Know What's Happening in Insurance
Know What's Happening in Insurance
NY Court Says Post‑Cutoff Acts Don't Void D&O Run‑Off Coverage
A New York federal court held that acts occurring after a D&O run‑off policy’s cut‑off date do not bar coverage unless the acts are unlawful. Judge Jed Rakoff found AmTrust’s 2019 preferred‑share delisting to be a lawful corrective disclosure, so the insurer’s reliance on the subsequent‑acts exclusion failed. The ruling clarifies that a “Wrongful Act” under New York law must involve unlawful conduct.
Andover Companies, a long‑standing mutual insurer in the Northeast, is seeking to upsize its upcoming Locke Tavern Re cat‑bond to between $250 million and $300 million. The new Series 2026‑1 issuance will feature two tranches—Class A and Class B—each expanded to $125‑150 million, with price guidance set at the low end of the original range (3.25% and 4.25% respectively). The fully‑collateralized, multi‑peril bond provides indemnity‑triggered protection for storms, severe thunderstorms, winter events and earthquakes across eight Northeastern states. The pricing reflects a softer catastrophe‑bond market compared with Andover’s 2023 issuance.
Specialty MGA, a member of the MNK Group, has appointed Davood Khalaghizadeh as Senior Underwriter for Directors and Officers (D&O) liability. Khalaghizadeh arrives with senior roles at AIG, QBE, CV Starr, Aspen and Volante, where he managed diverse D&O portfolios...
Catastrophe‑bond yields stayed flat in February 2026, ending at 8.91% versus 8.87% in January. Primary issuances were priced roughly 30% lower than recent historical levels, generating price pressure that muted the expected seasonal spread widening after the hurricane season. Strong...
Beazley’s CEO Adrian Cox announced that the insurer will move beyond issuing cyber catastrophe bonds to full‑scale securitisation and transformation of cyber risks. A dedicated cyber insurance‑linked securities (ILS) fund is slated for launch in 2026, built on the company’s...
Guy Carpenter, the global reinsurance broker within Marsh & McLennan, has appointed Al Paas as Head of European Capital & Advisory. Paas will steer the firm’s expansion and deepen its investment‑banking capabilities across Continental Europe. He brings over 30 years of...
Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers announced three senior promotions within its Ryan Financial Lines (RFL) division. Deborah Egel‑Fergus was named president of lawyers errors‑and‑omissions, succeeding retiring veteran Kevin Sullivan. Brooke Tanner was elevated to chief claims officer for North America, overseeing...
In this episode, Wayne Slavin, CEO and co‑founder of Sure, explains why the next biggest distributors of insurance will be non‑insurance brands that already own consumer relationships, and how Sure’s API‑first “digital insurance rails” enable these brands to embed frictionless,...
Consumers are intensifying year‑round shopping for auto and property insurance, defying traditional seasonal patterns, according to TransUnion’s Q1 2026 Personal Lines Trends report. Auto insurance searches rose 10.6% year‑over‑year in Q4 2025, while property insurance activity increased 5.3% over the same period....
Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Greg Abel disclosed a sharp decline in 2025 underwriting profit, with GEICO alone responsible for more than half of the $1.9 billion drop. Across all property‑casualty units pretax underwriting profit fell 16.5% to $9.7 billion and combined ratios...
Georgia’s House passed HB 1344, a sweeping insurance reform moving to the Senate, targeting lower premiums and stronger consumer protections. The bill raises fines for insurers and auto‑fraud perpetrators, expands the insurance commissioner’s investigative powers, and creates a $6,000 matching...
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that American Transit Insurance Co. (ATIC) breached its duty to defend Uber Technologies in 23 crash lawsuits, ordering the insurer to pay damages and Uber’s legal fees. ATIC, New York’s largest taxi insurer, has...
Rethinking Disaster Risk: Innovations And Insights In Parametric Insurance (Descartes Underwriting) Disaster risk is intensifying – and traditional indemnity models are not always built for the speed and volatility we are now facing. At the 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗔 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲, Descartes Underwriting...
In September 2025 the SEC overturned decades‑old guidance and now allows public companies to include forced arbitration clauses in their IPO registration statements. The change is expected to drive up legal expenses for securities claims, as firms will face dozens...
