Today's Insurance Pulse
Heritage trims reinsurance program, saving $63.2M
Heritage Insurance Holdings renewed its 2026 reinsurance and catastrophe‑bond program with a total limit of $2.2 billion, down from $2.5 billion placed in 2025. The renewal includes $712 million of multi‑year coverage, $550 million from cat bonds and $162 million from private markets. Pricing softness allowed Heritage to cut renewal costs by $63.2 million.
Also developing:
Ascendri, Vave and Acrisure Launch $10 Million MGA to Cover High‑Value California Homes
Ascendri Insurance Services, with backing from Acrisure and its newly‑acquired MGA Vave, has opened a $10 million capacity ladder and a managing general agency to write excess‑and‑surplus coverage for California homes valued up to $10 million. The move targets a segment of high‑net‑worth properties that have been squeezed out of the admitted market by rising wildfire risk and limited carrier capacity.
Virginia Enacts Mandatory Paid Leave, Pay‑Transparency and Triple‑Damages Wage Laws
In its 2026 reconvened session, the Virginia General Assembly approved four sweeping labor bills that create a state‑run paid family and medical leave program, ban salary‑history questions, require wage ranges in all job postings, and impose triple‑damage penalties for wage...
‘Not an Insurance Problem’: Hormuz Safety Fears Outweigh Cover
War risk insurance capacity remains available for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but insurers report premiums have risen sharply amid heightened geopolitical tension. At a Marine Insurance Asia panel in Singapore, industry leaders emphasized that financial cover alone cannot...
AIG’s Q1 Profit Surges on Steep Fall in Catastrophe Losses
AIG reported a sharp rise in Q1 adjusted profit, driven by a three‑fold jump in general insurance underwriting income to $774 million and a 66% plunge in catastrophe‑related charges to $180 million. Adjusted after‑tax earnings surged to $1.15 billion, or $2.11 per share,...
Protective Life Buys Obsidian Insurance From Genstar, Launches Specialty P&C Unit
Protective Life announced an agreement to acquire Obsidian Insurance Holdings from Genstar Capital, adding a specialty property‑casualty platform that writes over $1 billion in annual gross written premium. The deal, pending regulatory clearance, marks Protective's first foray into the specialty P&C...
Nigeria’s NAICOM Teams with NASRDA and UNDP to Deploy Satellite‑Based Flood Insurance Model
Nigeria’s National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has signed a three‑way partnership with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to roll out a geospatial flood‑risk insurance model for Lagos. The initiative leverages satellite...
Oklahoma: As if Work Reporting Won't Cause Enough Damage, GOP Moves to Kill Off Medicaid Expansion Entirely
Oklahoma's Republican legislature is advancing House Bill 4440 and House Joint Resolution 1067 to remove Medicaid expansion from the state constitution and either shift it to statutory law or repeal it entirely. Both measures cleared the Senate Rules Committee along...
Senators Introduce AHA-Supported Bill Granting Extension of Medicare Payment Model for Rural Hospitals
Senators Chuck Grassley and Michael Bennet introduced the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan bill that would extend a cost‑based Medicare payment model for rural hospitals by five years. The model applies to facilities with 50 beds or...
Extreme Weather Is Forcing Federal Agencies to Rethink Who Bears the Risk in Superfund Sites
EPA’s Office of Inspector General released a national screening of 157 federal‑facility Superfund sites, highlighting that extreme weather—sea‑level rise, flooding, and wildfires—could overwhelm existing remediation systems. The report notes roughly 13 million residents live within three miles of these sites, exposing...
Weekly Moves: California Goes Live
Insurance Intel launched the P&C Commercial Tracker, a carrier‑level weekly monitor for the U.S. commercial property market covering Florida and California. The tool combines a baseline Carrier Directory of 368 insurers with a Weekly Moves layer that timestamps rate filings,...
🌟Upcoming🌟 Blue Avocado Presents: Why Nonprofits Need Directors and Officers Insurance – Live Q&A
Blue Avocado is hosting a live webinar on June 11, 2026 to demystify Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance for nonprofit organizations. The 60‑minute session will explore key coverage components, optional endorsements, and how D&O differs from general liability. Panelists Peter...
