National News

Unvaccinated Employees Risk Job Losses as Employer Mandates Take Effect

Thousands of unvaccinated workers across the United States are facing potential job losses as a growing number of states, cities and private companies start to enforce mandates for inoculation against COVID-19. In the latest high-profile example, Washington State University (WSU) …

Supreme Court Upholds Police Qualified Immunity in Two Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of police officers accused of using excessive force in two cases involving the controversial doctrine of qualified immunity. The high court found that in both cases, appeals courts wrongly denied the officers …

Whoa! Horse Riding Is Riskier Than Football, Auto Racing or Skiing?

The risk of an injury is higher for horse riding than for other potentially risky sporting activities, such as football, motor racing or skiing. That’s according to research published in the online journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open that …

Treasury Report Offers Insight Into Surge in Ransomware Activity in 2021

There was $590 million in suspicious activity related to ransomware in the first six months of 2021, exceeding the entire amount in 2020, when $416 million was reported, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial …

Higher Investment Returns Help Offset Catastrophe, Auto Losses for Travelers in Q3

Third quarter profit fell 20% at The Travelers Companies due to higher catastrophe and auto losses but the insurer also reported a 15% boost in investment returns. Net income of $662 million for the third quarter compared to $827 million …

Insurance Agency M&As Up 13% Thus Far in 2021: Optis

There were 553 announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions during the first three quarters of 2021, up from 490 in 2020, According to an OPTIS Partners’ M&A report, that was the highest recorded total for this period. “Multiple factors that …

U.S. Auto Safety Agency Faces Backlog of Rules and Missed Deadlines

After their 16-year-old daughter died in a car crash, David and Wendy Mills wondered whether she would be alive if federal rules on rear seat belt warnings had been issued on time. Four years later, with no rule and traffic …

Out-of-Practice Airline Pilots Are Looking Error-Prone

Back in the cockpit after time off recovering from Covid-19, an airline pilot forgot to start his plane’s second engine for takeoff, a mistake that could have ended in disaster if he hadn’t aborted the flight. Another pilot, fresh from …

Kemper Proposes $17.6M Settlement of Data Breach Claims

Kemper Insurance has proposed to settle a class action stemming from two data breaches in a deal valued at about $17.6 million. The dual breaches could have compromised the personal information of an estimated 6.1 million customers and employees. The …

Mobility Sector Will Need New Insurance Products to Continue to Grow: Marsh

For the sharing economy and mobility sectors to continue to grow, they will need new forms of insurance, including programs to support gig-workers at scale, advises a report from insurance broker Marsh. According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic is …

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