Insurance Journal

Small Town Debates Students’ Pastry Mural. Is It Art or Zoning Violation?

CONWAY, N.H. (AP) – Bakery owner Sean Young was thrilled when high school art students covered the big blank wall over his doorway last spring with a painting of the sun shining over a mountain range made of sprinkle-covered chocolate …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

J&J Talc Unit Asks Judge to Halt Cancer Lawsuits as it Pursues $8.9B Settlement

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary is again asking a U.S. judge to pause tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging the company’s baby powder and other talc products cause cancer, as it seeks to resolve the litigation in bankruptcy after a …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Will Insurtech Help the Insurance Industry Survive a Hardening Market?

This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. Supply chain disruptions, increased consumer demands, a tight labor market, a global pandemic, a couple natural disasters, and a war. These are just a few of the causes that combined …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Russian Hackers Target Western Critical Infrastructure, UK Warns

The UK government’s cyber defense agency warned on Wednesday of an emerging threat to Western critical national infrastructure posed by hackers sympathetic to Russia and its war on Ukraine. Russia-aligned “hacktivists” have carried...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Fox News to Pay $787 Million to Settle Election Suit, Dominion Says

Fox News’s agreement to pay $787.5 million to settle a voting machine maker’s defamation lawsuit over the network’s 2020 election broadcasts leaves a similar, $2.7 billion suit by voting technology company Smartmatic Corp. to reckon...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Fox to Pay $787 Million to Settle Election Suit, Dominion Says

Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a voting machine maker’s lawsuit alleging the network defamed it by airing bogus claims that it rigged the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump, Dominion Voting Systems Inc. said. The n...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Hyundai Auto Canada Guilty of Safety Violation, Transport Canada Says

Transport Canada said on Tuesday Hyundai Auto Canada Corp pleaded guilty to six different counts of criminal charges for violating the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Hyundai Auto Canada failed to send out notices of safety defect within the prescribed tim...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Japanese Banks (and Insurers) Face Spotlight for ‘Gender Washing’ Women Managers

Some Japanese banks may soon come under the spotlight for potential “gender washing” over the way they count the number of women in management positions. Japan’s Financial Services Agency found a big discrepancy in responses from a...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

People Moves: Ascot Names Williams U.S. CIO; Falcon Expands Leadership Team; Everest Names Mulray Pr...

Ascot Group Names Williams U.S. CIO Ascot Group has appointed Owen Williams to the newly created role of chief information officer (CIO), Ascot U.S., headquartered in New York, New York. Williams has been working in the insurance and technology secto...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Canada’s Desjardins Is Seeking Property/Casualty Insurance Acquisitions

Canada’s Desjardins Group is seeking acquisitions in the property and casualty (P/C) insurance space as it seeks to boost its presence across the country, CEO Guy Cormier told Reuters on Tuesday. Cormier said the Quebec-based cooperative financ...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Only 3 Insurers Sign Up for Florida Re Plan and Hopes for a New Plan Are Fading Fast

After five years of tweaks to Florida’s insurance and tort laws, all designed to reduce the vast amount of claims litigation and – eventually – bring down property rates, many in the industry argue that there’s still one big piece …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

As NCCI Turns 100, a Look at What’s Now, What’s Next for Workers’ Comp

Editor’s note: This article first ran in Insurance Journal’s sister publication, Carrier Management, earlier this month. It was written by CM Editor Susanne Sclafane. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, which turns 100 years o...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Only 3 Insurers Sign Up for Florida Re Plan, and Hopes for a New Plan Are Fading Fast

After five years of tweaks to Florida’s insurance and tort laws, all designed to reduce the vast amount of claims litigation and – eventually – bring down property rates, many in the industry argue that there’s still one big piece …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Judge Says Baldwin Settlement in Fatal Nex Mexico Movie Set Shooting Sealed

A judge has agreed to seal from public view the terms of a proposed settlement agreement that benefits the son of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, in a wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin and an array of producers and …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

4 Penobscot Indians Accuse Maine Priests of Sexual Abuse

Four Native Americans who say they were abused by three Roman Catholic priests on their reservation in Maine are the latest to bring lawsuits since the state fully lifted the statute of limitations for child sex crimes. The Penobscot Nation …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Hackers Stole Arizona School Data; Teachers Left in the Dark

Classrooms across Tucson, Arizona, were ravaged by ransomware in January that locked up computer systems and forced teachers to revamp lesson plans. Officials in southern Arizona’s largest school district tried assuring students and staff for w...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Judge Allows Roberto Clemente Jr. Agency Fraud Claim Against Allstate

The son of the late Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente alleges that Allstate Insurance Co. committed fraud when it cancelled his family agency’s agreement after accusing them of fraud for using auto insurance discounts that th...

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

Families Displaced from California Neighborhood Seeking $2B

As a child, Lawrance W. McFarland lived on a small piece of land on a Native American reservation in Palm Springs he described as a “little world of its own,” surrounded by the parts of the city that were tourist …

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

People Moves: Ryan Specialty Promotes RT Specialty Leaders Austenfeld and Houska

Ryan Specialty Promotes RT Specialty Leaders Austenfeld and Houska Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. has promoted Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld and Chris Houska to CEO and president of their respective RT Specialty practices, the wholesale brokerage specia...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

SEC Sees Decentralized Crypto Platforms as Exchanges, Seeks Public Input

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission met on Friday to open public comment again on its proposal to expand the definition of an “exchange,” clarifying that its existing rules on exchanges also apply to decentralized cryptocurrency p...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

Texas Court: Exxon Covered by Contractor’s Excess Insurers

Two excess insurers may be liable for the more than $20 million that ExxonMobil Corp. paid to settle lawsuits filed by a contractor’s employees who were badly burned while working at an Exxon refinery, the Texas Supreme Court ruled. The …

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

Evacuation Order Lifted in Area near Indiana Plastics Fire

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) – Authorities in eastern Indiana lifted a dayslong evacuation order late Sunday afternoon for an area near a plastics fire after they said it was determined air quality and other environmental concerns related to the fire we...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

Minnesota Settles Lawsuit Against Juul

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota announced a settlement Monday in its lawsuit against Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria – the first of thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial – just ahead of closing arguments. T...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

Texas Freight Train Collision Injures 2

CHICO, Texas (AP) – A train collision and subsequent derailment injured two rail employees in Texas, according to a company official. A Union Pacific freight train collided with an unoccupied train that was parked on a siding around 7 p.m. &#82...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023

People Moves: Everest Names Mulray President of North America Insurance; Swiss Re Names Aon’s Quirog...

Everest Names Mulray President of North America Insurance Everest Re Group Ltd., the Bermuda-based property/casualty, and specialty re/insurer, announced the appointment of Mike Mulray as executive vice president and president of North America Insura...

Posted: Apr 18, 2023