Monthly Archives: <span>March 2016</span>

Thousands of Acres Burn in Oklahoma, Kansas

Authorities say a wildfire that started in Oklahoma and spread into Kansas has burned tens of thousands of acres of rural land. The National Weather Service says the fire started Tuesday night near the Kansas border in Woods County, Oklahoma. …

Michigan Auto Insurance Fee for Catastrophic Injuries to Increase

The annual auto insurance fee that Michigan drivers pay toward caring for people catastrophically injured in crashes is rising to $160, a $10 increase. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association announced the new per-car assessment for the 12 months starting July …

Texas Regulators: Mid-March Hail Storm Was Insurance ‘Catastrophe’

The Texas Department of Insurance has determined the weather-related event that occurred March 16, 2016, through March 17, 2016, in the counties of Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, and Parker is a catastrophe for the purpose of claims processing. The designation allows …

Michigan Insurance Regulators: Over 8,600 Consumers Assisted in February

The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services said its Office of Consumer Services assisted 8,698 consumers across the state and helped recover $422,195 during February. DIFS Director Patrick McPharlin said some notable recoveries staff assisted with were: Helping a …

R-T Specialty to Acquire Hartan Brokerage in New York City

R-T Specialty LLC, the wholesale brokerage unit of Ryan Specialty Group LLC in Chicago, announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Hartan Brokerage, a wholesale insurance brokerage operation based in New York …

Kentucky Sues Volkswagen Over Diesel Emissions Cheating

Kentucky sued Volkswagen AG and its luxury units on Tuesday claiming the German automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scheme violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act. “Volkswagen must be held accountable for its false and misleading promotion and sales of its vehicles …

PartnerRe Appoints EXOR’s Elkann as Chairman; Clarke Named CEO

EXOR SpA Chief Executive Officer John Elkann was named chairman of PartnerRe, the reinsurer that his investing firm acquired for [$6.9 billion on March 18, 2016 in its largest takeover]. PartnerRe President Emmanuel Clarke was named CEO of the reinsurer, …

Strong Reinsurer Results Hide Difficult Business Conditions: S&P, Fitch Reports

Weak business conditions in the reinsurance industry are being masked by a low level of catastrophes and a high level of reserve releases, said Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Fitch Ratings in new reports. “Stripping out these two factors, …

Uber, Lyft Will Begin Operations at Seattle Airport

Ridesharing services, like Uber and Lyft, will soon be allowed to pick up riders at Washington’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Seattlepi.com reported the Port of Seattle announced this week it would allow the companies to operate at the airport as part …

Treasure Island Restaurant on Vegas Strip Evacuated After Kitchen Fire

Officials say no one was hurt in a small kitchen fire at a restaurant at the Treasure Island hotel-casino property on the Las Vegas Strip. Casino spokeswoman Michelle Knoll said the grease fire in the Senor Frog’s Restaurant and Bar …