Insurance Journal

Insured Losses From UK Riots Will Be Manageable, With Claims Below £250M: Report

Insured losses from recent riots in the United Kingdom are expected to remain at manageable levels with a limited impact on insurers’ credit profiles, according to credit agency Morningstar DBRS, in a market commentary. The main reason for mana...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Report: 10 of Top U.S. Metros at Moderate to Very High Risk of Wildfire Are in California

Ten of the top 15 metropolitan areas for wildfire risk concentration are in California, while more than 2.6 million homes across 14 states with a total reconstruction cost of $1.3 trillion are at moderate to very high risk of wildfire …

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

House Explosion in Maryland Kills 2 and Damages Nearby Homes

Two people were killed and 12 families displaced after a Maryland house exploded Sunday amid reports of a possible gas leak, fire officials said. Neighbors described feeling and hearing the early morning blast that damaged a number of surrounding hou...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Crimes Against Customers: Part 1 – Financial Crimes

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Insurance compliance is serious business. Falling out of compliance can have real consequences for everyone from insurance agencies, carriers, MGAs, and MGUs, to individual producers, adjusters, a...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Thailand Races to Stop Toxic Waste Cargo on MSC, Maersk Ships

Thai authorities are racing to stop about 100 shipping containers allegedly filled with hazardous industrial waste from Albania reaching the nation’s ports. Basel Action Network, a US-based nonprofit that tracks toxic trade which precarviously...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Tech Update: Hiscox Launches GenAI-Powered Lead Underwriting Platform

Hiscox, the global specialist insurer, has launched the London insurance market’s first lead underwriting platform enhanced by generative AI, aiming to provide sabotage and terrorism insurance quotes to customers faster and more efficiently tha...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

UK Cyber Spies Plan AI ‘Lab’ to Counter Hostile State Threats

UK spies are stepping up efforts to tackle cyber and artificial intelligence threats from hostile foreign states, including the sort of online manipulation that helped foment rioting across the country in the past 10 days. GCHQ, the UK’s nation...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Swiss-Based Engineering Firm Schlatter Says IT Network Affected by Cyberattack

Schlatter Industries’ network was attacked with malware on Friday and it can be assumed this was a professional attack, the Switzerland-based company said on Monday. The group was hit on Friday by a cyberattack using malware, and the unknown pe...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Sica Fletcher Index: Agency-Broker M&A Down Slightly in First Half 2024

The 22 acquirers that make up the Sica Fletcher Index were involved in 242 agent-broker deals in the first six months of 2024, totaling $635 million in revenue. That is a 45% drop in revenue from what was acquired during …

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

SEC Sues Over Alleged $650 Million Global Crypto Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued the cryptocurrency company NovaTech and its married co-founders, saying they fraudulently raised over $650 million from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including many Haitian-Americans...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Employer’s Clinic May Not be Protected by Workers’ Comp Remedy, SC Court Says

The South Carolina Court of Appeals has signaled that employers who offer on-site health clinics may not be immune from tort claims from injured or sickened workers. It’s the latest twist to a question that has bounced around courts and …

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Prompted by Mass Shooting, Maine Implements New Gun Safety Laws

With eleventh hour guidance from the state, Maine gun retailers on Friday began requiring a three-day wait period for gun purchases under one of the new safety laws adopted following the state’s deadliest mass shooting. Maine joined a dozen oth...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

People Moves: Embroker Appoints Lea Chief Insurance Officer, Malm to COO; Ryan Specialty Promotes Le...

Embroker, headquartered in San Francisco, appointed Andrew (Andy) Lea chief insurance officer and promoted Kristy Malm to chief operating officer. Lea mas more than two decades of insurance experience. Beginning his career in insurance as an underwri...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

OSHA Says Alleged Fall Hazards Could Cost Adidas in New York Nearly $400K

Federal workplace safety officials say that Adidas America Inc. – maker of one of the world’s best-selling sneakers – faces almost $400,000 in penalties for allegedly continuing to ignore federal workplace safety standards. The Occu...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Residents in Alaska Capital Clean up Swamped Homes After Ice Dam Burst and Unleashed a Flood

In her yard under the blazing sun, Debbie Penrose Fischer leafed through a water-logged cookbook with sentimental value that she hoped to salvage but doubted she could. Nearby, friends helped carry boxes out of her family’s garage, which was in...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Court, Not Board, Must Decide If Insurer’s Conduct After Canceling Policy Was Negligent

Claims that a workers’ compensation insurer’s conduct after it canceled a policy were negligent are for a court, not the state’s workers’ compensation board, to decide, the Connecticut Appellate Court has ruled. Liberty Mutual...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

Court, Not Board, Must Decide If Insurer Was Negligent After Canceling Policy

Claims that a workers’ compensation insurer’s acted with negligence after it canceled a policy are for a court, not the state’s workers’ compensation board, to decide, the Connecticut Appellate Court has ruled. Liberty Mutual...

Posted: Aug 13, 2024

J&J Gets Plaintiff Backing for $6.5 Billion Baby Powder Accord

Johnson & Johnson has cleared a key hurdle for advancing a $6.5 billion plan to resolve thousands of lawsuits by people who say its baby powder gave them cancer, according to people familiar with the matter. More than 75% of …

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

The Future is Uninsurable? Hardly

In recent months the dynamic markings for voices asserting the insurance industry is not up to challenges posed by climate change have gone from mezzo-piano to mezzo-forte. In his endorsement of a proposal by Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to...

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

Become an Attractive Risk for Underwriters

This post is part of a series sponsored by TSIB. Insurance Carriers are reducing their appetite for risk and increasing premiums. This means they are being much more selective in what they are willing to insure. If they are going …

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

Illinois Company Fined $138K for Selling Unregistered Pesticide Product

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with Amerikal Products Corp. of Waukegan, Illinois, for allegedly selling and distributing an unregistered pesticide product in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Roden...

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

Kansas Commissioner: Add Insurance to Back-to-School Checklist

As students across Kansas prepare to return to the classroom, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt reminds students and parents to add insurance to their back-to-school checklist. “Many insurance companies offer products and discounts ge...

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

Tesla Sued by Family of Electrician Who Died at Austin Facility

The family of a Texas man who died while working at Tesla’s Austin-area facility last week is suing the electric vehicle company and his employer. The lawsuit said the worker, Victor Joe Gomez Sr., was at the facility on Aug. …

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

Texas Attorney General Opens Probe Into CenterPoint Over Beryl

The Texas attorney general is investigating CenterPoint Energy Inc. citing potential violation of the state’s law in the utility’s response during Hurricane Beryl, when millions in the Houston area were left without power — some for days...

Posted: Aug 12, 2024

People Moves: Everest Launches Global Broker Management Team Led by Izzo; Evolin Broking Launches Ca...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at re/insurer Everest Group and Evolin Broking. A summary of these new hires follows here. Everest Launches Global Broker Management Team Led by Izzo Everest Group Ltd., the Bermuda-base...

Posted: Aug 12, 2024