Insurance Journal

M4.2 Earthquake Confirmed in Northern California, Set off Quake Alert

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook part of Northern California between the state capital and the San Francisco Bay region on Wednesday, setting off automated quake alerts, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The 9:29 a.m. quake was centered in the ag...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Fortress Has Plowed $6 Billion Into Other Companies’ Lawsuits

Fortress Investment Group LLC is pitching an investment opportunity within an increasingly popular yet controversial corner of finance — funding other companies’ legal battles. The private equity firm is raising its second fund to invest in leg...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Horse Racing, Boat Manufacturer Announce Major Expansions in TN, KY

A manufacturer and a famous horse-racing operation are expanding in Tennessee and Kentucky, bringing millions of dollars in investment, hundreds of new jobs and the potential need for more workers’ compensation, property and liability coverage....

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

People Moves: Allianz Commercial Taps AIG’s Valencia to Lead Portfolio Solutions; Sompo Int’l Taps A...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Allianz Commercial and Sompo International. A summary of these new hires follows here. Allianz Commercial Taps AIG’s Valencia to Lead Portfolio Solutions Allianz Commercial has...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Pfizer to Pay $2M to Settle Alleged Gender Bias in Compensation at New York City Office

Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve alleged compensation discrimination affecting female employees at the federal contractor’s New York City headquarters. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it enter...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Markel Takes Minority Stake in UK-Based Tax MGA

Markel, the insurance operation within Markel Group Inc., announced a 49% strategic investment in Certa Insurance Partners, the London-based specialist tax MGA. This move will accelerate the UK-based tax specialist’s product development and geo...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

GEICO Lays Off 6% of Workforce and Will Require More In-Office Time

In a letter to employees, GEICO president and chief executive officer Todd Combs said the Berkshire Hathaway company is laying off 2,000 associates, or about 6% of the workforce. “This will allow us to become more dynamic, agile, and streamline...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Blast Reported Aboard Small Cruise Ship in Portland Harbor

One person was injured and passengers were evacuated Wednesday after an explosion in the engine room of a small cruise ship docked in Maine`s Portland Harbor, officials said. The injured person, a member of the crew, was taken to a …

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Insured Losses From Severe Convective Storms in US Top $50B for 1st Time: Aon

Insured losses from severe convective storms in the United States continued to increase during the third quarter, surpassing the $50 billion mark for the first time on record and accounting for roughly 60% of all global insured losses, according to &...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Alex Jones Must Pay $1.1 Billion of Sandy Hook Damages Despite Bankruptcy: Court

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to escape paying at least $1.1 billion in defamation damages stemming from his repeated lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled Thursda...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

New York’s Lawley Acquires Connecticut’s Shoff Darby Agency

Buffalo-based independent agency Lawley has acquired Connecticut-based Shoff Darby Companies, Inc., in what Lawley says is it largest acquisition to date. Lawley will add four locations and 75 employees in Connecticut, as well as increase insurance a...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Biggest Polluting Firms Failing on Short-Term Emissions Goals: Investor Pressure Group

Fewer than one in five of the world’s biggest polluting companies have short-term emissions reductions targets in line with keeping global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees Celsius, an investor pressure group said on Wednesday. The number of...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Storm Babet Hammers Scotland With Warnings of Risk to Life, Flooding

The UK’s Met Office warned of the possibility of severe flooding and loss of life in the northern part of the country for a second day as Storm Babet continues to hammer the region. Parts of eastern Scotland remain under …

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Rhine River’s Low Water Levels Provide ‘Further Evidence’ of Climate Change

The cost of shipping fuel along the Rhine river has surged as low water levels curb barges’ carrying capacity following a hot, dry September. The river is fed by glaciers and rain. But Alpine ice flows are declining each year …

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Oil Tanker Sails to Israeli Red Sea Port to Avoid Conflict

An oil tanker is hauling a cargo of crude toward an Israeli Red Sea port that’s seldom used for crude deliveries after the nation’s main import terminal on the Mediterranean was disrupted by the conflict with Hamas. The shipment underscor...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Ransomware Criminals Aiming at Third-Party Vendors in Hunt for ‘Big Game’

Ransomware victims have become less likely to pay extortion demands, but cyber criminals are changing their tactics by hitting third-party vendors and using data exfiltration instead of encryption when making ransom demands, according to a new report...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

AIG’s CEO Sees Pandemic, Wars and Climate Change Among Biggest Risks

American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Zaffino said the biggest challenge to the insurance sector over the last decade has been “unpredictable risks” including the pandemic, wars and climate change. “We&#821...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Music Publishers File Suit in Tennessee Against AI Company Over Song Lyrics

Oct 18 (Reuters) – Music publishers Universal Music, ABKCO and Concord Publishing sued artificial intelligence company Anthropic in Tennessee federal court this week, accusing it of misusing an “innumerable” amount of copyrighted so...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Family Alleges Negligence, Discrimination in Lawsuit Over Autistic Prisoner’s Death

Eleven days after 57-year-old Anthony Talotta arrived at a Pittsburgh jail, he died from what his family says was a treatable and preventable infection from a foot wound. Talotta, who had autism and developmental disabilities, had been brought to the...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Washington Commissioner Fines UnitedHealthcare $500K

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler imposed a $500,000 fine against UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company for reportedly failing to demonstrate how it administers its mental health and substance use disorder benefits in accordance with state...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Maryland Medical Waste Incinerator Fined $1.75M for Exposing Public to Biohazards

A medical waste processing company has pleaded guilty to dozens of environment-related charges and agreed to pay $1.75 million in fines after state prosecutors in Maryland accused a south Baltimore incineration plant owned by the firm of exposing the...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

Viewpoint: California’s Personal Auto Market: Steering Through Change

The withdrawal of major homeowners insurance companies in the California market made national headlines, but news just as concerning and impactful is California’s private passenger auto insurance market. Much like the homeowners market, the PPA...

Posted: Oct 20, 2023

AM Best Withdraws Credit Ratings of Civil Service Employees Insurance Co. and CSE Safeguard Insuranc...

AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B (Fair) from B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings to “bb” (Fair) from “bbb-” (Good) of Civil Service Employees Insurance Company and CSE Safeguard Insurance...

Posted: Oct 19, 2023

Higginbotham Adds Louisiana’s Bourg Insurance as Partner Agency

Higginbotham has joined forces with Bourg Insurance, a long-term family business with deep ties to the South Louisiana community. Founded in 1958 by Claude ‘Toby’ Bourg, Jr. and his wife Edith, Bourg Insurance is a personal and commercial...

Posted: Oct 19, 2023

Summer Heat May Have Cost Texas Economy $24 Billion: Dallas Fed

Each degree of warming in Texas slows the state’s economy, an analysis by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found. Extreme heat this year may have cost the Texas economy $24 billion, or reduced the state’s nominal gross &#8...

Posted: Oct 19, 2023