Insurance Journal

Surplus Lines Commercial Growth; Fla. Litigation Costs Reach 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

Insurers Tied to Apollo, KKR Buy Mortgages Outright in New Twist

Yield-hungry insurance firms are adopting an unconventional strategy: they’re skipping mortgage-backed bonds and buying the underlying whole loans outright. It’s a trend that’s picked up pace over the last few years. Last year alone...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Washington Adult Family Home Operator Facing Felony Charge in Alleged Workers’ Comp Scam

A Spokane, Washington woman who ran an adult family home while claiming she was too injured to work faces a felony charge in a $60,000 workers’ compensation fraud case. Serah Kamau, 52, reportedly operated her business, Brookhouse Adult Family...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Washington Adult Home Operator Facing Felony Charge in Alleged Workers’ Comp Scam

A Spokane, Washington woman who ran an adult family home while claiming she was too injured to work faces a felony charge in a $60,000 workers’ compensation fraud case. Serah Kamau, 52, reportedly operated her business, Brookhouse Adult Family...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Amazon Worker Injured Due to Repetitive Tasks Loses Workers’ Compensation Bid

An Amazon distribution center worker in Virginia whose job entailed repetitive lifting and stowing of items every day and who suffered rotator cuff tears has been denied workers’ compensation benefits because she failed to prove her injury resu...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Disaster-Struck Cities Fight for Aid as FEMA Funding Runs Low

A once in 200-years storm dumped 11 inches of rain over four hours on the central Massachusetts town of Leominster in September, washing away culverts, creating a sinkhole that swallowed cars at a dealership and flooding the city council chambers &#8...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Colorado Workers with Bird Flu Toiled in Heat, Without Effective Protective Gear

Colorado workers who contracted bird flu were working during extreme heat and under large fans, factors that made wearing protective equipment difficult and potentially contributed to their infections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent...

Posted: Jul 17, 2024

Navigating Hard-to-Place Workers’ Compensation: A Path Forward for High-Risk Businesses

This post is part of a series sponsored by PCF Insurance Services. Frank Fasano, Director of Sales at ToughComp, a PCF business, shares insight from his years of experience working within industries that experience challenges finding affordable worke...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

New Jersey’s US Senator Menendez Convicted of Bribery, Foreign-Agent Charges

US Senator Bob Menendez, the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat, was found guilty of bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt after a corruption trial focused on 13 gold bars, nearly $500,000 in cash and a Mercedes-Benz seized …

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

World Insurance Acquires Rhode Island’s Affiliated Insurance Managers

Insurance broker World Insurance Associates announced that it recently acquired the business of Affiliated Insurance Managers (AIM) of Warwick, Rhode Island. AIM was founded in 1937. Today the agency is primarily focused on commercial lines, while al...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

People Moves: Aon Taps Thomas From Lloyd’s as Head of Lloyd’s Capital; McLarens Names 2 Leadership A...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Aon and McLarens. A summary of these new hires follows here. Insurance broker Aon plc appointed Ed Thomas as head of Lloyd’s Capital within its Reinsurance Solutions Capital Adv...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Viewpoint: FEMA Flood Rule Will Lead to Safer Rebuilding Post-Disaster

FEMA issued a new rule that will increase the nation’s resilience to future flood disasters. The rule is amongst the first adopted by a federal agency that will require federally funded projects to be sited and designed with future climate &#82...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Markets/Coverage: Lemonade Expands Home Insurance Offering in UK

Lemonade, the New York-based insurtech, announced the launch of buildings and contents insurance in the United Kingdom in partnership with insurer Aviva. Expanding the company’s home insurance offerings in the UK, homeowners can now purchase ex...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Occupational Healthcare Firm Concentra Eyes $3.3 Billion Valuation in IPO

Concentra Group, a Select Medical unit, is eyeing a valuation of $3.30 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, joining a growing list of firms testing the market after a near two-year dry spell. The occupational health services company is &#8230...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

2024 OUTSTANDING CSR of the Year STATE WINNERS Announced

AUSTIN, TX, July 10, 2024 — Each year, a group of exceptional insurance professionals are selected to represent their states and then can compete to become the National Outstanding CSR of the Year. This prestigious award, regarded as the foremo...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Hurricane Beryl Caused $2.5-$4.5B in Estimated Insured Losses, Says Moody’s

U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Beryl will likely fall between $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, according to estimates by Moody’s RMS Event Response. Insured losses associated with the storm include wind, storm surge, and precipitation-induced...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Catastrophe Bondholders Sidestep Large Losses From Weather-Related Calamities

Last month, amid reports that Hurricane Beryl would become the earliest Category 5 hurricane in history, a group of money managers were busy trying to figure out whether their highly calibrated bets centered on natural catastrophes were about to take...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Hawaiian Residents Return Home After Crews Contain Wind-Swept Wildfire

Firefighters have contained a wind-swept wildfire that was threatening about 200 homes on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, authorities said late Monday night, and an evacuation notice for the area has been lifted. The fire burned 1.56 square miles of &#...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Sets, Closes at Record High

Berkshire Hathaway’s share price set a record high on Monday, reflecting investors’ confidence in Warren Buffett’s company, which is often regarded as a microcosm of the broader American economy. The price of Berkshire’s Class...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Amazon Must Comply With EEOC’s Pregnancy Bias Probe, Judge Rules

A New York federal judge has ordered Amazon.com to comply with a subpoena from a U.S. civil rights agency investigating claims that the online retailer discriminated against pregnant warehouse workers. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

TWIA Actuarial Committee Recommends 10% Rate Increase for 2025 Policies

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Actuarial & Underwriting Committee voted on Monday, July 15 to recommend that the TWIA Board of Directors approve a rate filing to increase rates by 10% for 2025 residential policies and by 10% for 2025 &...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Michigan Health Care System to Pay $30K Over Racial Discrimination Suit

Beaumont Health (now Corewell Health), a health care system in southeast Michigan, will pay $30,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Marathon Oil Reaches $241M Settlement for Air Quality Violations in North Dakota

The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil last week for alleged air quality violations at the company’s oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The Environmental Prote...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

CenterPoint Sued Over Hurricane Beryl Power Outages in Houston

A group of Houston restaurants that lost power for days after Hurricane Beryl sued the city’s main utility, accusing CenterPoint Energy Inc. of failing to adequately invest in infrastructure and respond to widespread power outages. The lawsuit,...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024

Crew of Capsized Oil Tanker Off Oman Still Missing, Maritime Center Says

The 16-strong crew of a Comoros-flagged oil tanker that capsized off Oman are still missing, the country’s maritime security center said on Tuesday, a day after the sinking was reported. The crew of “Prestige Falcon” comprised 13 In...

Posted: Jul 16, 2024