of Insurance will hold two public meetings in September on the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s annual rate filing increase of 10% for residential and commercial properties. TDI will host a meeting on Monday, Sept. 2...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Specialist Risk Group Acquires Renewal Rights of London-Based Taxi Insurance Broker

Specialist Risk Group (SRG) announced the acquisition of the ongoing renewal rights of Morton Insurance Brokers, a specialist in private hire and taxi insurance across the UK since 1987. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The ac...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

4 Killed, 10 Injured When Passenger Van Rolls Over in Texas Highway Crash

ALVORD, Texas (AP) — Four people were killed and 10 were injured when a van rolled multiple times after the driver veered off a Texas highway and then overcorrected Wednesday, authorities said. The crash happened just before 8 a.m. on …

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Northwestern University Cheerleader Drops Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — A cheerleader has dropped her federal sexual harassment lawsuit against Northwestern University. Hayden Richardson filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois in January 2021 alleging drunken fans and alumni groped he...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Climate Change Intensified Typhoon Shanshan, Study Says

Typhoon Shanshan, which struck southern Japan this week with heavy rain and strong winds, was likely intensified by climate change, according to a study from Imperial College London. Researchers with the university teased out the contribution of glob...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Severe Storms Leave Over 300K Michigan Homes and Businesses Without Power

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Crews for two of Michigan’s largest utilities were working to restore power Wednesday to more than 300,000 homes and businesses left in the dark amid hot, muggy conditions after severe storms toppled trees and snapped &#...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

CrowdStrike VP Set to Testify to Congress on IT Outage

A senior member of CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.’s operations team is scheduled to appear before Congress to answer questions on the company’s global IT outage in July that disrupted industries around the world. In an advisory set to publish...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Australia’s Agile Launches New Zealand Unit to Support Its New Lloyd’s Syndicate

Agile Underwriting Services, the Sydney, Australia-based insurtech, managing general agent, and Lloyd’s coverholder, has launched a unit in New Zealand, which Agile described as the first of its kind for a Lloyd’s syndicate. The establish...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Railway Worker’s Death in Ohio Prompts Concerns Over Remote Control Trains

The CSX worker who discovered his friend run over by a pair of remote-control locomotives in a railyard last year sees a simple solution to preventing similar deaths in the future: two-person crews. But that idea won’t be popular with …

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Invisalign Maker Reaches $27.5M Settlement of Consumer Antitrust Lawsuit

Align Technology, the maker of Invisalign clear teeth aligners, agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it entered an illegal antitrust conspiracy that drove up prices of aligners made by rival SmileDirectClub. The settlement would c...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Salvage of Stricken Oil Tanker in Red Sea Expected in Coming Days, Sources Say

A salvage operation to recover a Greek registered oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea after an attack by Houthi militants is expected to start in the coming days, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. What …

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Main Street America Insurance Exits Personal Lines

Main Street America Insurance said Thursday it will stop offering personal lines insurance in favor of a commercial lines strategy. The Jacksonville, Florida-based insurer founded about 100 years ago in Keene, New Hampshire said it is “tighteni...

Posted: Aug 30, 2024

Munich Re and Swiss Re Both Top List of 2023’s Largest Reinsurers

Munich Re tops the list of the world’s 50 largest reinsurers that use IFRS 17 reporting standards, while Swiss Re is the largest non-IFRS 17 reinsurer, according to AM Best. Among the largest IFRS 17 reporting reinsurers, Munich Re is …

Posted: Aug 30, 2024