Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Harvey Hits Texas With Massive Winds, Torrential Rain

Aug 26 2017 // Harvey became the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, making landfall in the heart of the U.S. energy sector and bringing the danger of a life-threatening storm surge. Harvey came ashore as a Category 4...

Nestle’s ‘Natural’ Claims on Poland Springs Don’t Hold Water, Lawsuit Alleges

Aug 25 2017 // Nestle SA’s Poland Spring Water unit has duped American consumers into paying premium prices for ordinary ground water that’s pumped from some of Maine’s most populated areas, rather than from natural...

Cities Hope Fines Will Curb Distracted Walkers

Aug 24 2017 // This really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s done it: You are just no good at texting and walking. While you might do OK at the reading and typing part, your preoccupied brain isn’t paying enough...

Regulators Under Pressure to Develop Rules of Road Minus Drivers

Aug 24 2017 // When the U.S. government finally got around to regulating auto safety in 1967, it insisted that every car have seat belts and that the steering column be engineered to absorb impact so it wouldn’t spear the...

Harvey Set to Bring ‘Catastrophic’ Flooding Across Texas

Aug 23 2017 // Harvey, which could strengthen into the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008, forced workers off Gulf of Mexico platforms, sent cotton rallying and has airlines preparing for flight disruptions. Tropical Storm...

How Civil Immunity Lawsuit Led to Limits on Taser Use: Reuters Report

Aug 23 2017 // One of the biggest commercial threats to Taser International’s signature weapon could come from a lawsuit the company won. Across the United States, wrongful death lawsuits involving Tasers have created a body of...

Northern Illinois Agency Owner Indicted Again; Slapped with 20 Fraud Counts

Aug 22 2017 // The owner of multiple property/casualty insurance operations in northern Illinois has been indicted once again, this time on charges that he defrauded more than 100 clients. Todd J. Fendler, of Rockford, Ill., previously...

Conn. Court Supports $41.7M in Damages to Student Disabled by Tick Bite on School Trip

Aug 22 2017 // The Connecticut Supreme Court in August supported a jury’s decision to award $41.7 million in damages to a student permanently disabled by a tick bite while on a school field trip in China, stating that schools in...

As Congress Eyes Flood Insurance Renewal, Private Markets Get Ready

Aug 21 2017 // Unleashing the invisible hand that has been missing from the flood insurance market for nearly 50 years is no easy task. But private flood insurance experts say the change would be a good thing not only for private flood...

Michigan WWII Bomber Site Gears Up for Driverless Demos in December

Aug 21 2017 // Self-driving cars will begin taking test laps this December on the site of a famous World War II airplane factory in Michigan where Rosie the Riveter helped produce a shiny B-24 Liberator bomber every hour more than seven...

Verisk to Acquire London-Based Complex Data Software Firm Sequel

Aug 21 2017 // U.S.-based data analytics firm Verisk Analytics Inc. has agreed to acquire London-based insurance and software specialist Sequel from private equity firm HgCapital and other Sequel shareholders. Sequel specializes in...

Maxum’s Lucas Joins Everest Re to Head U.S. Casualty Facultative Programs

Aug 21 2017 // Darwin Lucas has joined Everest Reinsurance Co. as vice president and head of U.S. Casualty Programs for all general casualty and professional liability lines of coverage within the Facultative Reinsurance division. He...

QBE H1 Profits Rise 73% on Australia/N. Zealand Rate Hikes, N. America Growth

Aug 21 2017 // QBE reported a healthy profit hike during first half of 2017, despite heightened claims activity in its Emerging Markets’ division, which reported a combined ratio of 110.8 percent. This poor performance has led to...

U.S. Risk Announces Acquisition of B&H Risk Services, Inc.

Aug 21 2017 // Dallas, TX, August 21, 2017—U.S. Risk Insurance Group, LLC, the nation’s fifth largest Property and Casualty wholesaler, announced today that it has acquired B&H Risk Services, Inc., a Dallas, Texas based...

How Much Solar Eclipse Distraction Will Cost Employers

Aug 21 2017 // Add today’s total eclipse of the sun to the list of worker distractions that cost U.S. companies hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. American employers will see at least $694 million in missing...

U.S., Canada, Mexico Conclude First Round of Talks on NAFTA

Aug 21 2017 // The United States, Canada and Mexico wrapped up their first round of talks on Sunday to revamp the NAFTA trade pact, vowing to keep up a blistering pace of negotiations that some involved in the process said may be too...

People – Southeast

Aug 21 2017 // 1347 Property Insurance Holdings Inc., a property and casualty insurance holding company based in Tampa, Fla., has appointed Dan Case to the position of chief operating officer. Case will be responsible for strategies and...

Swiss Re: Miami Is More Vulnerable to Hurricanes Like Andrew

Aug 21 2017 // Almost 25 years have passed since a Category 5 hurricane struck south of Miami, and the city’s vulnerability to catastrophic storm damage has grown exponentially, according to a new insurance underwriters’...

Business Moves

Aug 21 2017 // Morse Insurance Agency Inc., Quaglia Insurance Morse Insurance Agency Inc. has acquired Quaglia Insurance in Attleboro, Mass. As part of the transition, Quaglia’s Attleboro office will be closing. However, Stacy...

The Smaller the Small Business, the Bigger the Insurance Discontent: J.D. Power

Aug 21 2017 // Not all small businesses are the same when it comes to customer satisfaction with commercial insurance. There are widening satisfaction gaps among small businesses of different sizes, according to the J.D. Power 2017 U.S....