Cigna Sez Sayonara: Another Major Carrier Bailing on ACA Exchanges Next Year
Cigna announced it will exit the individual health‑insurance market under the Affordable Care Act in 2027, leaving roughly 369,000 members in 11 states to find new coverage. The move follows a 17% year‑over‑year drop in Cigna’s ACA enrollment, even as...
Home Insurance Shock Eases but Costs Stay Elevated, Newrez Finds
Newrez’s internal study of about 1.2 million escrowed loans shows homeowners’ insurance premiums surged 64% between 2021 and 2025, reaching an average of $2,625. Growth slowed in 2025 to 10%, the lowest rate since 2021, but premiums remain high, especially in...
Undisclosed Car Mods Can Void Your Insurance Claim
Here’s what everyone missed about this video. Insurance companies can deny your claim if they find out you made modifications to your car. So unless the insurance company knows about the changes, then there’s a big chance they might reject...
Actuaries Warn of 'Catastrophic' Impacts Linked to Climate and Nature Crises
Actuaries are warning that the combined climate and nature crises could trigger catastrophic outcomes for both the financial system and broader society. They point to the U.S. conflict with Iran as a recent illustration of how fragile the global food...
UK Government Moves to Overhaul Risk‑Transformation Regime and Boost ILS Flexibility
HM Treasury announced that the UK will pass primary and secondary legislation to make its insurance‑linked securities (ILS) regime more flexible, easing funding rules for insurance special purpose vehicles and expanding permissible risk structures. The changes aim to revive the...
Roadzen Secures $65M+ Deals Across Global AI Insurance
I spoke with @MarketJane at the @NYSE about the last few weeks at Roadzen, where we have announced a series of important wins across markets. Highlights here: — Two top-10 global OEMs in the UK and Europe are working with Roadzen to...
Lockton Secures Reinsurance License in Saudi Arabia, With Business Led by Al Rowais
Lockton has obtained a reinsurance license in Saudi Arabia, enabling the firm to provide both facultative and treaty solutions to local insurers. The Saudi operation will be headed by Mohammed Al Rowais, who brings more than 15 years of market experience...
Is 831(b) Ruling One of the US Captive Industry’s Biggest Wins?
The U.S. District Court in Texas partially struck down IRS regulations governing 831(b) captive insurance elections, marking a notable judicial pushback. While the decision may embolden more businesses to explore 831(b) structures, the IRS retains broad audit authority and has...
Skuld's Ståle Hansen on Managing Maritime Volatility
In this episode Sam Casey talks with Ståle Hansen, CEO of Skuld, about the challenges facing the marine insurance market, from the Strait of Hormuz blockage to the massive P&I claim from the Baltimore bridge collapse. Hansen explains how Skuld’s...
Howden Re Strengthens Cyber Reinsurance Team with Five Appointments Amid Rising Global Demand
Howden Re announced five senior appointments to its cyber reinsurance division, including two directors, three associate‑level hires, and an analyst. The moves establish a dedicated U.S. presence in New York and expand actuarial and analytics resources. The new talent comes...
Ategrity Underwriting Income Rises as CoR Improves to 87.4% in Q1’26
Ategrity Specialty Insurance reported underwriting income of $13.3 million in Q1 2026, an 86.6% jump from the prior year. The combined ratio improved to 87.4% from 90.9% thanks to lower loss and expense ratios. Gross written premiums rose 23.1% to $142.9 million, while...
Senate Committee Introduces Bill to Extend Federal Terrorism Insurance Backstop for Seven Years
Senators Dave McCormick, Tina Smith, Thom Tillis and Ruben Gallego led a bipartisan effort to introduce the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, extending the federal terrorism backstop for seven years. The legislation, aimed at preserving affordable coverage...
UK to Expand PCCs as Part of Captive Framework
HM Treasury announced plans to introduce legislation that will permit protected cell companies (PCCs) to underwrite insurance contracts in the United Kingdom. The move is part of a broader strategy to build a domestic captive insurance framework that can compete...
