INSURANCE NEWS
New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Rates to Drop 3.9% for 2025
New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance Justin Zimmerman has approved a 6.9% statewide average decrease in rates for workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance. The new rates will apply to new and renewal policies effective January 1, 2025. The …
People Moves: Novak Joins Alliant Insurance Services’ Employee Benefits Group as SVP
Ron Novak joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, as senior vice president and producer within its employee benefits group. Novak, based in Greater Fayetteville, Arkansas, works with employers across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas. Novak has 29 …
State Farm Settles Immigration Discrimination Case with Justice Department
The Justice Department announced that it secured a settlement agreement with State Farm resolving the department’s determination that one of State Farm’s corporate offices in Richardson, Texas, violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it terminated a worker in …
Minnesota Aquarium Manufacturer Fined $226K for Alleged Pesticide Violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month a settlement with Underwater Creations Inc. of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to stop the sale of unregistered pesticide products. The settlement requires the company to stop production and pay a $226,652 penalty. …
Michigan Culver’s Restaurants Sued for Discriminating Against Transgender Employee
Five related entities operating Culver’s restaurants in Michigan violated federal law when they fired a transgender employee and three of his colleagues after they complained about harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit. The EEOC …
Clear Group Acquires Lilley Plummer Risks, Entering Wholesale Lloyd’s Broker Space
Clear Group, the UK independent insurance broker that is owned by Private Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, has entered the wholesale Lloyd’s broker space with the acquisition of Lilley Plummer Risks Ltd., a London-based marine and property specialist. Financial details …
Markets/Coverages: Hartford and Coalition Announce Cyber Capacity Partnership in UK
The Hartford and cyber-MGA Coalition announced a strategic, long-term capacity partnership in response to growing customer and broker demand for Coalition’s active cyber insurance approach in the UK market. The new capacity agreement combines the established strength of The Hartford …
Global Natural Catastrophe Insured Losses Exceed $102B During Q1-Q3 2024: Aon
The third quarter of 2024 saw a number of significant disaster events, which drove year-to date economic losses above at least $258 billion and insured losses of $102 billion, according to Aon plc in its Q3 Global Catastrophe Recap – …
Program Uses AI to Send Cash Payments to 1,000 Households Hit by Hurricanes
Nearly 1,000 hurricane-impacted households in North Carolina and Florida will benefit this week from a new disaster aid program that employs a model not commonly used by philanthropy in the United States: Giving people rapid, direct cash payments. The nonprofit …
AI Chatbot Pushed Florida Teen to Suicide, Lawsuit Against Its Creator Alleges
In the final moments before he took his own life, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III took out his phone and messaged the chatbot that had become his closest friend. For months, Sewell had become increasingly isolated from his real life as …
North Carolina Governor Approves $600 Million in Helene Recovery Funding
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper approved more than $600 million worth of disaster relief funding last Friday for western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene after legislators passed the recovery bill the day before. The bill is the second …
Judge Cans North Carolina Captive’s Claims That Managers Stole Software
Six months after a North Carolina captive insurance firm for nursing homes around the country accused its managers of poaching proprietary software and forming a competing management company, a federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs have pleaded no factual …