Monthly Archives: <span>December 2024</span>

The War on Wildfires Is Going High-Tech

Last December, a farmer was burning dry grapevines in his vineyard in Deir Mar Moussa, a hill town a dozen miles east of Beirut known for its 18th century monastery and stands of pine forest. Usually this would be dangerous, …

National Flood Insurance Program Authorized to Continue Through Mid-March

The National Flood Insurance Program has been renewed for another three months. On Dec. 21, 2024, the day after it was set to expire, the president signed legislation passed by Congress that funds the federal government and extends the NFIP’s …

Flood Gates Removed From Storm Plan for Jersey Shore’s Back Bays

federal government has dropped huge gates at the mouths of three inlets, as well as internal waterway barriers from a plan to protect New Jersey’s back bays from the type of catastrophic flooding they endured during Superstorm Sandy. Instead, the …

Young Drivers Warned That Policy ‘Fronting” Is Fraud

One in six (17%) young drivers admit to being on a ‘fronted’ policy, which is illegal, according to research by United Kingdom insurer Aviva. Fronting is a form of insurance fraud where the young driver is listed as a named …

People Moves: Petruziello Joins Alliant Employee Benefits Group

Mark Petruziello joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its employee benefits group. Based in California, he will work with clients across the West region. Petruziello has more than a decade of experience in strategic consulting, focusing on HR …

Global Disease Resurgence in 2024 Shows Rising Health Threat

Some infectious diseases saw a huge surge in 2024, with the spread attributed in part to climate change, declining vaccination rates and the advent of new pathogen variants. The findings, part of a preliminary analysis by London-based disease forecasting firm …

Oregon OSHA Fines Contractor $135K for Repeated Fall Hazard Violations

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division fined a Newberg contractor $135,407 for repeatedly failing to protect employees from work-related hazards. In one of the violations, View Top Construction LLC reportedly did not ensure workers were protected from falls of …

3rd-Party Litigation Funding, Federal Regs Among Insurance Trades’ Priorities for 2025

This story has been corrected to include the correct year in the headline. Insurance trade organizations are always working for the industry so Insurance Journal asked them: What are the top priorities and/or challenges heading into 2025? Here are the …

Ex-Citigroup Trader Wins Unfair Dismissal Case in Hong Kong

An Asia equity sales trader who was fired from Citigroup Inc. in 2019 won an employment suit against the US bank, Hong Kong’s Labour Tribunal ruled on Monday. Citigroup failed to justify its “summary dismissal” of former employee Cindy Lui, …

Consumer Bureau Accuses Rocket Homes of Illegal Kickbacks in Mortgage Scheme

The top U.S. watchdog agency for consumer finance on Monday accused Rocket Homes, a unit of Rocket Companies, and The Jason Mitchell Group of real estate brokerages of an illegal kickback scheme to steer mortgage applications back to Rocket. According …