Insurance Journal

Viewpoint: Get Ready Now for the Soft Market (Because It’s Coming)

Executive summary: Tony Buckle and John Carolin, co-founders of the boutique insurance consultancy UWX, analyze underwriter motivation during the soft phase of the market cycle. While average market prices are the hardest seen in years, some price so...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Four Miami Agents Charged with Getting Commissions on Falsified Life Insurance Policies

Four Miami insurance agents have been charged with submitting false life insurance applications and collecting commissions from John Hancock Life Insurance Co., state officials said Monday. Alexander Faneites, Nicolas Giraldo Gutierrez, Yuriatsi Carr...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Kentucky Clarifies Matching Law While Florida Insurers Get Limits on Replacement

Matching requirements for roofs and interior furnishings have been a tough issue in the property insurance industry for years. Recent developments show how insurers and regulators in different Southeast states are managing the mandates. In Kentucky l...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Contributory Doesn’t Nix Subsequent Negligence, Alabama Court Says in UM Case

The Alabama Supreme Court has handed down two decisions that could have an impact on uninsured motorist claim payouts and on how construction surety bonds and contracts are defended. In MSE Building Co. vs. Stewart/Perry Co., Buc-ee’s Ltd. and...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Lindberg’s 2nd Bribery Trial Delayed Until Spring

As expected, a federal judge has postponed Greg Lindberg’s second trial on bribery charges until sometime next spring. Lindberg was convicted in 2020 of attempting to bribe North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey in return for allowin...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Asbestos Wrongful Death Claim Allowed Against Employer as Workers’ Comp Exception

A Connecticut appeals court has revived a wrongful death claim that tests a narrow exception to the state law that makes workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy for most workplace deaths and injuries. Harold Dusto’s estate blames his d...

Posted: Oct 24, 2023

Q3 Net Income Up 45.7% at W.R. Berkley as it Handles Unabated ‘Burn’ of Social Inflation

Third quarter net income at W.R. Berkley Corp. increased nearly 46% compared to the same period last year to about $334 million. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based insurer’s consolidated combined ratio for the quarter improved to 90.2 from 92.1 a...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Q3 Net Income Up 45.7% at W.R. Berkley

Third quarter net income at W.R. Berkley Corp. increased nearly 46% compared to the same period last year to about $334 million. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based insurer’s consolidated combined ratio for the quarter improved to 90.2 from 92.1 a...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

After 189 Bodies Were Found in Colorado Funeral Home, Evidence Suggests Families Received Fake Ashes

A Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were discovered this month appears to have fabricated cremation records and may have given families fake ashes, according to information gathered by The Associated Press from customers and crematories...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Texas Cities Struggle to Quit Coal Power as Demand Rises and Market Incentives Favor Fossil Fuels

Two dates in recent memory have shaped the uncertain future of the Fayette Power Project, a coal-fired power plant near La Grange. First, on March 26, 2020, the Austin City Council approved an emissions-reduction plan that called for its city-owned &...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Illinois City to Pay $1.9 Million Settlement to Teen Shot by Officer in Gun Battle With Bank Robbery...

CHICAGO (AP) – A teenager who was shot and wounded during a 2019 shootout between suburban Chicago police and a bank robbery suspect inside a music school has reached a $1.9 million settlement with the city of Des Plaines. Rylan …

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Former Baylor Football Coach, Athletic Director Cleared From Title IX Lawsuits

WACO, Texas (AP) – A U.S. District Judge has dismissed former Baylor football coach Art Briles and former athletic direcor Ian McCaw from a federal Title IX lawsuit, ruling no reasonable jury could find them negligent in the domestic violence …

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Badger Mutual Insurance Company Downgraded by AM Best

AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to C++ (Marginal) from B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “b+” (Marginal) from “bbb-” (Good) of Badger Mutual Insurance Company based in Mil...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Escape Clause in Progressive Auto Liability Policy

Acuity and Progressive Specialty Insurance Co. disputed who should pay after a 16-year-old boy borrowed a friend’s car and crashed it into a utility pole in Streetsboro, Ohio. The driver was insured by Acuity through a policy issued to his &#82...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Med Sterilization Company Settles Georgia Exposure Lawsuits for $35 Million

ATLANTA (AP) — A medical sterilization company has agreed to settle nearly 80 lawsuits alleging people were exposed to a cancer-causing chemical, ethylene oxide, emitted from its plant outside of Atlanta. Details of the settlement were submitte...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

American Family Shuts Down Some Systems to Investigate ‘Unusual Activity’

American Family Insurance shut down “several business systems” after the insurer said it “detected unusual activity in a portion of its network” In an email to Insurance Journal, the Madison, Wisconsin-based insurer said its t...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Report: Young Driver Fatality Rates in the US Have Fallen Sharply

Crash and fatality rates among drivers under 21 have fallen dramatically in the U.S. during the past 20 years, a new report says, while noting young drivers are still the riskiest group behind the wheel. Using data from 2002-2021, a …

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Hurricanes Now Twice as Likely to Spin up from Minor to Whopper, Study Says

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said Thursday. Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a &#82...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Hurricanes Now Twice as Likely to Spin Up From Minor to Whopper, Study Says

With warmer oceans serving as fuel, Atlantic hurricanes are now more than twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from wimpy minor hurricanes to powerful and catastrophic, a study said Thursday. Last month Hurricane Lee went from barely a &#82...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

US Justice Department Issues Subpoenas to Tesla in Ongoing Probes

The U.S. Justice Department has sought documents and issued subpoenas to Tesla as it scrutinizes the automaker’s driver assistance system Autopilot and vehicle driving range, among other issues, the company said on Monday. Tesla said in a regul...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

People Moves: Sompo Int’l Taps Generali’s Conde-Salazar for Distribution & Client Relationships, AIG...

Sompo Int’l Taps Generali’s Conde-Salazar for Distribution & Client Relationships, AIG’s Marcén for Professional Lines in Iberia Sompo International announced two appointments for its Iberian Insurance operation, José María Cond...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

White Mountains to Acquire a Majority Stake in Bamboo in California

White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Bamboo Ide8 Insurance Services, LLC (“Bamboo”), an MGA focused on the California homeowners insurance market. White Mountains expects to invest...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

USI Insurance Services Acquires Cavanah Associates in Hawaii

USI Insurance Services acquired Honolulu, Hawaii-based Cavanah Associates Inc. Cavanah Associates is an independent brokerage firm specializing in commercial and personal risk insurance programs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. USI is an...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Report: ‘Climate-Exacerbated Wildfires’ Cost U.S. $394B-$893B Each Year

“Climate-exacerbated wildfires” cost the nation $394 billion to $893 billion each year in economic costs and damages, according to a Congressional report out this week. The range combines estimates from existing research on property damag...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023

Chemours Faces Dutch Criminal Probe on Emitting Forever Chemicals

Chemours Co. and its legal predecessor E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co will face a Dutch criminal investigation for the potential harmful effects of emitting forever chemicals in the Netherlands. Prosecutors said it decided to start an investigation...

Posted: Oct 23, 2023