Insurance Journal

People Moves: Ames & Gough Adds Risk Strategies’ McGrath and Markel’s Stanchina

Virginia-based specialty insurance broker Ames & Gough has appointed Kevin McGrath as a client executive and vice president focusing on design firm clients. Based in Boston, McGrath began his career in insurance in 2014, serving as claims manager...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Elon Musk Withdraws Lawsuit Against OpenAI

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Tuesday moved to dismiss his lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman of abandoning the startup’s original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity and n...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Insurance Helped 46,000 Indian Women Avoid Deadly Work During Heat Waves

In the city of Ahmedabad in western India, temperatures climbed above 43C (109F) every day between May 19 and May 25, creating deadly hot working conditions for many of the laborers who keep the local economy humming. For 40-year-old Lataben …

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Massachusetts Town Loses $446,000 in Cyber Attack

The Massachusetts town of Arlington reports it has lost $445,945 in funds intended for a contractor working on a high school building project that were instead diverted to hackers orchestrating a wire fraud scam. Town Manager Jim Feeney alerted the &...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Wyoming Pass Landslide Brings Mountain-Sized Headache to Commuting Tourist Town Workers

A landslide that wiped out a vital two-lane road in western Wyoming is causing a mountain of headaches for thousands of commuting tourist town workers at the outset of the Yellowstone region’s busy summer season. After the slide sent both &#823...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Key Emerging Risks: Cascading Effects of Natural Disasters, Supply Chain Resilience

Key emerging risks facing global economies, businesses and the re/insurance industry include the cascading effects of natural disasters, the weakening resilience of supply chains and the repercussions of persistent underfunding of healthcare systems,...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

National Alliance Revises Name to ‘Risk & Insurance Education Alliance’

Refreshed visual identity reflects expanded, modern education initiatives Austin, TX., June 12, 2024 — The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research has changed its 55-year-old name and logo to reflect the nonprofit organization&...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Marsh McLennan Unit Mercer to Buy UK Pension Fund Manager Cardano

Insurance brokerage firm Marsh McLennan’s unit Mercer has agreed to buy Cardano, a London-based pension fund manager that oversees $66 billion of assets, to widen its foothold in the UK market. The deal, unveiled on Tuesday, will allow Mercer t...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Aon Launches $350M Insurance Program to Boost Capital Investments in Ukraine

Insurance broker Aon plc announced a $350 million, first-of-its kind insurance program with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, designed to build insurance capacity and accelerate new capital investment and economic recovery in Uk...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Carmakers Face UK ‘Dieselgate’ Lawsuits Worth at Least $7.6B, Lawyers Say

Some of the world’s biggest carmakers are facing 1.5 million lawsuits in Britain for allegedly cheating emissions tests that could cost them at least 6 billion pounds ($7.6 billion), claimants’ lawyers told London’s High Court on Tu...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

A London Hospital Is Asking Its Own Workers for Blood After Cyberattack

A London hospital, facing blood supply disruptions after a cyberattack last week paralyzed operations, is asking its own clinical workers for blood. King’s College Hospital is calling on staff with the blood type O to schedule donations, accord...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

P/C Insurers Record $9.3 Billion Q1 Underwriting Gain: AM Best

The U.S. property/casualty industry recorded a $9.3 billion net underwriting gain in the first three months of 2024, according to a recently published AM Best report. The gain marks a reversal of an $8.5 billion loss recorded in the same …

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Hard-to-Come-By Trust Is Top Driver of Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction: J.D. Power

Rate increases do not necessarily erode customer satisfaction with auto insurers, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Auto Insurance Study. The consumer intelligence company reported that when customers have a high level of trust in their insurer,...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

As Supreme Court Decisions Loom, a Legal Assault Is Weakening SEC’s Power

A legal assault on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is chipping away at its powers to oversee Wall Street and is likely to intensify with two imminent Supreme Court rulings. A U.S. appeals court last week overturned a major …

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Viewpoint: Why Insurers Should Have Confidence in Machine Learning Capability

Executive Summary: While insurance leaders plan to use machine learning capability in their pricing and underwriting processes, only a small proportion actually have embraced the technology. They need to take the next step because these are essential...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

PointeNorth Acquires McCrary-Daniels in Georgia, its Fifth Expansion This Year

PointeNorth Insurance Group, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the Southeast, has acquired McCrary-Daniels Insurance, based in Douglas, Georgia. It’s the fifth acquisition this year and the second in southern Georgia, PointeN...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Allied American Named Designated Claims Administrator for Lloyd’s

Allied American USA, a national claims management firm based in Tampa, is now a designated claims administrator for Lloyd’s of London. Allied, in business for more than 20 years, called the designation a “prestigious milestone,” all...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

California Is Sitting on Millions That Could Boost Wage Theft Response

As lobbyists for businesses and labor groups negotiate with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on how to amend a unique California labor law that allows workers to sue their bosses, the two sides seem to agree on at least one puzzling …

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Fatal House Explosion in Virginia Blamed on Man Igniting Gasoline

A man who died in a house explosion six months ago outside the nation’s capital deliberately detonated gasoline canisters in his basement that caused the blast, authorities said Friday. Arlington County police in Virginia went to the home of 56...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

As Demand for Food Delivery Skyrockets So Do Complaints About Drivers

A soaring demand for food delivered fast has spawned small armies of couriers — and increasing alarm — in big cities where scooters, motorcycles and mopeds zip in and out of traffic and hop onto pedestrian-filled sidewalks as their drivers …

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Workers’ Comp Fraud Task Force Uncovers $30M Scheme in California

A pair of businessmen were arraigned on multiple felony counts including insurance fraud, grand theft, and tax fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation found they allegedly underreported over $29.2 million in payroll to illegall...

Posted: Jun 12, 2024

Multibillion-Euro Court Battle Over Stranded Russian Jets Begins in Dublin

Some of the world’s largest aircraft lessors faced off against their insurers in a Dublin courtroom on Tuesday at the start of a months-long battle over around 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of insurance claims related to jets stranded in &#8...

Posted: Jun 11, 2024

Missouri Appeals Court Sides With Transgender Student in Discrimination Case

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A $4.2 million verdict that jurors ordered a Missouri school district to pay a transgender student is under consideration again. The Western District Missouri Court of Appeals found last Tuesday that a judge erred in …

Posted: Jun 11, 2024

Canadian Broker Axis Insurance Gets Investment From PE Firm, Lee Equity Partners

Axis Insurance Managers Inc., the Vancouver-based independent specialty insurance brokerage, announced it has received a significant growth investment from Lee Equity Partners LLC, a middle market private equity firm that specializes in the financial...

Posted: Jun 11, 2024

Kia Recalls Nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs Due to Fire Risk

Kia America is recalling nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs — and urging owners to park their cars outside and away from other structures until an issue posing a fire hazard is fixed. The front power seat motor on the affected Tellurides …

Posted: Jun 11, 2024