Insurance Journal

New York AG Sues Manufacturer Over Magazine Lock Used in Buffalo Massacre

New York’s attorney general sued a gun accessory manufacturer Thursday for selling a lock that can be easily removed to attach high-capacity magazines, which are illegal in the state. The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers...

Posted: May 15, 2023

Illinois Governor Signs Law Giving Benefits to Chicago First Responders Disabled by COVID

Gov. J.B. Pritzker this week signed a law providing full disability benefits to Chicago police officers and firefighters struck by COVID-19 before vaccines were available, presiding over an emotional statehouse ceremony which marked the end of a fina...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Montana Governor Signs Reform Package Aimed at Lowering Insurance Costs

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte approved three legal reform measures intended to provide consumer protections and disclosures and reduce frivolous lawsuits with the ultimate goal of lowering costs and increasing the availability of insurance. “...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Patriot Growth Adds Savannah Agency to the Team

Patriot Growth Insurance Services, a broker and insurance services firm with offices in Pennsylvania and Florida, has added Savannah, Georgia-based Sherrill & Co. to its constellation. Sherrill offers property and casualty insurance and life and...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Amsterdam’s Phillips to Pay $62M to U.S. for China Sales Misconduct

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reported that Amsterdam-based health technology firm Koninklijke Philips N.V. will pay more than $62 million to resolve charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) with respect to its...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Catalytic Theft Claims Triple in Two Years, Crime Bureau Report Finds

Insurance claims for catalytic converter thefts nationwide jumped by 288% in just two years, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said in a new report. Claims rose from 16,660 in 2020 to 64,701 in 2022. Half of the thefts were in …

Posted: May 12, 2023

Tennessee Governor Signs School Safety Bill; Gun-Maker Protection Bill Pending

Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday signed into law legislation designed to place more school resource officers in Tennessee public and private schools, funnel additional money into school security upgrades, and require every school to submit annual safety pl...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Ex-Mississippi Governor Wants Apology for News Outlets’ Welfare Fraud Comments

Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant gave notice Wednesday that he will sue a news organization unless it apologizes for statements he said some of its employees made about him in connection to misspending of welfare money that was intended to …

Posted: May 12, 2023

Connecticut Lawmaker, Other Driver Both DUI in Fatal Crash

A Connecticut state representative and a wrong-way driver were both over the legal limit for alcohol when they were killed in a highway crash in January, according to government officials and state police. Middletown Democrat Quentin Williams, 39, di...

Posted: May 12, 2023

No Chemicals Aboard 9 Freight Railcars That Derailed in Pennsylvania

Nine railcars from a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in Pennsylvania, with no hazardous chemicals on board and no reported injuries, fire department and company officials said. The derailment happened late Wednesday outside of New Castle, the...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Senate Panel OKs Rail-safety Bill But Fate Uncertain

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a rail-safety bill introduced after the derailment of a freight train in East Palestine, Ohio, but its fate remains uncertain due to significant Republican opposition. The bill would increase inspections of tr...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Fortitude Re Opens Tokyo Office; Names Kawafuji as Representative

Fortitude Re announced the opening of its Tokyo office and the appointment of Hajime Kawafuji as its chief representative. Kawafuji joins Fortitude Re from global investment firm Carlyle, where he was a senior member of the Japan buyout advisory team...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Auto Claim Severity Up 35% over Pre-Pandemic Rates – LexisNexis Report

Claim severity for bodily injury and property damage increased by 35% since 2019, while collision claim severity has jumped 40%, LexisNexis Risk Solutions says in a new report. The data broker’s 2023 U.S. Auto Insurance Trends report says the a...

Posted: May 12, 2023

World’s Governments Race to Regulate AI Tools

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT are complicating governments’ efforts to agree on laws governing the use of the technology. Here are the latest steps national and international gove...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Toyota Blames Human Error for Leak of Vehicle Data of 2 Million Users in Japan

Toyota Motor Corp. said on Friday the vehicle data of 2.15 million users in Japan, or almost the entire customer base who signed up for its main cloud service platforms since 2012, had been publicly available for a decade due …

Posted: May 12, 2023

Texas Shell Refinery Unit Had History of Malfunctions Before Fire

The units at a Houston-area Shell refinery that caught fire on Friday repeatedly malfunctioned in recent years without action from Texas regulators. Since the start of 2022, the British oil giant reported at least four malfunctions at one olefins uni...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Michigan Attorney General Charges 6 With Criminal Enterprise Targeting Accident Victims

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Director Anita Fox from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) announced a criminal enterprise and related charges against. six individuals who are accused of auto insurance fraud and takin...

Posted: May 12, 2023

People Moves: BevCap Names Raun Director of Client Consulting; Spot Names Goy CEO

BevCap Management Names Raun Director of Client Consulting BevCap Management, LLC has named Ben Raun to its team as director of client consulting. Raun has 15 years of experience in property and casualty claims, risk management consulting and custome...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Michigan Paper Mill With Fungal Infections Outbreak Reopens

ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) – A northern Michigan paper mill has resumed operations after closing for three weeks to deal with an unusual outbreak of fungal infections. The Billerud Paper Mill in Escanaba reopened Monday, following a deep cleaning rec...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Hackers Aim to Find Flaws in AI

No sooner did ChatGPT get unleashed than hackers started “jailbreaking” the artificial intelligence chatbot – trying to override its safeguards so it could blurt out something unhinged or obscene. But now its maker, OpenAI, and othe...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Auto Insurance Results ‘Historically Bad’ in 2022: S&P

In 2022, the U.S. private auto insurance industry reported its worst underwriting results in over two decades, according to a S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. The net combined ratio for the sector — when excluding policyholder dividends —...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Climate Change Not ‘Serious Risk’ to Financial Stability, Fed’s Waller Says

Climate change does not pose such “significantly unique or material” financial stability risks that the Federal Reserve should treat it separately in its supervision of the financial system, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursda...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Kentucky DOI Hosts Virtual Session on Local Government Premium Taxes

The Kentucky Department of Insurance will hold a virtual meeting Monday to discuss changes to local government premium taxes due to take effect later this year. Kentucky law allows cities and counties to set taxes or fees on some types …

Posted: May 12, 2023

China’s Communists Appoint Chief of New Financial Regulatory Body

China’s Communist Party appointed Li Yunze, vice governor of Sichuan province, as the party chief of its new financial regulator, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said on its official WeChat account on Wednesday. Re...

Posted: May 12, 2023

Mom of Virginia Boy Who Shot Teacher Doesn’t Know How Son Got Gun

Four months after a 6-year-old Virginia boy shot and wounded his teacher as she taught class in Newport News, an attorney for the boy’s mother said it still is not clear how the boy got the gun. Police have said …

Posted: May 12, 2023