Insurance Journal

NFP Acquires Presidio Financial Services in California

NFP acquired Presidio Financial Services Corp. in Westlake Village, California. Presidio is an independent insurance brokerage that provides products tailored for physicians, doctors, healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals. Gisela Plazas,...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Push to Lower Wildfire Risk Across West Stumbles in Places

Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the U.S. West through a multi-billion dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth. Yet one year...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

FERMA Appoints Hedemark as President, Succeeding Wegener

The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) has appointed Charlotte Hedemark as the next president of FERMA. Her election was announced at the first meeting of the new FERMA Board following the Annual General Assembly in Brussels...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Disney Beats Investor Lawsuit over Feud with DeSantis

The Walt Disney Co. board did not act negligently when it criticized a sexual identity bill signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Delaware judge ruled on Tuesday, in a case the judge said was improperly directed by a conservative …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Disney Beats Investor Lawsuit Over Feud with DeSantis

The Walt Disney Co. board did not act negligently when it criticized a sexual identity bill signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Delaware judge ruled on Tuesday, in a case the judge said was improperly directed by a conservative …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Russia’s Arctic Shipping Dream Stumbles on Small Aging Fleet

Russia will struggle to meet its strategic goal of more than quadrupling Arctic sea shipments by the end of the decade as the nation cannot increase and upgrade its small, aging ice fleet fast enough, according to the Northern Sea …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Oil-Field Lawsuit Offers Rare Insight Into Harassment Complaints

A lawsuit set for trial in July against the world’s largest provider of drilling services will offer rare public testimony about the plight of women working in America’s oil fields. Jessica Cheatham, who worked as an engineer for SLB, pre...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Climate Change Leads to ‘Arctic Opening,’ Creating Key Emerging Risk: Swiss Re

Climate change is the cause of a key emerging risk identified by Swiss Re’s SONAR report, which is leading to the opening of previously frozen waterways in the Arctic and the creation of new shipping and trade routes. The economic …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

California Sits Far atop National EV Policy Scorecard List

California ranked first in strengthening policies to enable widespread use of electric cars, trucks, and buses, according to a national scorecard out on Wednesday that gives most states poor grades. The 2023 State Transportation Electrification Score...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Global Initiative Launched to Rate Corporate Carbon Offset Claims

A standard to assess companies’ claims about progress towards internal climate targets and their use of carbon offset credits was launched on Wednesday by a global initiative seeking to bring transparency and confidence to an unregulated market...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

TotalEnergies Faces Second Lawsuit Over Oil Projects in Uganda and Tanzania

Five activist groups have sued French oil major TotalEnergies for a second time over its projects in Uganda and Tanzania in a Paris civil court, they said on Tuesday, after an earlier fast-track attempt was dismissed in February. The French …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Anti-ESG Movement in U.S. Feeds Anxiety Among UK Investors

Investors in the UK are starting to worry that the anti-ESG movement may spread from the US and get a foothold on the other side of the Atlantic. The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), whose members oversee more …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Regulatory Weaknesses, Politics Driving Marketplace Exits, Industry CEOs Say

A trio of property/casualty carrier executives voluntarily offered their views on a growing insurance availability crisis in a state like California at an industry conference last week, pointing to regulatory disconnects and political issues as drive...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

How to Navigate Producer Licensing Complications to Sell Annuities

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. At the height of the pandemic, heightened fears and a greater awareness of mortality drove consumers away from annuities and increased demand for life insurance products. Now, as the world …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Georgia Laws on Ride-Share Insurance, Hospital Assaults Kick In July 1

Two Georgia laws take effect Saturday, July 1, that affect insurance for ride-share operators and, potentially, workers’ compensation claims from hospital workers. House Bill 529 lowers the minimum amount of uninsured and underinsured motorists...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Georgia Agents Name Washowicz President

The Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia this month installed Woodstock agent Wendi Washowich as president. Washowich is a client executive at Hamby and Aloisio Risk Management and Insurance in Atlanta and has been active in the IIAG for years, th...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Georgia Agents Name Washowich President

The Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia this month installed Woodstock agent Wendi Washowich as president. Washowich is a client executive at Hamby and Aloisio Risk Management and Insurance in Atlanta and has been active in the IIAG for years, th...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Travelers Must Pay $2M for Yacht Lost in Irma: Florida Law Bars ‘Technicality’ Denials

Travelers must pay a $2 million claim by the owner of a 92-foot-long yacht that was sunk by Hurricane Irma because Florida law does not allow insurers to deny claims based on inconsequential technicalities. A panel of the U.S. 11th …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

New York City Gets $25M for E-Bike Charging Stations to Prevent Battery Fires

After a series of fires involving faulty e-bike batteries including a recent blaze that claimed four lives, New York City officials announced Sunday that they are receiving a $25 million emergency grant from the federal government to fund scores of &...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Car Dealer Shielded From Liability in ‘Courtesy’ Car Accident

Massachusetts car dealerships that provide customers with a courtesy vehicle to use while their car is being repaired are protected by federal law from liability should the courtesy car be in an accident, despite a state law that presumes the …

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

DA’s Office Charges California Contractors with Workers’ Comp Fraud and Conspiracy

Individuals from two construction companies in California’s Bay Area were arraigned on charges of conspiring to misclassify workers to avoid paying workers’ compensation insurance, payroll taxes and insurance premiums. The first complaint...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Credit Ratings for New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal Downgraded

AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A-(Excellent) from A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “a-” (Excellent) from “a” (Excellent) of New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal...

Posted: Jun 28, 2023

Siemens and UCLA Say Data Compromised in MOVEit Data Breach

Siemens Energy and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) said on Tuesday they were among victims of the MOVEit hack that has affected scores of corporations, governments and other institutions in recent weeks. The hackers behind the wide-r...

Posted: Jun 27, 2023

Man and Stepson Die After Hiking in Extreme Heat in West Texas National Park

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) – A Florida man and his 14-year-old stepson died after hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend National Park in West Texas, according to officials. The 31-year-old man had been hiking the Marufo Vega …

Posted: Jun 27, 2023

Tornado and Other Severe Weather Kill 3, Damage Homes, and Knock Out Power in Multiple States

SHOALS, Ind. (AP) – A tornado struck an Indiana home, killing a man and injuring his wife while two people died in Arkansas after a tree fell onto a house there as severe weather rumbled through several states. The tornado …

Posted: Jun 27, 2023