Insurance Journal

T-Mobile Fined $60 Million Over Unauthorized Data Access

A powerful U.S. committee that scrutinizes foreign investment for national security risks fined T-Mobile $60 million, its largest penalty ever, for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data, senior U.S. officials said on Wed...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Pilgrim’s Pride Agrees to $100M Settlement Over Chicken Farmers’ Pay

Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the largest U.S. poultry processors, agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims it conspired with rivals to underpay chicken farmers, the final and by far the largest settlement in the seven-year-old antitrust case. A p...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

US State AGs Seek Treble Damages Against Live Nation for Concertgoers

Attorneys general from about two dozen U.S. states are seeking treble damages against Live Nation Entertainment and its ticket-selling unit, Ticketmaster, for allegedly monopolizing markets across the live concert industry in an updated version of a...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Mississippi Poultry Plant Settles With OSHA After Teen’s 2023 Death

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi poultry processing plant has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires it to pay $164,814 in fines and put in place enhanced safety measures following the death of a …

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Family of Carolina Woman Killed by Falling Utility Pole to Get $30M Settlement

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The family of a South Carolina woman struck in the head and killed by a rotting 70-year-old utility pole will get $30 million through a wrongful death settlement reached Thursday. Electric company Dominion Energy, which installe...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Virginia’s New Bad Faith Law: What Insurers Need to Know

On July 1, 2024, new Virginia Code § 8.01-66.1 became effective and created a new bad faith cause of action that can be significant for underinsured or uninsured (UIM) carriers. The prior Va. Code § 8.01-66.1 did not create a …

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Neighbor Reported Gas Smell to Utility Night Before Maryland House Explosion

A neighbor reported smelling gas to a utility company the night before a home exploded in Bel Air, Maryland, killing two people, The Baltimore Sun has reported. Residents near the home have been saying that they smelled gas Saturday night, …

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

California Pot Farmers Feel the Heat from Low Pricing, Wildfires

Small-scale cannabis farmers in California are calling it quits, crushed by crop damage from devastating wildfires and sliding prices, and industry experts expect the exodus to continue near-term in the largest pot market in the United States. Unlike...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

People Moves: Buckner in Utah Appoints Peterson Director of Partnerships

Buckner appointed Kevin Peterson as its new director of partnerships. Peterson joins Buckner from WCF Insurance, where he was most recently senior vice president of middle market. Before that, he spent over 20 years at Nationwide, holding various rol...

Posted: Aug 20, 2024

Tri-State Region Shocked as Severe Floods Take 2 Lives, Leave Trail of Destruction

Flooding caused by heavy rains is being blamed for the deaths of two women, major damage to roads and other infrastructure, and substantial residential and vehicle flooding over the weekend and Monday in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Connecti...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

SME Broker Ardonagh Advisory to Acquire UK-Based R.K. Henshall

Ardonagh Advisory, Ardonagh Group’s SME broking platform, has agreed to acquire UK chartered insurance broker R.K. Henshall & Co. Ltd. Financial details of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, were not disclosed. Establ...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

US Workers More Glum on Compensation and Work Prospects, New York Fed Says

U.S. workers are growing more sour with their employment compensation, according to a survey released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve. In its Survey of Consumer Expectations Labor Market Survey for July, the regional Fed bank said that &#82...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Hidden Report Reveals Worker Illnesses From Ohio Derailment Cleanup

The creeks around East Palestine, Ohio, were so badly contaminated by last year’s disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment that some workers became sick during the cleanup. Workers who reported headaches and nausea — while shooting compressed air...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Arkansas Governor Declares Emergency After Thunderstorms Knock Out Power

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an emergency declaration Saturday after severe thunderstorms knocked down power lines in the northwestern part of the state. Storms with strong winds blew through that part of the s...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Michigan DIFS Bulletin Issues Guidance on AI Use in Insurance Industry

The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) released a bulletin this month addressing the growing use of artificial intelligence in the insurance industry. The bulletin clarifies DIFS’ expectations and outlines the respon...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Verisk: US Reconstruction Costs Rose 5.2% From Last Year

Total reconstruction costs in the U.S. rose by 5.2% from July 2023 to July 2024. That’s a large increase from the cost growth from July 2022 to July 2023 (4.0%) and over the cost growth in the second quarter (1.6%), …

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

14-Year-Old Dies After Collapsing During Football Practice in Alabama

NEW BROCKTON, Ala. (AP) — A 14-year-old football player in Alabama died Tuesday after collapsing during afternoon practice. Semaj Wilkins, a freshman at New Brockton High School, suffered a medical emergency early in practice Tuesday afternoon, Coffe...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

California Commissioner Invites Input on Final Phase of Wildfire Modeling Regulation

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has invited public input as he begins the final phase of approving a “first of its kind” catastrophe modeling and ratemaking regulation that “will help restore options for all Californi...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Texas Jury to Decide if a Student’s Parents are Liable in Deadly School Shooting

DALLAS (AP) — An attorney for the parents of a Texas student accused of killing 10 people in a 2018 school shooting near Houston told trial jurors Friday that they didn’t know their son would have a psychotic breakdown. Lawyers …

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Skyward Specialty Launches Aviation Program

Houston’s Skyward Specialty Insurance Group announced it is launching an aviation program in partnership with Acceleration Aviation Underwriters. The partnership between Skyward Specialty and Acceleration Aviation introduces a robust program th...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Net Zero’s Carbon Removal Conundrum

To achieve net-zero emissions, where emissions and removals of greenhouse gas pollution balance each other out, governments and corporations must do two things: cut emissions as much as possible and remove any residual pollution from the atmosphere....

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Lawsuit: Student with Down Syndrome Subjected to Abuse in Kansas School

An employee of a rural Kansas school district repeatedly shoved a teenager with Down syndrome into a utility closet, hit the boy and once photographed him locked in a cage used to store athletic equipment, a lawsuit claims. The suit …

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

UK Insurers Call for Rule Change to Establish Captive Insurance Regime

Senior figures in the insurance industry are calling on the UK to restart work on a potential new market worth billions of pounds as part of a drive to boost competitiveness. Executives have written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves calling for …

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Rhode Island Sues 13 Firms That Worked on Troubled Washington Bridge

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday that the state has filed a lawsuit against 13 companies that provided design, construction and inspection services related to the troubled Washington Bridge. The bridge was partially shut down over safety...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024

People Moves: Rokstone Appoints Burrow Head of US Excess Casualty; Canopius Hires Mills to Head US C...

Rokstone, part of the Aventum Group, appointed Laurence (Larry) Burrows as head of a new US Excess Casualty division. Burrows has over 15 years of experience specializing in US casualty, latterly as a liability underwriter for Convex for the last &#8...

Posted: Aug 19, 2024