Markel’s Wilson Concerned About Sidecar-Backed MGA’s Chasing US Casualty Pricing Down
Markel Insurance CEO Simon Wilson warned that sidecar‑backed MGAs are driving US casualty pricing lower, potentially eroding underwriting discipline. He noted that while some MGAs use private capital to expand capacity, aggressive pricing in volatile casualty lines could lead to...
Cigna To Exit Obamacare In 2027, Affecting Coverage For 369,000
Cigna announced it will exit the individual Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) market by the end of 2027, affecting roughly 369,000 members across 11 states. The move was disclosed alongside a first‑quarter net income of $1.7 billion, while enrollment in its ACA...
Landlord Insurance: Failures & The Truth Investors Are Never Told
Many real estate investors rely on landlord insurance, assuming it shields them from all risks. In reality, policies are riddled with exclusions—habitability, environmental, vacancy, and claim reclassification—that can void coverage when a claim arises. The article warns that insurance alone...
Trump’s Beautiful Bill Puts 446 Hospitals At Risk Of Closing. Here’s The Full List
President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, slashing Medicaid and CHIP funding and imposing new work‑requirement rules. A March 2026 Public Citizen analysis flagged 446 hospitals—representing 69,000 beds, 6.6 million patients and roughly 275,000...
Bipartisan Disaster Tax Relief Bill Passes House, Backed by Insurers
The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 5366, the Dough LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act, extending personal casualty loss deductions through 2026 and exempting wildfire compensation from federal income tax through 2030. Insurers, led by the American Property...
Hawaii to Introduce SB 2043 Refining Captive Examinations
Hawaii is poised to overhaul its captive insurance oversight with Senate Bill 2043. The bill requires all captives, except risk‑retention groups, to undergo an initial regulatory examination within five years of receiving a license. This marks a shift from the...
Mapfre Re Targets Low-End Pricing for $200m Recoletos Re 2026-1 Cat Bond
Mapfre Re is targeting the low‑end of its pricing guidance for the $200 million Recoletos Re DAC Series 2026‑1 catastrophe bond, fixing the spread at 4.25% after a prior range of 4.25‑4.75%. The bond will provide indemnity‑triggered retrocession protection for all U.S....
Zurich Malaysia Fined for Sanctions Screening Failures
Zurich General Insurance Malaysia (ZGIMB) and Zurich General Takaful Malaysia (ZGTMB) were hit with Administrative Monetary Penalties of RM1,040,000 and RM520,000 respectively, totalling RM1.56 million (approximately $343,000). The fines stem from outdated sanctions screening databases that allowed prohibited entities onto the...
Marsh Risk to Launch Captive Companion Solution
Marsh Risk is launching Captive Companion, a new solution that gives captive insurers real‑time financial metrics, automated reporting, and benchmarking analytics. The platform is part of the broader Risk Companion suite, which also includes the Renewal Companion offering. The debut...
Allstate Buys Nationwide Occurrence Reinsurance to $11.5bn, Gets $1bn New Aggregate Cover
Allstate’s April 2026 reinsurance renewal lifted its Nationwide per‑occurrence excess catastrophe tower to a record $11.5 billion, while securing a new $1 billion aggregate excess reinsurance program covering all property and auto lines, including Florida. The move follows a series of incremental...
AI Demand Drives Long-Term Memory Chip Contracts, Stabilizing Industry
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are seeing a shift in demand patterns. AI-driven shortages are pushing customers toward long-term contracts, signaling a move away from the traditional boom-and-bust cycles in memory chips. The change could be structural. AI demand may bring more...
Jamaica Returns for New $150m World Bank Cat Bond to Replace Coverage Triggered by Melissa
Jamaica is issuing a $150 million parametric catastrophe bond through the World Bank’s IBRD, slated for a 2026‑2030 term. The new CAR Jamaica 2026 bond replaces the coverage that paid out after Hurricane Melissa triggered the 2024 issuance. It uses a...
Australia’s APRA Issues AI Risk Warning to Banks and Insurers
APRA issued an AI risk warning to banks, insurers and superannuation trustees, highlighting that governance, risk management and operational resilience have not kept pace with rapid AI adoption. The regulator’s supervisory review found fragmented assurance practices, limited model transparency and...
