Insurance Journal

Deere Retreats From Diversity Measures After Online Attacks

Deere & Co., the world’s top farm machinery maker, is pulling back from diversity measures in the face of conservative criticism, the second agriculture-related company in less than a month to bend to such pressure. Deere said on the social...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Horticultural Grower Fined $172K Over Sexual Harassment at Texas Location

Altman Specialty Plants, LLC, the largest horticultural grower in the United States, will pay $172,000 in monetary relief and furnish extensive injunctive relief to resolve a finding of sex discrimination and retaliation by the U.S. Equal Employment...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Town in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley Divided Over a Planned Grain Terminal

WALLACE, La. (AP) — Sisters Jo and Dr. Joy Banner live just miles from where their ancestors were enslaved more than 200 years ago in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. Their tidy Creole cottage cafe in the small riverfront …

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Reckitt Sales to Be Hit by Tornado at Indiana Warehouse

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc said sales will be affected by a tornado that struck a warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana, where it stores products and raw ingredients for its baby formula business. The consumer goods company said Wednesday that the &#82...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in infrastructure damage, officials said Th...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Record Flooding and Tornadoes This Spring In Iowa Caused $130M in Damage

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Record flooding and powerful tornadoes ravaged parts of Iowa for weeks this spring, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, closing roads and bridges and costing over $130 million in infrastructure damage, officials said Th...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Minnesota Workers’ Comp System Stable Despite COVID-19 Impact

Workers’ compensation claim rates and benefits paid in Minnesota continue to be stable or follow their long-term downward trajectories, a new Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) report shows. The 2024 Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Sy...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Blue Cross Won’t Appeal: Aetna Set to Run NC State Worker Health Benefits

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Aetna is poised to manage health coverage plan benefits for North Carolina state workers and teachers starting early next year because Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Monday it won’t appeal a judge’s...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

BMW Recalling Over 1,100 More Vehicles Over Airbag Concern, NHTSA Says

BMW is recalling 1,145 vehicles in the United States over a potential issue that may cause the driver’s airbag to explode during deployment, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday. The recall includes the 2015...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

OPTIS: Insurance Agency M&A Reaches 4-Year, First-Half Low

The total of insurance agency mergers and acquisitions during the first six months of 2024 was the lowest over the first half since 2020, according to investment banking and financial firm OPTIS Partners. OPTIS Partners’ M&A database counte...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

AM Best Revises A.I.M. Mutual Outlook to Positive, Affirms ‘Excellent’ Ratings

AM Best reports that it has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of members of A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies. The ratings agency has also affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and &...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

High Condo Premiums a Top Issue in Hawaii Legislative Races

Jillian Anderson was planning to make fighting crime in Waikiki the top issue in her campaign for a seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives. Then came the letter from her condo association announcing a 300% increase in insurance premiums, …

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Rebuilding After Hurricanes is Complex, Can Change Character of a Community

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Before Hurricane Idalia smashed into a small fishing village in northwestern Florida, Charles Long, 68, was fixing up a two-bedroom house for him and his wife. After the August storm, he found remnants of it …

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Russian Tactics Make Secret Tanker Oil Switching Harder to Trace

Two near-identical oil tankers trying to beat western sanctions. A secret transfer of Russian crude halfway between Iran and Oman. A supertanker giving a false location. Welcome to the modern trade in Russian petroleum as western sanctions get toughe...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Squishmallows Maker Can Sue Build-A-Bear Over Alleged Plush Toy Knockoffs

A U.S. judge rejected Build-A-Bear Workshop’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that its Skoosherz plush toys were unauthorized knockoffs of Squishmallows, the popular plush toys made by a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. I...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Man Admits to Tracking Drivers, Programming Keys, Stealing and Then Reselling Vehicles

A New Jersey man has admitted to orchestrating a multistate car theft and fraud ring that involved tracking drivers, programming keys, stealing their cars, and reselling their vehicles. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said that Warren Guerrier plea...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Man Admits to Tracking Drivers, Programming Keys, Stealing and Reselling Vehicles

A New Jersey man has admitted to orchestrating a multistate car theft and fraud ring that involved tracking drivers, programming keys, stealing their cars, and reselling their vehicles. U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said that Warren Guerrier plea...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Massachusetts Insurance Agency Deland, Gibson Acquires Atchue Agency

Independent insurance agency Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates in Wellesley, Massachusetts announced it recently acquired Atchue Insurance Agency, which is located about 35 miles away in Worcester. Founded by Earl V. Atchue, Jr. in 1982, Atchue Ins...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Fleming Files Lawsuit Against James River, Alleging Fraud During JRG Re Acquisition

Fleming Intermediate Holdings filed a lawsuit against James River Group Holdings Ltd., alleging it had been defrauded during its $300 million acquisition of JRG Reinsurance Co. Once the deal agreement was signed in November 2023, Fleming said, &#8220...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Air Canada Hit by Court Ruling After Ex-Maintenance Workers Sue

Air Canada may be forced to pay at least C$100 million ($73.2 million) to about 2,200 former workers after a Quebec court issued a ruling in their class-action lawsuit against the airline. The amount would cover lost wages, lost benefits, …

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

UK’s First Coal Mine in 30 Years Faces Climate Court Test

Climate groups called a decision to open the UK’s first deep coal mine in more than three decades unlawful, claiming that approval was granted without taking into account all the harmful emissions that it would produce. Lawyers for Friends of &...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Allianz Makes $1.6 Billion Offer for 51% of Income Insurance

Allianz has made an offer to acquire at least 51% of Singapore’s Income Insurance Ltd. in a transaction valued at about S$2.2 billion ($1.6 billion). The planned acquisition will significantly strengthen Allianz’s presence in Singapore, E...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Allianz Makes $1.6 Billion Offer for 51% of Singapore’s Income Insurance

Allianz SE agreed to buy a majority stake in Singapore’s Income Insurance Ltd. for about S$2.2 billion ($1.6 billion) to strengthen its presence in Asia. The German company plans to acquire at least 51% of Income Insurance for S$40.58 a …

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Viewpoint: Deepfake Fraud Is On the Rise. Here’s How Insurers Can Respond

It is interesting—and telling—that one of the concerns around generative artificial intelligence has to this point largely revolved around copyright infringement. The most high-profile lawsuits around GenAI have so far centered on the idea that this...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Surplus Lines’ Commercial Growth; Fla. Litigation Costs Reached New High in 2023

Two recent reports reflect trends in Florida’s property insurance market, including the continued growth of surplus lines’ business and an uptick last year in litigation costs for carriers. The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office reporte...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024