Insurance Journal

People Moves: Tokio Marine HCC Taps SCOR’s Hannay to Lead New Power Proposition; Miller Hires Kenned...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Tokio Marine HCC International and the broker Miller. A summary of these new hires follows here. Tokio Marine HCC Taps SCOR’s Hannay to Lead New Power Proposition Tokio Marine H...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Despite Deepfake and Bias Risks, AI Is Still Useful in Finance, Firms Told

A bank uses biased artificial intelligence outputs in a mortgage lending decision. An insurance firm’s AI produces racially homogeneous advertising images. Users of an AI system complain about a bad experience. These are just a few of the poten...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Powerful Winds Cause Destruction, Spark Wildfires in Australia’s State of Victoria

Powerful winds have killed a man and brought widespread destruction across Australia’s second-most populous state, leaving 530,000 homes and businesses without power and fanning fires that razed homes and injured five firefighters, officials sa...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Mississippi Governor Announces Law Enforcement Ops to Stem Capital City Crime

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Law enforcement officials have surged local, state and federal resources to Mississippi’s capital city for a new operation aimed at curbing violent crime, drug trafficking and other offenses, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tue...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Hamas-Linked Hackers Targeted Israeli Engineers Ahead of Oct. 7 Massacre: Research

A pro-Palestinian hacking group targeted Israeli software engineers as part of an attempt to dupe them into downloading malware weeks before the Oct. 7 massacre, according to findings from cybersecurity researchers at Alphabet Inc.’s Google. Th...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Georgia Senate Approves End to Direct-Action Suits vs. Truck Insurers

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia senators are moving to limit the ability of people to sue insurance companies directly in lawsuits over trucking accidents. The Senate voted 46-2 on Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 426, sending it the House for more …

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

West Virginia Bill Stokes Fears About Pesticide-Producing Logging Facility

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia bill approved by the House of Delegates on Tuesday that limits counties from regulating agricultural operations is stoking fears that a logging company could resurrect plans to build a toxic-spewing fumigation...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Facebook Faces $3.7B UK Mass Action Over Market Dominance

Facebook must face a collective lawsuit valued at around 3 billion pounds ($3.77 billion) over allegations the social media giant abused its dominant position to monetise users’ personal data, a London tribunal ruled on Thursday. Legal academic...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Trial in Fatal New Mexico Movie Shooting to Focus on How Live Ammunition Got on Set

The scheduled trial next week of a movie weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin may hinge on an enduring mystery: How did live ammunition find its way onto the set of a film set …

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Oracle Women Fought 7 Years for Equity, Only to Win an Extra Paycheck or Two

Oracle Corp. female employees who fought the company in court for almost seven years over gender-pay equity reached a $25 million settlement — a small price for the software giant that amounts to one or two paychecks for most of …

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Bankruptcy Judge Permits Insurance Payments for Bed Bath & Beyond Executives

The directors and officers of Bed Bath & Beyond will have their legal costs related to the retailer’s bankruptcy covered under a Zurich American Insurance policy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Vincent F. Papalia has stipulated that Zurich Insurance...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Casualty Reinsurance Renewals See Modest Price Hikes Despite Social Inflation: AM Best

Reinsurers in general maintained adequate capacity for casualty programs, despite concerns about social inflation and some recent reserve strengthening actions, according to a report from AM Best. For reinsurers, a relatively stable economic environm...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Tinder, Other Match Dating Apps Encourage Compulsive Use, Lawsuit Claims

Match Group was sued on Wednesday in a proposed class action claiming that its dating apps Tinder, Hinge and The League are designed to addict users, generating more profit for the company, rather than help them establish relationships. The plaintiff...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

People Moves: Kestenbaum to Manage New Burns & Wilcox Boston Office; ShoreOne Names Voss Claims Offi...

Burns & Wilcox Names Kestenbaum Managing Director of New Boston Office Insurance broker Burns & Wilcox, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, named Peter Kestenbaum managing director of its new Boston office. Kestenbaum joins Burns &#3...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Howden to Acquire Captive Manager ARM Group Holdings

Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group, announced it has agreed to acquire ARM Group Holdings Ltd., the parent of Alternative Risk Management, one of the largest independent insurance managers in Europe and a specialist in the formatio...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Vermont’s Consumer Protection Suit Against Energy Firms Returned to State Court

The federal district court in Burlington, Vermont recently granted the state attorney general’s motion to return the state’s consumer protection case against Exxon and other fossil fuel producers to state court. The federal court said tha...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Banks, Insurers Ordered to Report Sexism and Bullying Cases in Britain

Britain’s markets watchdog has ordered more than 1,000 banks, insurers and brokerages to report how many sexual harassment, discrimination and other non-financial misconduct cases they have recorded since 2021 and how they have dealt with them....

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

FWD Mulls Options for $10 Billion Insurer After IPO Delay, Sources Say

FWD Group Holdings Ltd., the Asian insurer controlled by billionaire Richard Li, is considering options including a potential stake sale after delaying a planned initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. The company could...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Regulators to Review Power System Performance During Recent Winter Storms

U.S. energy regulators have launched a review of the performance of the bulk power system during recent winter storms in January that brought Arctic air across much of North America, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said on...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Microsoft Says it Caught Hackers From China, Russia and Iran Using its AI Tools

State-backed hackers from Russia, China, and Iran have been using tools from Microsoft-backed OpenAI to hone their skills and trick their targets, according to a report published on Wednesday. Microsoft said in its report it had tracked hacking group...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Case Dismissed: Appeals Court Slams Expert Witness in Diabetes Drug Lawsuits

Multi-district litigation over the diabetes drug saxagliptin, a case that combined more than 80 suits from around the country, has failed because the plaintiffs’ sole expert witness was unreliable and did not show a causal link between the medi...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse And Cinderella Performers May Unionize

Workers who help bring Disneyland’s beloved characters to life — including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Cinderella — are looking to unionize. Labor organizers announced the campaign, saying performers want better safety conditions and scheduli...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

People Moves: Liberty Names Donatini and Collins VPs, Gootrad Business Development Specialist

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers named Rick Donatini and Tim Collins to vice president positions and Jules Gootrad as a business development specialist. Donatini joined the firm as vice president, employee benefits. Donatini has more than 30 yea...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

How Worker Won Workers’ Compensation for Mental Health Care After Car Crash Injury

A Virginia employer cannot assert that an injury is unrelated to a workplace accident while also arguing that the medical care for that injury is unauthorized; instead the employer must choose one or the other position, the Virginia Workers’ Co...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024

Missouri Insurance Department Report Highlights Cost and Lack of Coverage in High-Risk Areas

The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) issued an Earthquake Survey in December 2023 that shows a lack of understanding about risk and insurance coverage is a problem, while the cost and lack of available earthquake insurance coverage...

Posted: Feb 15, 2024