Apologetic Insurer Claims Customers Were Not Tricked in Renewal Notices
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has sued RACQ over more than 434,000 insurance renewal notices that listed a “last period premium” inconsistent with what customers actually paid. The regulator alleges up to 70% of those notices overstated prior...
Allstate Quarterly Profit Jumps on Sharp Drop in Catastrophe Losses
Allstate’s first‑quarter profit surged to $2.43 billion, driven by a dramatic reduction in catastrophe losses that fell to $1.24 billion, down from $2.20 billion a year earlier. The insurer’s property‑liability combined ratio improved to 82%, well under the 97.4% ratio recorded in the...
ASIC Posts Decade‑best 87.4% Combined Ratio
ASIC just dropped Q1 2026 results—best combined ratio in a decade at 87.4%. Net income jumped to $25.6M. They’re playing it smart, cutting property and focusing on higher-margin casualty lines. Solid execution. 📈 InsuranceEarnings
Outlier Events Demand Revised Risk Underwriting
"You can't just say that was an outlier and go back to the old model because this thing happened, so you have to re-underwrite the risk profile." ⚠️ ~ @dunleavy89 https://t.co/GyyjXhZlgW
Willis Survey Shows Reputational Risk Surges as Corporate Visibility Falls
Willis Towers Watson’s 2026 Reputational Risk Readiness Survey reveals that just 37% of corporations can pinpoint negative sentiment hotspots, down from 56% in 2024, while 56% now report a low appetite for reputation risk, up from 36%. The shift is...
Insurers Exit ACA Market When Enrollees Get Sicker
Cigna is abandoning the ACA health insurance marketplaces by the end of the year, following in Aetna’s footsteps. Insurers have shown, time and again, they will bail on the ACA market if people are too sick. @TaraBannow reports: https://t.co/kW6Cq06Haa
Humana Q1 Profit Falls to $1.18B, EPS Drops 5% Amid Health‑insurance Margin Pressure
Humana Inc. posted first‑quarter profit of $1.18 billion, down from $1.24 billion a year earlier, while earnings per share slipped to $9.83 from $10.30. Revenue rose 23.5% to $39.64 billion, yet the company trimmed its full‑year EPS outlook to $9.00, underscoring pressure on...
Peer Review Immunity Leaves Vulnerable Doctors Unprotected
You can buy malpractice insurance against a patient who thinks you harmed them. There is no insurance product, anywhere, that covers a physician against a peer who decides you are in the way. Up to 10 percent of peer reviews...
Sixth Circuit, Sitting En Banc, Rejects Class Certification in Auto Insurance Total Loss Case
The Sixth Circuit sitting en banc denied class certification in Clippinger v. State Farm, holding that plaintiffs cannot base a class on a single challenge to the insurer’s typical negotiation adjustment (TNA). The 10‑7 ruling aligns the Sixth Circuit with...
Mississippi Federal Court Finds Social Engineering Endorsement Required Pre-Existing Business Relationship
A Mississippi federal court ruled that a law firm’s cyber policy did not cover a $158,850 wire fraud because the social‑engineering endorsement required the imposter to pose as an existing client, not a fabricated one. The court held the endorsement’s...
Report: Cargo Thieves Grow More Sophisticated
The 2025 Global Cargo Theft Report by TT Club and BSI Consulting shows thieves using coordinated, intelligence‑driven tactics across road, rail, sea and digital channels. Trucks still account for about 70 % of incidents, while insiders are involved in 22 % of...
Everest Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
Everest Group posted a strong first‑quarter 2026, delivering $653 million net income, or $16.21 per share, more than triple the prior‑year figure. Gross written premium slipped 18.5% to $3.6 billion, yet the combined ratio improved to 91.2%, reflecting disciplined underwriting. Investment income...
Mehmet Oz Calls for Texas Hospice Fraud Probe, Expands Nationwide Medicaid Audit
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz announced a targeted investigation of hospice providers in Texas, citing a surge in licenses since 2020. The move follows a Los Angeles task force that shut down 450 hospices and paused $600 million in payments, and it expands...