Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Missouri Buying Earthquake Simulator to Increase Awareness of New Madrid Risk
Dec 4 2019 // Missouri emergency management officials are buying a $200,000 machine that will simulate an earthquake to prepare residents for a big temblor in a region where one of the most powerful earthquakes east of the Rocky...
Reuters Special Report: Powder Keg- Regulators Bowed to Industry for Decades Over Talc Risks
Dec 3 2019 // At an invitation-only gathering late last year, U.S. regulators and their guests huddled at a hotel near Washington, D.C., to discuss the best way to detect cancer-causing asbestos in talc powders and cosmetics. The...
China’s Insurance Giant Ping An Increasingly Focuses on ‘Technology Plus Finance’
Dec 3 2019 // Just 31 years after it was founded in China’s southern city of Shenzhen, Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. has grown into the world’s second-largest insurer by market value after Berkshire Hathaway Inc.—more...
5 Trends in Today’s Personal Umbrella Market
Dec 2 2019 // The personal umbrella market had been steady for many years, with lots of choices available in the market when it came to finding the right coverage for customers. However, recent changes are turning the market upside down...
Program Business Continues Record Growth Despite Market Challenges
Dec 2 2019 // Underwriters Search for ‘New’ and ‘High Risk’ Spaces to Target Fueled by investments from insurtechs and interest in niche classes, the program business market has experienced record growth over the...
California Faces Decade of Unique Wildfire Blackouts
Dec 2 2019 // California utility PG&E Corp. has imposed 10 intentional blackouts this year to reduce risks its power infrastructure could spark wildfires and said they will continue for a decade. PG&E initially said outages...
Up-Market Home Insurtech Openly Opens for Business in 2 States After Raising $7.6M
Dec 2 2019 // The tech-enabled high-end home insurance provider Openly has begun selling in Illinois and Arizona at the same time it announced a $7.65M seed round of funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture...
Coastal Damages from Climate Change Could Cost U.K. Economy Billions by 2050: WWF
Nov 27 2019 // The U.K. economy could face hits of more than 12 billion pounds ($15.4 billion) a year by 2050 from coastal damages alone if no action is taken to combat climate change, according to the WWF. The calculations — made...
Wildfire Crisis is Roiling California’s Insurance Market
Nov 27 2019 // Lauris Bye, a homebuilding industry veteran who moved to Southern California’s wildfire-prone hills decades ago, felt confident about the newly built house he was buying about 30 miles north of downtown Los...
Up-Market Home Insurtech Openly Opens for Business in 2 States After Raising $7.6M
Nov 26 2019 // The tech-enabled high-end home insurance provider Openly announced it has begun selling in Illinois and Arizona at the same time it announced a $7.65M seed round of funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s...
S&P Revises Qatar Insurance Outlook on Financial Risks from $308M Markerstudy Loan
Nov 25 2019 // S&P Global Ratings said it revised its outlook on Qatar Insurance Co. S.A.Q. (QIC) to negative from stable, although it has affirmed the group’s “A” rating. When QIC acquired four of...
California Faces Decade of Unique Wildfire Blackouts
Nov 25 2019 // California utility PG&E Corp. has imposed 10 intentional blackouts this year to reduce risks its power infrastructure could spark wildfires and said they will continue for a decade. PG&E initially said outages...
Study Says Medical Payments Per Workers’ Comp Claim Decreased in North Carolina
Nov 22 2019 // Medical payments per claim in North Carolina decreased five to seven percent per year since 2014, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). These decreases likely reflect fee...
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for South Carolina’s Canal Group
Nov 22 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (good) and the long-term issuer credit ratings of “bbb+” of Canal Insurance Company and Canal Indemnity...
Statewide Overall Decrease of 7.5% Approved for Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
Nov 21 2019 // Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has issued a final order granting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall decrease of 7.5% for Florida workers’...
Outlooks Revised to Negative for Members of Texas’ Slavonic Mutual Group
Nov 20 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” of Slavonic Mutual Fire Insurance...
Montana Reports Decline in Workplace Injuries in 2018
Nov 19 2019 // Employers in Montana reported a total of 14,100 workplace injuries and illnesses in 2018, with 11,900 of those injuries in the private industry. Of those private industry injuries and illnesses, 5,700 were serious enough...
Science, Enforcement Lag as Car Accidents, Claims Rise in Legal Cannabis States
Nov 18 2019 // Car crashes in the first three states to legalize recreational marijuana have soared as law enforcement and regulators struggle to define driving high, let alone determine how to fight it. Colorado, Oregon, and Washington...
Demand for M&A Insurance Sees Significant Growth: Aon
Nov 18 2019 // An increase in M&A activity in today’s challenging economic environment is driving significant growth in demand for M&A insurance products, according to a report published by Aon. Aon’s report finds...
Rate Increases OK’d for Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association
Nov 18 2019 // Proposed rate increases for both private passenger and commercial auto insurance rates have been approved for the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA). The Texas Department of Insurance granted TAIPA’s...
