Insurance Journal

After Beryl, Houston Area Farmers Come Together to Face Unique Challenges

PORTER, Texas (AP) — Hurricanes cause trouble for everyone, but farmers have a whole other list of problems. Beryl has been no exception: Over the past week, the storm damaged crops, soaked rabbits and chickens, terrified goats, put horses at …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Illinois Contractor Faces $354K in Fines for Exposing Workers to Fall Hazards

Federal workplace safety inspectors have cited an Illinois construction contractor for again exposing employees to falls from elevation — the industry’s leading cause of injury and death — as they did residential framing work, this time at four...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Ping An Insurance Seeks $3.5 Billion in Convertible Bonds

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is seeking to raise $3.5 billion through the sale of convertible bonds, joining a wave of issuance in Asia in recent months. The company is offering the bonds due in 2029 with a coupon of …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Wall Street Pushes Back After Activists Escalate Protests

Against a backdrop of intensifying climate protests targeting Wall Street, the heavyweights of US finance are pushing back against what they characterize as a fundamentally flawed debate. For more than a month now, scores of activists have mounted ne...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Beryl’s Remnants Spawned 4 Indiana Tornadoes, Including an EF-3: NWS

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Beryl spawned at least four tornadoes in Indiana, including an EF-3 twister with winds as high as 140 mph (225 kph) that tore through a small city in the state’s southwestern …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

SC Supreme Court Urges Legislative Fix to Pre-existing Health Issue in Workers’ Comp

South Carolina lawmakers next year may be asked to revamp a workers’ compensation employment test that judges have relied on for more than 50 years, if the state Supreme Court has its way. The court last week said that a …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Texans Endure Second Week Without Power After Hurricane Beryl

CHANNELVIEW — Juan Piñón’s long-sleeve black shirt and forest green pants were soaked. He used a shovel to scrape concrete mix out of a blue wheelbarrow and throw it on the ground. The 43-year-old construction worker was hard at work …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Growing Southern California Wildfire Threatening 4,100 Structures

Evacuation orders and warnings are in place for roughly 4,200 people due to a growing wildfire in southern California that is threatening 4,100 structures. The Shelly Fire in Siskiyou County is now 15,232 acres and is 3% contained. It is …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Alphabet in Talks to Buy Wiz in $23 Billion Cyber Deal

Google parent Alphabet Inc. is in talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter. A deal may be worth as much as $23 billion, said the person, who asked not to be identified …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Natural Disasters Cost China $13 Billion in January-June

Natural disasters such as flooding, drought and extreme temperatures cost China 93.16 billion yuan ($12.83 billion) in the first half of this year, with almost 33 million people affected, the government said on Friday. Heavy snow, 22 strong earthquak...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Hacker Says AT&T Paid About $400,000 to Erase Sensitive Data

A hacker who claims to have stolen sensitive call and text logs from AT&T Inc. said they were paid about $400,000 to erase the data trove. An analysis of a Bitcoin wallet address provided by the hacker shows a transaction …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

The World’s Power Grids Are Failing as the Planet Warms

Under the blazing Adriatic sun, life almost stopped in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica earlier this summer. Cars and buses were stuck in gridlock as traffic lights went out, the internet crashed, and security alarms blared in reaction to a sudde...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Report: Impact of BEC Attacks on US Companies Misunderstood

A new report asserts the impact of business email compromise incidents on U.S. companies is likely underestimated and misunderstood—and it shows that multifactor authentication and cybersecurity awareness programs may be the top two risk management c...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

A Troubling Phrase: ‘Just a Category 1 Hurricane’

Here’s a troubling phrase hurricane forecasters hate but often hear: “It’s just a Category 1. Nothing to worry about.” Or even worse: “Tropical storm? Just some wind and rain.” But look at Hurricane Beryl, which hi...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Letters Don’t Seem to Sway Judge: Oxendine Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sentenced former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine to serve three-and-a-half years in prison after Oxendine pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, plus three years supervised rele...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Project 2025 Plan to End NFIP Welcomed by Some, Rejected by Others in Insurance

A plan by a politically conservative group to dismantle the National Flood Insurance Program, if Donald Trump is elected president, has been met with approval from a private flood insurer but sharp skepticism from economists and insurance agents who...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

New Hampshire Suspends License for 2 Years for Trucker Acquitted in Motorcycle Crash

A commercial truck driver who was acquitted in the 2019 deaths of seven motorcyclists won’t be eligible to get his license back for another two years, New Hampshire safety officials said. A jury in 2022 found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty &#8...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

New Hampshire Suspends License of Trucker Acquitted in Motorcycle Crash for 2 Years

A commercial truck driver who was acquitted in the 2019 deaths of seven motorcyclists won’t be eligible to get his license back for another two years, New Hampshire safety officials said. A jury in 2022 found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty &#8...

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Hershey, Walgreens, Paqui Spicy Chip Maker Sued Over Teen’s Death After Online Challenge

A lawsuit was filed Thursday against Hershey, Walgreens and several others in the case of a Massachusetts teen who died after he participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge that was widely promoted on social media. Harris Wolobah, a 10th …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Hershey, Walgreens, Paqui Chip Maker Sued Over Teen’s Death After Online Challenge

A lawsuit was filed Thursday against Hershey, Walgreens and several others in the case of a Massachusetts teen who died after he participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge that was widely promoted on social media. Harris Wolobah, a 10th …

Posted: Jul 15, 2024

Managing Stress Effectively

This post is part of a series sponsored by PCF Insurance Services. PCF Vice President of Operations Benefits, Kirk Benson is joined by INGUARD’s Joe Gaydaychuk; Shannon Willoughby, Preventive Health Specialist; and The Bowen Center’s Jami...

Posted: Jul 14, 2024

Detroit to Pay $300K to Man Wrongfully Accused of Shoplifting

By Ed White The city of Detroit has agreed to pay $300,000 to a man who was wrongly accused of shoplifting and also change how police use facial recognition technology to solve crimes. The conditions are part of a lawsuit …

Posted: Jul 14, 2024

Insurers Seek Subrogation Over Ohio Train Derailment

By Ezra Amacher Four insurance companies filed a subrogation lawsuit against Norfolk Southern in federal court, alleging the rail carrier’s negligence led to the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and subsequent fire, explosion and rele...

Posted: Jul 14, 2024

Excessive Heat Concerns in Workers’ Comp

By Allen Laman With temperatures pushing above 90 degrees in parts of the Midwest and Northeast United States, many American workers are clocking in during what AccuWeather described as an “intense heat wave that is impacting more than 135 mill...

Posted: Jul 14, 2024

Fraud’s Foe: How MFA Shuts the Door on Cybercriminals

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, securing user identities is paramount. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a formidable defense, requiring multiple verification methods to authenticate identity. This layered approach ensures that...

Posted: Jul 14, 2024