Insurance Journal

Louisiana Dept. of Insurance: $92M in Payouts Collected in 2022

Louisiana Commissioner Jim Donelon announced the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) helped consumers collect over $92.3 million in payouts in addition to the original amounts offered by insurance companies in 2022. The additional money is the re...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Australia’s Mavco Insurance Group

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Perth, Western Australia-based Mavco Insurance Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Mavco is a general insurance broker and risk management firm serving corporate clients throu...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Hong Kong’s FWD Weighs Pre-IPO Round as Listings Slow: Sources

FWD Group Holdings Ltd. is weighing a private funding round as the Asian insurer’s long-planned initial public offering is set to be delayed again amid weak market conditions, according to people familiar with the matter. Hong Kong billionaire...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Oil Majors Should Pay $12B to Repair Damage in Nigeria: Report

Oil companies including Shell Plc and Eni SpA should pay $12 billion to repair environmental devastation in Nigeria’s crude-rich Niger Delta, a new report said. More than six decades of pumping oil has left Bayelsa state “in the grip of &...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Update: Oil Majors Should Pay $12B to Repair Damage in Nigeria: Report

Oil companies including Shell Plc and Eni SpA should pay $12 billion to repair environmental devastation in Nigeria’s crude-rich Niger Delta, according to a new report. More than six decades of pumping oil has left Bayelsa state “in the g...

Posted: May 16, 2023

More States Adopting Professional Standards for Public Adjusters

A movement to establish professional standards for public adjusters gained ground this year, with lawmakers in five states passing bills that impose new controls over a trade that already requires a license in 46 states. Brian S. Goodman, general cou...

Posted: May 16, 2023

AM Best: Only Two Impaired Insurers in ’22, Down From 10 in ’21

Despite the reversal seen in the U.S. equity market and rising inflation and interest rates, P/C insurers performed well in 2022, according to the latest report on the long-term impairment rates of AM Best-rated, U.S.-domiciled insurance companies. T...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Supreme Court Rejects Teva Challenge to $235 Million GSK Award in Patent Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc’s challenge to a $235 million award to GlaxoSmithKline LLC in a patent dispute over generic drugs involving a heart medication. The justices turned away Israel-based...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Cyclone Mocha Is One of Strongest Storms Recorded in North Indian Ocean

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mocha have moved further inland over Myanmar after coming ashore Sunday with winds of 155 miles per hour on the US wind scale. At its peak the winds reached 175 mph, tying it with 2019’s …

Posted: May 16, 2023

Elon Musk Loses Bid to End SEC ‘Muzzle’ Over Tweets

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected Elon Musk’s bid to modify or end his 2018 securities fraud settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that required a Tesla Inc lawyer to approve some of his tweets in advance. …

Posted: May 16, 2023

New Zealand Pledges $720M for Cyclone and Flood Recovery

The New Zealand government said on Sunday it was allocating NZ$1.1 billion ($720 million) to help communities recover from a cyclone and floods that lashed the country this year. The funds from the 2023 budget are to cover “basics” of &#8...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Cleaning Up Financial Reporting

This post is part of a series sponsored by InsurBanc. Applying for an agency loan can be stalled by poor financial reporting practices. Here’s what lenders expect. I was recently reviewing a loan application from an independent insurance agency...

Posted: May 16, 2023

More States Adopted Professional Standards for Public Adjusters This Year

A movement to establish professional standards for public adjusters gained ground this year, with lawmakers in five states passing bills that impose new controls over a trade that already requires a license in 46 states. Brian S. Goodman, general cou...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Florida Governor Signs Bill Limiting Skate Rink Liability

Florida’s governor has signed into law a bill that could help reduce premiums for the dwindling number of roller-skating rinks in the state. Senate Bill 1458, sponsored by state Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, and others, absolves skate r...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Some Florida Insurers Stop Altering Adjuster Reports, But Many Claims Still Not Paid

Even before the Florida Legislature adopted the Insurer Accountability Act of 2023, requiring insurers to stop altering independent adjusters’ damage estimates without providing transparency, a number of Florida property insurers and adjuster f...

Posted: May 16, 2023

California Workers’ Comp Written Premium was 14% Above 2021

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California issued its Quarterly Experience Report, an update on California statewide insurer experience valued as of Dec. 31, 2022. Highlights of the report include: California written premiu...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Police Seeks Witnesses to Crash That Killed 4 When SUV Rear-Ended Tractor-Trailer

Connecticut state police are seeking witnesses as investigators try to determine the cause of a crash that killed four people on Interstate 95 in Stamford. All four victims were in an SUV that rear-ended a tractor-trailer that had slowed for …

Posted: May 16, 2023

People Moves: Crest Hires Weaver as Benefits Consultant in Colorado

Crest Insurance of Fort Collins welcomes Jason Weaver to their team as an employee benefits consultant. Weaver previously worked as a benefits specialist at Pinnacle Financial Services and founded and operated Mountain Plains Benefits. In 2019, he jo...

Posted: May 16, 2023

Seafood Company Denies Discrimination Claim by Immigrant Worker

A Massachusetts seafood business said Thursday that it did not discriminate against an immigrant worker who complained to the state. The worker, Paula Fortes, is a Black woman who immigrated to the U.S. from Cape Verde, an island nation off …

Posted: May 16, 2023

Texas Windstorm Insurance Group Getting Update on Cat Funding for 2023 Season

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Board of Directors will meet at the Austin Marriott South on May 23 at 9 a.m. In addition to the TWIA board’s consideration of routine association updates, the board will receive an update on reinsuranc...

Posted: May 15, 2023

New Hampshire High Court Rejects Cat Urine Analogy in Overturning Hotels’ COVID Insurance Win

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has overturned a trial court that had found for a group of 23 hotels claiming they were entitled to insurance payments for business interruption losses caused by contamination of their properties by COVID-19. Agreeing...

Posted: May 15, 2023

People Moves: Gallagher Re Names Kerton as CEO for UK Region, Succeeding Wakefield; Swiss Re Corpora...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Gallagher Re and Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. A summary of these two promotions follows here. Gallagher Re announced the appointment of Ian Kerton to the role of CEO of the reinsuran...

Posted: May 15, 2023

Supreme Court Spurns Dispute Over Monsanto Class-Action Settlement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a dispute involving a lawsuit against Bayer AG’s Monsanto Co that could rein in a common form of settlement in class action cases under which money is awarded to charities and …

Posted: May 15, 2023

Clients Buy Higher Limits as Q1 Cyber Increases Follow Moderation Trend: Marsh

For the fifth straight quarter, pricing increases for cyber insurance continued to fall at the start of 2023. According to a new U.S. Cyber Purchasing Trends report from broker Marsh, prices were up 11% in first quarter 2023 compared to …

Posted: May 15, 2023

Ohio Opioid Settlement Panel’s Records Must Be Public, Court Says

The state panel that will decide how Ohio distributes more than half of the money it will receive from a nationwide settlement regarding the opioid addiction crisis must make its records publicly available, the state Supreme Court ruled. In their &#8...

Posted: May 15, 2023