Articles by Chad Hemenway

Chad is National News Editor at Insurance Journal. He has been covering the insurance industry since 2007, reporting on trends and coverage in most lines of insurance as well as natural catastrophes, modeling, regulation, legislation, and litigation. Chad can be reached at chemenway@wellsmedia.com

Chubb Writing More Personal E&S but CEO Greenberg Doesn’t Like the Trend

Chubb is writing more North American personal excess and surplus lines business, but the insurer’s chief executive is not exactly celebrating. While he reminded analysts during a fourth-quarter earnings conference call that the large majority of Chubb’s personal insurance portfolio …

Appeals Court Rules Insurers Not Obligated to Defend Opioid Distributor McKesson

The role drug distributor McKesson Corp. had in the opioid crisis was no accident, meaning the company is not entitled to defense costs related to litigation against it. McKesson Corp. appealed a district court’s ruling that subsidiaries of AIG and …

Record Q4 at Chubb Ends Historic, ‘Blowout Year’

Record fourth quarter 2023 net income of $3.3 billion, a huge increase over net income of about $1.3 billion during the same period a year ago, ended what Chubb CEO Evan G. Greenberg called a “blowout year.” Last year was …

Agency M&A Down 24% in 2023 but More Large Deals May Be Seen in 2024: OPTIS

There has been a somewhat return to normal when it comes to insurance-agency mergers and acquisitions, with traditionally active buyers preferring to remain inactive to focus on integration of agencies they’ve already acquired. According to the M&A database of investment …

Specialty Market ‘Particularly Attractive’; Reason to Pause Elsewhere: Berkley CEO

W.R. Berkley CEO W. Robert Berkley, Jr. said he’s still got eyes on the specialty market, but maintains a cautious, more disciplined outlook on some lines of business, such as professional liability—especially public D&O. “The specialty market in general continues …

Record Underwriting Income Highlights W.R. Berkley Q4 Results

Fourth quarter net income at W.R. Berkley Corp. increased 4% compared to the same period the prior year to about $397.3 million on record pretax underwriting income of nearly $316 million, an 8.2% increase. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based commercial insurer finished …

Progressive Q4 Net Income Up 141% as Combined Ratio Exceeds Goal for 2023

Progressive Corp. today said fourth quarter 2023 net income jumped to nearly $2 billion compared to about $826 million a year ago during the same period. The Mayfield Village, Ohio-based insurer reported some quarterly and year results as it announced …

GM Financial Rebranding OnStar Insurance as General Motors Insurance

GM Financial earlier this week said it is rebranding its OnStar Insurance to General Motors Insurance, with plans for market expansion. During 2023, the GM Insurance unit shifted from an agency model to a full-stack carrier, GM Financial said. The …

10 Largest Auto Insurers Each Raised Rates by Double Digits in 2023

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s RateWatch, Farmers Insurance instituted double-digit rate increases in 43 states in 2023 for a weighted average rate increase of 17.6%—and its private-auto insurance peers in the U.S. did the same. All 10 of the …

Bill Introduced to Keep CFPB Out of State Insurance Regulation

New bi-partisan legislation meant to keep the regulation of insurance companies with state regulators was introduced in the Senate on Jan. 16. The Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act of 2024 from senators Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., …