Insurance Journal

Verizon Users Report Service Outage Affecting Thousands

Verizon Communications Inc. is suffering a widespread service outage, with thousands of users reporting lack of cell service on Wednesday afternoon. Verizon, the largest US wireless provider, said it was aware of the issue and trying to resolve the p...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

WV Program That Helped Tackle Abandoned Buildings is Running Out of Money

From their home on Charleston’s, West Virginia’s West Side, Tina and Matt Glaspey watched the house on the corner of First Avenue and Fitzgerald Street go downhill fast. A family with a young daughter left because they didn’t feel s...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

CrowdStrike Defeats Shareholder Lawsuit Over Huge Software Outage

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by CrowdStrike shareholders who said the cybersecurity company defrauded them by concealing its inadequate software testing and quality assurance procedures, before a July 2024 outage crashed more than 8 million Mi...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

FBI Says Arson Suspect Targeted Mississippi Synagogue That Was Bombed in 1967

A suspect in an arson fire at a synagogue that was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan decades ago admitted to targeting the historic institution because it’s a Jewish house of worship and confessed what he had done to his …

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Baldwin Group Acquires Illinois’ Obie

Florida-based global insurance broker The Baldwin Group announced it has completed the acquisition of Creisoft, Inc. and its subsidiaries, collectively known as Obie, a Chicago-based embedded insurance distribution business specializing in insurance...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Business Moves: ALKEME Expands in US With Addition of 5 Agencies

Brokerage ALKEME Insurance said it has acquired five agencies over the last quarter to enhance its property/casualty offerings while expanding its employee benefits capabilities across the United States. “With strong property and casualty capab...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

People Moves: Roggenbaum Named Amerisure Vice President of Strategic Growth

Amerisure, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, named Doug Roggenbaum vice president of strategic growth. Roggenbaum brings nearly four decades of experience with Amerisure, having joined the organization in 1987. He was named regional vice p...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Kansas Man Sentenced to Probation for Insurance and Identity Fraud

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt announced a Sedgwick county man has been sentenced to 24 months of probation for insurance and identity fraud. Marquez Gails, age 43, pleaded guilty on January 9, 2026, in Sedgwick County District Court to...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Deadly Fire at Assisted Living Facility Prompts Massachusetts Safety Reforms

Massachusetts is enacting a series of safety reforms at assisted living facilities including increased inspections and better access to records following a fire last year that killed 10 residents, the governor announced Monday. The recommendations, d...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Texts Show Texas Officials’ Confusion About Campers’ Fate Amid Flood

The first 911 call from the historic Camp Mystic on the Guadalupe River came in at 3:57 a.m., when a caller told the dispatcher she was stranded on a hill and cabins around her were filling with water. Around the …

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Main Break Leaves Many El Paso, Texas Residents Without Water

More than 100,000 residents in the Texas border city of El Paso were left with little to no water after a main break over the weekend, and it was expected to take till midweek for operations to return to normal, …

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

People Moves: AXA XL Reinsurance Promotes Longbottom and Pedro; Matthias Appointed Global Head of Zu...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at AXA XL Reinsurance and Zurich Insurance Group. A summary of these new hires follows here. AXA XL Reinsurance Promotes Longbottom and Pedro AXA XL Reinsurance announced it has promoted...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Expense Ratio Analysis: AI, Remote Work Drive Better P/C Insurer Results

In separate reports last week, AM Best and Morgan Stanley analyzed P/C insurance industry expense ratios, with one reporting a 2.4-point drop over the past decade and the other projecting another potential 2.0-point decline by 2030. While both report...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Tesla Agrees to Mediation That Could Resolve EEOC’s Racism Lawsuit

Tesla agreed to enter mediation that could resolve the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit accusing Elon Musk’s electric car maker of tolerating severe and widespread harassment of Black employees at its Fremont, Califo...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Trade and War Worries Haunt Davos as World Seen ‘on a Precipice’: WEF Survey

A global backdrop increasingly threatened by trade disputes and inter-state conflict is how respondents in a World Economic Forum survey see things panning out in 2026. The annual poll of 1,300 leaders and experts by the organization that will next &...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Consumer Acceptance of Telematics Widens, Says Survey

Consumer acceptance of telematics technology in auto insurance is growing, creating opportunity for insurers who can cater to tech-driven drivers who crave personalized pricing and service. Today, 82% of policyholders view telematics apps positively,...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

2025 Was World’s Third-Warmest Year on Record: EU Scientists

The planet experienced its third-warmest year on record in 2025, and average temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming over three years, the longest period since records began, EU scientists said on Wednesday. The data from the...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Update: 2025 Among World’s Three Hottest Years on Record: WMO

Last year was among the planet’s three warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, as EU scientists also confirmed average temperatures have now exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming for the longest sinc...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Sedgwick Launches Global Specialty Platform in London

Sedgwick, the Memphis, Tennessee-based risk and claims administration provider, announced the launch of its Sedgwick Global Specialty platform in London, a dedicated solution designed to handle the largest and most complex losses. The platform repres...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Drones Hit Two Tankers in Black Sea, Driving Up War Insurance Costs

Drones struck two oil tankers in the Black Sea on Tuesday, including one chartered by U.S. oil major Chevron, the companies involved said, as they sailed toward a terminal on the Russian coast. Both were en route to the Yuzhnaya …

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

UK Actuaries Sound Alarm on Loss Models Downplaying Climate Risk

The finance industry is relying on climate models that understate the speed at which temperatures are rising, according to a fresh study by Britain’s main association of actuaries. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, which conducted its stu...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Warburg Mulls $1 Billion Sale of London Insurance Broker McGill

Warburg Pincus is considering a possible sale of UK insurance broker McGill and Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. The private equity firm has held early talks with potential advisers to explore options for London-based McGill, t...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

Markets/Coverages: Aon Expands Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program to $2.5B

Aon said it has expanded the capacity available in it Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program from $1 billion to $2.5 billion. The expansion responds to accelerating global investment in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital infrastruc...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

India Digital Insurer Acko Said to Seek Banks for $350 Million India IPO

Indian digital insurer Acko Technology & Services Pvt. has invited pitches from investment banks for a potential initial public offering to raise as much as $350 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The IPO, which may include a...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026

EPA Aims to Speed Permitting for Energy, AI Infrastructure With Rule Change

The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed a rule revising Biden-era pollution protections for waterways, a move the Environmental Protection Agency said would speed permitting of energy and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The proposed rule...

Posted: Jan 14, 2026