New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The property insurance community has divided into two camps after the firestorm that erupted over the potential financial rating downgrades for 17 Florida insurance carriers. One camp argues that the Demotech rating firm has gone too far, has lumped healthy insurers in with those teetering on … Read more
As temperatures soar to unprecedented levels from Europe to Asia this summer, some Japanese insurance companies have begun selling policies to protect people struck down by the heatwave. Sompo Holdings Inc. and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., two of the country’s biggest insurers, are offering policies specifically designed to cover medical expenses arising from heatstroke. Japan … Read more
In Portugal’s Douro Valley on July 7, a wildfire burned close to Oscar Quevedo’s Quinta da Alegria vineyard. By the middle of the night, flames surrounded it. The vines around the edges, amounting to about a hectare, burned. In his 39 years, Quevedo says, “I had never seen such a big and fast fire in … Read more
A quarter of firms operating at Lloyd’s of London have reached the commercial insurance market’s target for 35% of leaders to be women, though progress on diversity was “incremental,” Lloyd’s said in a report on Monday. Lloyd’s has been trying to improve diversity in the market, which employs around 45,000 people in insurance and broking … Read more
European companies turning to coal as an alternative to Russian gas face a hit to their environmental, social and governance ratings, leaving them scrambling to impress investors still vocal on sustainability. Despite an energy crisis following sanctions on Russia, major European investors say they will not relax their investment principles of reaching net zero targets … Read more
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Funding for the insurtech sector held steady in the second-quarter of 2022, coming in at roughly $2.4 billion, the same as the overall funding figure recorded for first-quarter 2022, according to data released by CB Insights last week. The consistent quarter-over-quarter dollar figure comes after a … Read more
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Uber Technologies Inc. on Friday accepted responsibility for covering up a 2016 data breach that affected 57 million passengers and drivers, as part of a settlement with U.S. prosecutors to avoid criminal charges. In entering a non-prosecution agreement, Uber admitted that its personnel failed to report … Read more
Ukraine said on Monday it hoped a U.N.-brokered deal aimed at easing global food shortages by resuming grain exports from the Black Sea region would start to be implemented this week. Moscow brushed aside concerns that the deal could be derailed by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Saturday, saying it … Read more
Fidelis Insurance Holdings Ltd. announced its intention to create a new managing general underwriter, which, subject to regulatory approval, will be separated from the existing balance sheet insurance companies, called Fidelis Balance Sheet Companies. This new structure will allow each entity to focus on its core functions and specialisms, and provide clients, brokers and other … Read more
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! The plaintiffs’ lawyer that Florida insurers love to hate could see his two-year suspension completed this month. But new allegations by the state Bar could result in new sanctions or even a permanent disbarment. A 25-page complaint filed last month charges that Miami attorney Scot Strems … Read more