Former Propane Worker Charged in Virginia House Blast That Killed Firefighter
A former employee of a propane supplier has been charged in the death of a volunteer firefighter who died while responding to a house explosion in Sterling, Virginia in February, officials said this week. Roger Bentley was indicted Monday on …
Global Commercial Insurance Rates See 1st Quarterly Decline in Seven Years: Marsh
Global commercial insurance rates fell 1% in the third quarter of 2024 from the previous quarter, which marked the first time the index has recorded a quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2017, according to the Global Insurance Market …
Dark Fleet Oil Tanker Caught in Recent Collision Heads to China
A dark-fleet oil tanker that was recently involved in a crash in Southeast Asia is now on its way to China. Ceres I, an aging very-large crude carrier that’s suspected of transporting sanctioned oil, is en route to Zhoushan in …
Brazil to Sign Compensation Deal With Miners Over 2015 Dam Disaster on Friday
Brazilian authorities will sign on Friday a long-awaited reparation deal with miners Vale, BHP and Samarco over the 2015 Mariana dam collapse, the country’s presidential office said on Wednesday. The agreement will be signed in a ceremony attended by President …
New Rules Proposed to Block China, Russia, Iran From Accessing Bulk US Data
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday proposed new rules to protect federal government data or Americans’ bulk personal data from getting into the hands of countries like China, Iran and Russia by placing new limits on certain business transactions. The …
The Data Behind Rising Homeowners Premiums: By Peril and By State
The U.S. home insurance industry has experienced an upward trend in all-peril loss costs over the past seven years, according to a new report released by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The ninth annual LexisNexis U.S. Home Trends Report found that all-perils …
Florida’s Heritage Insurance Reports 5,400 Claims, $57M in Cat Losses From Milton
More loss and claims estimates are trickling in from carriers after Hurricane Milton caused widespread wind and flood damage in Florida this month. Tampa-based Heritage Insurance Holdings said in a preliminary statement that about two weeks after Milton made landfall …
McDonald’s Is Racing to Contain Fallout From E. Coli Outbreak
McDonald’s Corp. is trying to contain the fallout from a severe E. coli outbreak that appears to be linked to the slivered onions in its popular Quarter Pounder sandwiches. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced …
Penn State to Pay $1.25M to Resolve Claims of Cybersecurity Non-Compliance
The Pennsylvania State University has agreed to pay $1,250,000 to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in 15 contracts involving the Department of Defense (DoD) or National Aeronautics and Space …
80% of Residents Say New York City Is Unprepared for Climate Risks
A recent survey reveals that a 80% of New York City residents feel their city is unprepared for climate-related risks. The survey, conducted as part of new Economist Impact research supported by global multiline insurer Zurich Insurance Group, highlights significant …
Report Shows Opioid Use in California Workers’ Comp Continues to Go Down
A California Workers’ Compensation Institute analysis opioid prescription data between 2017 and 2023 from the California Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System builds on prior CWCI studies by tracking multiple opioid utilization metrics. The study examines …
Insurance Prices Threaten an Affordable Housing Oasis In Hawaii
Lahilahi Heen has lived for decades in a three-bedroom house surrounded by a carefully groomed garden in the lush Hawaiian Shores subdivision in Lower Puna. It’s also downslope from Hawaii’s most active volcano. Her house sits outside Pahoa Village in …
Unison Risk Advisors Adds Avondale as First to Join Its Non-Retail Division
Unison Risk Advisors (URA) reports that Avondale Insurance Associates has joined the firm and is the first company to join URA’s non-retail division. Established in 2006, Avondale Insurance Associates is an excess and surplus lines underwriting management company across all …
People Moves: HDI Global US Appoints Long as US Casualty Lead; Jenkins Joins Alliant Insurance Services as Senior Vice President
HDI Global U.S. Appoints Long as US Casualty Lead HDI Global Insurance Company (HGIC), the U.S. subsidiary of inter-national corporate and specialty insurer HDI Global SE (HDI), headquartered in Chicago, appointed Thomas Long as U.S. casualty lead. With an insurance …
Mining Dam Disaster Deal Should Curb Lawsuits Against Vale and BHP, Sources Say
An agreement by Vale, BHP and their joint venture Samarco to pay 170 billion reais ($29.85 billion) in compensation for a deadly dam collapse in Brazil could end more than a hundred lawsuits against the mining companies in the South …
Hurricane Milton Caused $1.5B-$2.5B in Losses to Florida Agriculture
Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in damage to Florida’s crops and agricultural infrastructure, according to a preliminary assessment released by the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on Thursday. The majority of Florida’s citrus …
GAO Urges OSHA to Address Ergonomic Hazards in e-Commerce Warehouses, Deliveries
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must do more to address ergonomic hazards at warehouses and delivery companies, where the number of injured workers in the growing sector are on the rise, a new report advises. The Government …
State Farm Campaign Aims to Provide Smoke Alarms to 1,300+ Texas Homes
State Farm will provide smoke alarms to more than 1,300 Texas homes during the Out to Alarm Texas 2024 campaign, the Insurance Council of Texas shared. The initiative was created in 2005 as a way mitigate the loss of life …
Louisiana Nursing Home Owner to Pay $8.2M for Misusing Assets During Ida
Louisiana nursing home owner Bob Dean Jr. and several companies he operated have agreed to an $8.2 million consent judgment to resolve allegations that they misappropriated and misused the assets and income of four nursing homes in Louisiana before and …
Trump Sued for Defamation by Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’
Donald Trump is facing a defamation lawsuit over comments he made during the September presidential debate about five men who were wrongly convicted in the 1989 jogger rape case and came to be known as the “Central Park Five.” The …