Insurance Journal

People Moves: Aventum Promotes Eldridge to MD; Aon Names Dando as EMEA Head of Strategy, Technology...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the re/insurance group Aventum, the broker Aon, and insurer Chubb. A summary of these new hires follows here. Aventum Promotes Eldridge to MD Aventum, the London-based re/insurance gr...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Witness Affidavit Not Needed Before ‘John Doe’ Auto Suit Filed – SC Supreme Court

A driver may file a “John Doe” civil action against an unknown driver, even without first obtaining an statement from a third-party witness. But an affidavit must be produced promptly upon request, the South Carolina Supreme Court decided...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Amazon Pulls Plug on UK Home Insurance Venture

Amazon has pulled the plug on its UK home insurance venture – a comparison website – after launching in October 2022. “Over the last year, we have been evaluating various businesses and programs, and as a part of that we’ve …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Reinsurance Market Likely to Begin Softening in 2025 as Capacity Rises in 2024: Fitch

Reinsurers’ underwriting margins are expected to peak in 2024 on the significant price rises and tighter terms and conditions achieved during 2023 and in the January 2024 renewals, which will likely lead to softer market conditions in 2025, acc...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Ford Recalls 2.24M Ford Explorer SUVs Over Trim-Retention Clips

Ford Motor said Wednesday it was recalling 2.24 million older Explorer sport utility vehicles worldwide because trim retention clips may not be properly engaged. The recall includes 1.89 million SUVs in the United States and covers 2011 through 2019...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Webster Bank Closes Acquisition of Medical Claims Firm Ametros

Connecticut-based Webster Bank has completed the acquisition of Ametros Financial Corp., a firm that administers medical claims settlements. Ametros provides post-settlement medical administration for those receiving funds from workers’ compens...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Specialty Market ‘Particularly Attractive’; Reason to Pause Elsewhere: Berkley CEO

W.R. Berkley CEO W. Robert Berkley, Jr. said he’s still got eyes on the specialty market, but maintains a cautious, more disciplined outlook on some lines of business, such as professional liability—especially public D&O. “The special...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Risk Strategies Acquires Medical Liability Agency in Virginia

National specialty insurance brokerage Risk Strategies announced it has acquired Professional Risk Associates, Inc. (PRA), a Virginia-based specialty healthcare insurance agency focused on medical professional liability. Founded in 1989 and licensed...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Mississippi Investment Firm Launches Insurance Agency

A Mississippi investment firm is braving a tight market and entering the commercial property/casualty world with a startup insurance agency. Twain Capital, formed in 2021, has launched Twain Insurance Agency, based in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Principa...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Maryland Settles Lawsuit With Tri-Gas & Oil Over Fuel Leak at Storage Facility

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced the settlement of a lawsuit against an Eastern Shore fuel storage facility, including a $600,000 penalty for pollution to groundwater and a nearby creek. The settlement resolves a lawsuit brought a...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

911 Call Shows What Happened When Young Man Entered Wrong House in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A concerned college student asked police if they’d seen his fraternity brother early one Saturday morning after he’d sent the 20-year-old home from a sports bar in an Uber. He hadn’t heard from his friend in &#...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Elderly Man Fatally Shoots Wife, Self at Florida Assisted Living Facility

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — An elderly man fatally shot his wife and then himself at an assisted living facility in Florida, police said Tuesday. Staff at the Addington Place at College Harbor facility found the couple dead in the …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Cyclone Kirrily Makes Landfall in Australia as Severe Storm

Australia is being lashed by damaging winds and heavy rainfall as Severe Tropical Cyclone Kirrily makes landfall, the biggest system to hit the Queensland coast in almost five years. Kirrily is crossing near Townsville as a Category 3 system, and &#8...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Disney Asks for Delay in Board’s Lawsuit Due to ‘Distracted District’

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Disney this week requested a second delay in a state court case involving its legal battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees over who controls Walt Disney World’s governing district, as the company accused them and t...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

EU Auditors Say Real CO2 Emissions From Most Cars Have Not Fallen

Real CO2 emissions from most passenger cars on EU roads are the same as 12 years ago despite reduction targets set in 2010 for newly registered vehicles, putting in jeopardy Europe’s green agenda, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said &#823...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

After $70 Billion Hit, Insurers Wake Up to Growing Risks of Severe Convective Storms

The insurance industry is grappling with a new kind of weather risk that’s increasingly driving its biggest loss category. While no single weather event caused more than $10 billion in losses for insurers last year, there were 37 thunderstorms...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Brown, Yale, Columbia Among Latest to Settle Financial-Aid Lawsuit

Brown, Yale and Columbia universities have agreed to pay a combined $62 million to resolve a lawsuit that accused them and others of favoring wealthy applicants, pushing total settlements in the case to $118 million. Lawyers for a proposed class &#82...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

People Moves: Coalition Nabs AIG’s Jones as Head of Global Claims

Robert Jones has joined Coalition as the head of global claims. He will step into the role Feb. 5. Jones previously spent 32 years at AIG where he most recently served as the executive vice president of financial lines, specialty …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Fox Can Challenge Smartmatic’s $2.7 Billion Defamation Claim Over 2020 Election

Fox Corp. can proceed with its claims that Smartmatic Corp.’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit wildly exaggerates the financial harm it suffered from broadcasts falsely accusing it of rigging the 2020 US election, a New York judge ruled. Rejecti...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Lawsuit Alleges HIV-Positive Inmate in California Died After Being Denied Medication

A lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died after being held in a Northern California jail alleges he contracted a preventable viral infection there when its medical staff denied him critical HIV medication for two months. When …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Home Surveillance Video Leads to Arrests for Insurance Fraud in Alleged Staged Auto Collision

A home surveillance video camera helped lead investigators to five Southern California residents for allegedly staging an auto collision to collect an insurance payout. Each defendant has been charged with one felony count of insurance fraud after an...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Home Surveillance Video Leads to Arrests for Fraud in Alleged Staged Auto Collision

A home surveillance video camera helped lead investigators to five Southern California residents for allegedly staging an auto collision to collect an insurance payout. Each defendant has been charged with one felony count of insurance fraud after an...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Sandy Hook Denier Alex Jones Eyes Settlement With Families, Bankruptcy Exit

March Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones could exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by late March or early April, his lawyer said on Wednesday after a judge decided families whom he owes $1.5 billion for lying about the 2012 school shooting …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

School Crossing Guard Beats City’s Bid to Stop Her Workers ‘ Compensation Benefits

The Virginia city of Chesapeake has lost its bid to deny workers’ compensation medical benefits to a school crossing guard who injured her wrist when she fell while keeping her eyes on children around her crosswalk The city argued that …

Posted: Jan 25, 2024

Construction Industry Outlook 2024: 7 Key Emerging and Continuing Trends

This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group. As construction industry professionals gear up for 2024, they are faced with a landscape marked by potential challenges, much like the preceding year. Recession concerns, persistent infl...

Posted: Jan 25, 2024