Insurance Journal

7 Reasons to Consider Program Business Opportunities

As the insurance marketplace continues to harden, many carriers may be looking to further tighten their underwriting guidelines and appetites – primarily as it relates to new business. Accounts they may have considered, quoted or written in the past...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Fire Chasing May be Latest Iteration of Unscrupulous Tactics

Fire chasing may be only the latest example of some public claims adjusters and contractors using aggressive and underhanded tactics to tap into property insurance payouts. In hurricane-prone Florida, a state with more than its share of disasters and...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Property Restoration Industry: A Culture in Need of Repair?

By Jim Sams Jatiek Smith, a Bloods gang member convicted on extortion and racketeering charges in New York, blamed ruthless competition and a culture of violence in the fire restoration industry for the accusations made against him by federal prosecu...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Expert: ‘Unceasing Onslaught’ of Legal Ads Worth Your Attention

By Allen Laman Often alarming, misleading or just plain annoying – when mass tort lawsuit advertisements pop up on a TV screen, many consumers instinctually reach for the remote. An expert believes that the ads are worth your attention. “Especi...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Michigan Man Sues After Losing Eye from Ghost Gun Incident

By Corey Williams A 19-year-old Michigan man who lost his right eye after being shot with a firearm made from a ghost gun kit filed a lawsuit against his former best friend who accidentally shot him and the Pennsylvania company …

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Creditors Want Court to Force Giuliani to Insure His Florida Condo Until It’s Sold to Pay His Debts

Full-time Florida residents and snowbirds aren’t the only ones having trouble obtaining insurance on their condominiums. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor and longtime attorney for Donald Trump, has told a bankruptcy judge that he can&#8...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

EEOC Charges, Enforcement, Recoveries Up in 2023: Report

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported heightened enforcement activity, charge activity and settlements in 2023, according to a recently released report on the agency’s performance during fiscal year (FY) 2023, coverin...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

M&A Due Diligence: Understanding the Issues and Solutions to the Pitfalls

Mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry continue steadily despite a slowdown due to COVID-19 and higher interest rates. After the price and terms are negotiated and a Letter of Intent (LOI) is executed, then it is time for the …

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

U.S. E&S Sector Is Booming … But Is it Too Much Business to Handle?

The excess and surplus (E&S)lines and specialty insurance market is booming and looks set to continue its upward trajectory. The question is whether the sector currently has the resources to take advantage of these business opportunities. The fin...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Six Defendants to Stand Trial in Michigan Insurance Fraud Case

Six defendants will stand trial on charges alleging the group operated an auto insurance fraud scheme targeting Michigan residents involved in automobile collisions, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Anita Fox, Director of the Michigan Depart...

Posted: Mar 31, 2024

Insurance Industry Readies for Historic Losses From Baltimore Bridge Tragedy

It’s very early in the recovery process and already the numbers are large. Insured losses for the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could be as much as $2 billion to $4 billion, according to Morningstar. …

Posted: Mar 29, 2024

Baltimore Bridge Collapse to Cause Logistics Headaches, Not Supply Chain Crisis

The catastrophic bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic on Tuesday is causing some logistics headaches, but is unlikely to trigger a major new U.S. supply chain crisis as competing East Coast ports are poised to …

Posted: Mar 29, 2024

Ki Enters Partnership With Beazley, Expanding Capacity for Digital Follow Syndicate

Ki, the digital and algorithmically driven Lloyd’s syndicate, announced a partnership with Beazley whereby Ki will offer additional follow capacity from Beazley syndicate 2623/623 through its digital platform from April 2, 2024. Ki said this is...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Institutional Investor GIC Finalizes Acquisition of Insurance Broker Miller

Miller, the London-based independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced that GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has completed the acquisition of Cinven’s shares in Miller. GIC and private equity firm Cinven acquired Miller in...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

J&J to Pay $75 Million to Settle Mississippi’s Baby Powder Suit

Johnson & Johnson will pay $75 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit filed by Mississippi over the company’s talc-based baby powder, according to people familiar with the matter, resolving litigation in which the state had sought...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Fidelis Partnership Gets ‘In Principle’ Approval From Lloyd’s to Launch Syndicate

The Fidelis Partnership, the Bermuda-based managing general underwriter, announced that Lloyd’s has granted “in principle” approval for the launch of Syndicate 3123 in collaboration with Fidelis Insurance Holdings Ltd. and Hampden A...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Yellen Sees Insurance Payouts Helping Fund New Baltimore Bridge

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she expects insurers’ payouts to help cover some of the costs of rebuilding the Baltimore bridge that collapsed earlier this week. “My expectation would be that, ultimately, there’ll be insurance...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Berkeley to Halt Ban on Natural Gas Piping in New Buildings

The city of Berkeley, California, has agreed to halt enforcement of a ban on natural gas piping in new homes and buildings that was successfully opposed in court by the California Restaurant Association, the organization said. The settlement follows...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

UK Court Rules That $10 Billion Jet Dispute Should Be Heard in London, Not Moscow

A $10 billion battle between reinsurers and aircraft leasing companies seeking payouts for more than 200 jets stuck in Russia should be heard in London rather than Moscow, London’s High Court ruled on Thursday. Aircraft lessors, including Irela...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Boston Settles Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Man for $4.6M

The city of Boston will pay about $4.6 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the police killing of a mentally ill man in 2016. The mother of Terrence Coleman, 31, filed the federal lawsuit six years ago. …

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Automated Braking Would Not Have Prevented Pennsylvania Train Crash

The collision of three Norfolk Southern trains in Pennsylvania early this month highlights the shortcomings of the automated braking system that was created to prevent such crashes. None of the circumstances the National Transportation Safety Board d...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

FBI: Murdaugh Lied About Where Stolen Money Went and Who Helped Him Steal

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh didn’t tell the truth when FBI agents repeatedly asked him where more than $6 million he stole ended up and whether another attorney not yet identified helped him steal from clients and his law firm, federal &#823...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Biden’s Biofuel Push Risks Dethroning Corn as King of US Crops

American farmers will plant more corn than soybeans in 2024 — as they have in most years for over a century. But beyond that, a green diesel boom threatens to dethrone the king of all crops. President Joe Biden’s decarbonization …

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Baltimore Bridge May Trigger Historic Marine Loss, Lloyd’s of London Says

Insurance payouts for the Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could be among the largest ever in marine insurance, according to Lloyd’s of London Chief Executive Officer John Neal. “This has the potential...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024

Wisconsin Supreme Court: Amazon Drivers Can Be Declared Employees

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that declared some delivery drivers for Amazon were employees as the state argued, not independent contractors as the online retail giant contended. The court,...

Posted: Mar 28, 2024