Insurance Journal

Markets/Coverages: Liberty Mutual Launches New Management Liability Package

Liberty Mutual recently announced ProShield, a packaged solution providing private companies and non-profits streamlined access to directors & officers, employment practices liability, fiduciary, and crime coverages Brent Tan has been appointed t...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Family of Slain California College Student Sues for Wrongful Death Nearly 30 Years Later

The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school, alleging it caused Kristin Smart’s murder through negligence. Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Microsoft Says Russia-Linked Group Hacked Employee Emails

Microsoft Corp. said a Russian-linked hacking group attacked its corporate systems, getting into a “small number” of email accounts, including those of senior leadership and employees who work in cybersecurity and legal. The company said...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Are Florida Insurance Premiums Hurting the Real Estate Market? Sales Down, Prices Up

State and national news reports have raised questions about the impact that high property insurance premiums in Florida have had on the real estate market and if the costs are prompting some residents to consider moving elsewhere. The Miami Herald &#...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Envelop Risk Launches Cyber Reinsurance Lloyd’s Vehicle With Managing Agent Apollo

Envelop Risk, the data-driven cyber re/insurance and analytics specialist, announced the launch of Envelop SPA 1925, a dedicated cyber reinsurance special purpose arrangement (SPA) at Lloyd’s, in partnership with managing agent Apollo. Through...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

SC Roads Chief Retires, Praised for Disaster Response, Highway Improvements

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s well-respected transportation leader Christy Hall is retiring after spending the past decade overseeing billions of dollars in highway spending after the state raised its gas tax to fix its roads. Hall&#82...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Online Rumors Partly to Blame for Water Pressure Drop in Jackson, Manager Says

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Law enforcement agencies are investigating whether social media rumors about a potential water outage prompted people to quickly fill bathtubs with tap water in Mississippi’s capital during a cold snap and cause a drop in...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Hurricane-Force Winds Cause Chaos, Blackouts Across Europe

Storm Isha is causing travel disruption and power blackouts across northern Europe, as it brought hurricane-force winds to the UK and other parts of the region. The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning across the UK on Monday, although …

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Looming Waste-Landslide Disaster Prompts Review of Environmental Laws in Denmark

A landslide of contaminated soil that threatens to pollute a water stream in Denmark has prompted the nation’s government to consider tightening environmental and corporate laws. Danish authorities have enlisted 100 workers and 80 trucks to avo...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Trudeau to Hold National Summit in Response to Canada’s Massive Spike in Auto Thefts

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is holding a summit next month to coordinate a national response to a massive spike in auto thefts across Canada in recent years. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, has borne the brunt of the crime...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Two Australian Resource-Rich Regions Brace for Potentially Destructive Storms

Two Australian resource-rich regions are bracing for potentially damaging storms that could lead to flooding, the latest threats after months of extreme weather events. A tropical low developing in the Coral Sea off Queensland state is likely to beco...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

USGS: Nearly 75% of US Could Experience A Damaging Earthquake

Nearly 75% of the U.S. could experience damaging earthquake shaking, a recent U.S. Geological Survey report shows. A USGS-led team of more than 50 scientists and engineers in the latest USGS National Seismic Hazard Model created a color-coded map tha...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

New FEMA Rules Aim to Cut the Red Tape of Disaster Recovery

Anyone who has lived through a natural disaster and then applied to the federal government for assistance knows that it can be a lengthy, frustrating and bureaucratic process. New rules announced Friday by the federal agency in charge of emergency &#...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Hedge Funds Rake in Huge Profits Betting on Catastrophe Risk

For hedge funds, the science of catastrophes helped generate the best returns of any alternative investment strategy last year. The calculus around natural disasters such as hurricanes and cyclones fed record gains at funds managed by firms including...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Class Action Filed Over Builders Mutual’s Own Data Breach in 2022

North Carolina-based Builders Mutual Insurance Co. has become one of the first mid-size property/casualty insurers to face a class-action lawsuit over a data breach on its own computer system, a 2022 cyber attack that may have exposed the personal da...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Class Actions Filed Over Builders Mutual, Progressive’s Own Data Breaches

Progressive Casualty Insurance and North Carolina-based Builders Mutual Insurance Co. have been served with class-action lawsuits over data breaches on their own computer systems in 2022, cyber attacks that may have exposed the personal data of more...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

37 Massachusetts Communities Qualify for State Disaster Aid for December Flooding

Thirty-seven Massachusetts communities damaged by flooding last year will be getting a share of $10 million in disaster relief funding, the governor’s administration said Saturday. The funding being released is from the supplemental budget the...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Family of Inmate Who Died by Suicide in Virginia Jail Gets $1.75M From PsychIatrist

The family of a man who died by suicide at a Virginia jail after his antipsychotic medication was discontinued has received a $1.75 million settlement in a civil lawsuit. Records at U.S. District Court in Alexandria show that the family …

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Western U.S. States Had Among Highest Car Theft Rates, Report Shows

A new report shows Colorado has the most car thefts, while populous California made the top 10 list. The report’s authors analyzed data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, which showed the amount of motor vehicle thefts in each state &#82...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Erie Strategic Ventures Backs Wagmo, Roots Automation, Trust & Will

Erie Strategic Ventures, the venture capital arm of Erie Insurance, has announced investments in three new portfolio companies: Wagmo, Roots Automation and Trust & Will. The three investments support startups operating in tech-enabled pet wellnes...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

Take Heed of the Tortoise and the Hare: Speeding Doesn’t Win

This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group. There’s much wisdom to be extracted from Aesop’s timeless fable “The Tortoise and the Hare” when it comes to driver speeding. As the Hare discovered, speeding doe...

Posted: Jan 22, 2024

A Deep Dive into the Diligent Effort (Search) Requirement

The excess and surplus lines insurance market is a rapidly-growing avenue for the placement of insurance policies in the United States. Many alien (non-U.S.) insurance carriers write surplus lines insurance coverage via their inclusion on the NAIC II...

Posted: Jan 21, 2024

Workplace Stress

Work-related stress and worker burnout is a critical topic in today’s talent market as nearly every insurance organization across the nation competes to fill open positions. But stress at work has reached epidemic proportions, according to the...

Posted: Jan 21, 2024

A Woman’s Place Is in the Construction Insurance Space

As workplace barriers for minority groups have been challenged, diversity has improved in traditionally male-dominated professions. While it’s encouraging to see the work being done to attract and promote women in the construction profession, t...

Posted: Jan 21, 2024

Louisiana Property Initiatives Are Meeting Expectations, Ex-Commissioner Says

Outgoing Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said that two initiatives to address the state’s property insurance market are meeting expectations. Companies participating in the Insure Louisiana Incentive Program have collectively writt...

Posted: Jan 21, 2024