Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hackers Caused Ukraine Outage with Malware & Remote Power Cut: Report
Jan 11 2016 // Hackers likely caused a Dec. 23 electricity outage in Ukraine by remotely switching breakers to cut power, after installing malware to prevent technicians from detecting the attack, according to a report analyzing how the...
Fitch Expects Modest Gains for U.S. Insurance Brokers in 2016
Jan 11 2016 // Revenues and earnings for public U.S. insurance brokers are likely to modestly improve in 2016 relative to levels reported through nine months of 2015, according to Fitch Ratings’ 2016 U.S. Insurance Broker Outlook...
Changing Oil & Gas Industry Delivers New Risks, New Challenges
Jan 11 2016 // Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a three-part series on the oil and gas industry. The second article will address new and emerging claims trends and the third article will address the emerging risks...
New Look in Franchise Liability
Jan 11 2016 // Businesses known for their uniforms are worried about lawyers in business suits in the wake of a change in the nation’s labor laws affecting their liability for employment practices. The change could unravel the...
Entrepreneurs Raise $13 Million to ‘Reinvent’ U.S. P/C Insurance with Peer-to-Peer Insurer Lemonade
Jan 11 2016 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry is about to be tested directly by the sharing economy. Two tech entrepreneurs have raised $13 million in initial funding to launch a peer-to-peer online property/casualty...
Former Tyson Benefits Manager Sentenced to 28 Months in Federal Prison
Jan 8 2016 // A former benefits plan manager for Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Inc. has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for defrauding the company of more than $550,000. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas,...
Outlook for U.S. Commercial P/C Insurance Still Negative: A.M. Best
Jan 8 2016 // Rating agency A.M. Best said it is maintaining its negative outlook on the commercial lines segment of the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry, despite relatively solid aggregate results over the past several years. The...
2015: Second ‘Hottest’ Year on Record in U.S. Included 10 Major Weather Events
Jan 8 2016 // Last year was the second hottest on record in the contiguous United States, and included 10 major weather and climate events, such as droughts and storms, that each led to over $1 billion in damages, the National Oceanic...
Reinsurance Group Head Puts Science in Climate Change Discussion
Jan 7 2016 // Asked for his thoughts on climate change, Frank Nutter expeditiously turned to science. His sphere of influence is far-ranging as president of the Reinsurance Association of America, a position he’s held since 1991....
Dallas-Area Tornadoes Account for a Big Chunk of December Insured Losses in U.S.
Jan 7 2016 // A recently released report shows that damage estimates from the natural disaster events that occurred in the United States in December 2015 will amount to more than $4 billion. Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model...
Drone Registrations Top 180,000 in First 2 Weeks
Jan 7 2016 // One of the most important players in the booming drone industry isn’t a hardware manufacturer; it’s the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. So attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday flocked...
U.S. Releases ‘Do-Not-Fly-Zone’ App for Drone Operators: B4UFLY
Jan 7 2016 // Drone operators who want to know if it’s safe and legal to operate their unmanned aircraft in a particular spot learned this week that there’s now an app for that from the government. The Federal Aviation...
Canopius Adds Breen to U.S. Direct Property Team in New York
Jan 6 2016 // Canopius Group AG, a Zurich-based global specialty lines platform of Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance, has hired Ivan Breen as senior vice president of its U.S. Direct Property team. Breen is based in New York and will...
Insurance Costs for December Weather in U.S. Could Top $2 Billion: Aon
Jan 6 2016 // Total economic losses from the weather events in the U.S. during the month of December will exceed $4 billion, with insured losses likely to approach or exceed $2 billion, according to Aon Benfield’s catastrophe...
Gas Leak Forcing Southern California Residents to Flee Neighborhood
Jan 6 2016 // The sulfurous scent of a natural-gas leak hangs in the air as mail carriers wearing gas masks make rounds to mostly deserted homes in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Porter Ranch. Life in the community of 30,000 people...
Capital Stabilizes, Prices Keep Softening During Jan. 1 Renewals: Guy Carpenter
Jan 6 2016 // Reinsurance capital levels stabilized during the Jan. 1, 2016 renewals – showing no growth for the first time in several years – and prices continued to soften, according to Guy Carpenter & Co.’s global...
Aspen Insurance Appoints Global Product Heads
Jan 6 2016 // Aspen Insurance, the insurance segment of Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., announced the appointment of new global product heads as part of its strategy to leverage its global platform and better align product...
U.S. Sues Volkswagen, Seeks Up to $80 Billion in Penalties
Jan 5 2016 // The U.S. Justice Department sued Volkswagen AG for installing illegal devices meant to defeat emissions testing, and laid out claims that could push penalties into the tens of billions of dollars — an opening salvo...
Ex-McKinsey Consulting Partner Charged with Fraud Against State Farm
Jan 5 2016 // A former partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co has been arrested on charges that he engaged in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices and expenses to the company and clients, including State Farm, for more than...
6 Forecasts for P/C Insurance in 2016
Jan 4 2016 // Some, but not all, experts see an improving U.S. economy in 2016 helping to boost the property/casualty (P/C) insurance sector. Some of these prognosticators are more optimistic than others. But most also anticipate...
