Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
American Water Reports Cyber Incident; Shuts Down Customer Portal
Oct 8 2024 // New Jersey-based American Water, which runs water treatment, transmission, wells and other water facilities for 14 states, has reported a cyber incident. The company has deactivated its customer portal, MyWater, as a...
The Rapid Growth of the Surplus Lines Market – What’s Brewing Podcast (Episode 3)
Oct 8 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group. In this episode, EVP of Excess and Surplus Coy Rudd discusses marketplace conditions, IAT Insurance Group’s appetite and growth, and recent successes...
Auto Insurers Face Rising Repair Costs, EV and Tech Complexity in 2025: Report
Oct 7 2024 // Amid inflation and labor shortages, the growing impact of electric vehicles (EVs) and rising repair costs, insurers and repairers will have a bumpy road to navigate in the year ahead, according to CCC Intelligent Solutions...
Hurricane Kirk’s Remnants Forecast to Hit Europe Later This Week
Oct 7 2024 // The remnants of Hurricane Kirk are forecast to hit northwest France on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and gale-force winds. Hurricane Kirk peaked at Category 4 storm over the Atlantic last week, but is weakening as it...
US Nuclear Verdicts Break Records and Drive Social Inflation to 7% in 2023: Report
Oct 7 2024 // Nuclear verdicts in the United States are breaking records with 27 court cases each awarding compensation of more than $100 million during 2023, according to Swiss Re executives. Social inflation in the U.S. rose to 7% in...
Helene-Soaked Florida Faces New Threat: Up to a Foot of Rain
Oct 4 2024 // One week after Hurricane Helene barreled ashore, Florida is bracing for another round of heavy rainfall and strong winds from a tropical system brewing in the Atlantic. The potential storm could bring as much as a foot of...
AccuWeather Increases Estimate of Helene’s Economic Loss to $225B-$250B
Oct 4 2024 // AccuWeather has increased its estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene in the U.S. to between $225 billion and $250 billion. The range makes Hurricane Helene one of the most damaging and...
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Farmers Insurance of Flemington
Oct 2 2024 // 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 Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Farmers Insurance Company of...
Dellwood Insurance Says AIG’s ‘Ginned-Up Claims’ Must Be Dismissed
Oct 2 2024 // The legal squabble between American International Group (AIG) and a startup-up formed by some former employees continued this week with another filing from Dellwood Insurance Group in support of its motion to dismiss...
Delaware’s Workers’ Compensation Claims Cost Grew 3% a Year: WCRI
Oct 1 2024 // The average cost of workers’ compensation claims in Delaware, for cases with more than seven days of lost work, went up by 3% per year between 2019 and 2022, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation...
Powerful Typhoon Krathon Forecast to Hit Taiwan’s Populated West Coast
Sep 30 2024 // Taiwan issued a warning on Monday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Krathon, which has strengthened into the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane and is expected to cross the densely populated west coast bringing torrential...
75% of Independent Agencies Report Revenue Gains From 2022-23
Sep 27 2024 // Despite challenging conditions, 75% of independent insurance agencies saw revenue gains from 2022 to 2023, according to the 2024 Agency Universe Study. That number is significantly higher than between 2020 and 2021, during...
Climate Change and Rising US Insurance Rates
Sep 27 2024 // A new article directly blames climate change for rising U.S. insurance rates. While the article mulls the various and numerous reasons for rising rates, it calls out what the author sees as a “common thread”...
Damage Predictions Mount as Helene Strengthens: Atlanta in Its Path
Sep 26 2024 // As Hurricane Helene gains strength in the unusually warm waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, forecasters, claims adjusting firms and analytics experts are warning that the storm could be more damaging than other recent...
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Members of Coverys Companies
Sep 26 2024 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable while affirming the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) of “a” (Excellent) of...
AI Being Used to Scam Small Business Owners, Says Nationwide Survey
Sep 26 2024 // Just when employees have learned to ignore scammy texts and emails from the boss, along comes the next generation of impersonation using artificial intelligence. Cybercriminals increasingly use generative AI, including...
Why US Home Insurance Rates Are Rising Fast – Climate Change Plays a Big Role
Sep 26 2024 // Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024...
US Court Declines to Dismiss Mandarin Hotel COVID-19 Claim Against Insurers
Sep 25 2024 // Insurers have failed to win dismissal of a federal COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit against them by the luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental. Judge John P. Cronan of U.S District Court in New York found that...
As E&S Market Growth Hits New Heights, Some Risk May Be There to Stay: AM Best
Sep 24 2024 // In 2023 the U.S. surplus lines market for the first time surpassed the $100 billion mark in direct premiums written, and some of the risk that has found non-admitted insurers might stay there beyond an eventual turn in the...
Ex-Google Executive’s Startup to Use AI to Forecast the Weather
Sep 19 2024 // A startup founded by a former Google executive aims to use artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasting, joining technology behemoths like Nvidia Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co. in an increasingly crowded...