President Donald Trump announced that the United States will provide war‑risk insurance for vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz after commercial insurers pulled coverage. The move may be paired with U.S. naval escorts to safeguard tankers amid heightened regional tensions....
The Risk Management Agency released 2026 projected prices and volatility factors for corn and soybeans after February’s price‑discovery period. Corn’s projected price fell to $4.62 per bushel, $0.08 below 2025, while soybean’s rose to $11.09, $0.55 higher than last year....
AI deployment in claims processing now forces organizations to adopt real‑time instrumentation, exposing a decades‑long blind spot in operational visibility. Traditional dashboards offered static, delayed metrics, while AI’s speed and scale demand continuous monitoring of model outputs, drift, and edge...
Data analytics is reshaping risk assessment from a reactive practice into a predictive science across finance, insurance, healthcare, and transportation. Predictive modeling, machine‑learning, and real‑time dashboards now enable firms to forecast exposure, micro‑segment customers, and allocate capital with greater confidence....
London’s marine insurers, via the Joint War Committee, have expanded the Gulf’s high‑risk war‑zone to include waters around Bahrain, Djibouti, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. The move follows a rapid escalation of Middle‑East hostilities, prompting a five‑fold jump in war‑risk premiums...
Medicare’s 2026 Physician Fee Schedule introduces outcome‑based payments for cardiac care, rewarding providers who prevent ER visits, readmissions, or accelerate recovery. The rule also replaces the in‑person supervision requirement for the technical component of remote cardiac monitoring with virtual oversight,...
A wave of severe convective storms across North America and parts of Europe generated unprecedented loss ratios, pushing insurers’ first‑quarter earnings down roughly 90 percent from a year earlier. The storms triggered billions of dollars in property and casualty claims,...
MS Re announced the appointment of John Bruniecki as its new Chief Underwriting Officer, succeeding longtime CUO Michael Anders. Bruniecki joins from a senior underwriting role at a leading global reinsurer, bringing over 20 years of property‑casualty experience. The transition...
China issued a 20‑point guideline to fast‑track a sci‑tech insurance system, positioning the sector as an economic shock absorber for innovation. The policy targets both flagship national projects and SMEs, creating a national coordination mechanism and dedicated risk‑reserve funds. It...
War‑risk insurance for vessels is set to rise sharply as insurers cancel coverage amid the West Asia conflict. Premiums for hull and cargo have jumped to about 1 % of cargo value, up from 0.25‑0.5 % previously. Shipping lines are rerouting around...
The Napier AI/AML Index 2025‑2026 estimates that AI‑driven anti‑money‑laundering (AML) solutions could shave $183 billion off global compliance costs, up from $138 billion last year, and generate $3.3 trillion in economic benefits. The United States tops potential AI savings at $26.18 billion, followed by...
InsuranceERM has opened entries for its 2026 Americas Awards, a flagship programme that spotlights excellence in insurance risk and capital management across the region. The competition, free to enter, invites re/insurers, risk teams, asset managers, consultants and technology vendors to...
In this brief episode, John Weber interviews Brooke Shirazi, Vice President of Property and Ocean Marine Programs at Nationwide E&S Specialty, about insurance programs in the P&C market. They define a program as a niche insurance product requiring specialized underwriting...
Consilium, a specialty re/insurance broker, has launched a dedicated policy for private‑equity firms within its Professional & Executive Risks division. The product, crafted with in‑house legal counsel, covers professional liability, crime, directors‑and‑officers, cyber and portfolio‑company risks under a single solution....
Africa Specialty Risks (ASR) has appointed Joseph Kotran as Head of Business Development for the Middle East and Turkey. In his role, Kotran will lead regional growth initiatives, work with underwriting teams, and coordinate with the DIFC‑based staff to build...
In this episode Mark Gagan chats with Jonathan Tritton (JT), Managing Director of Burns & Wilcox Global Solutions, about the firm’s recent rebranding and its role as the London and international wholesale arm of the US‑based Kaufman Group. JT explains...
Can someone smarter than me explain why war risk insurance gets canceled when there’s a war? https://t.co/7JR2QurKUO
In Colorado, we’ve been laser focused on saving Coloradans money on prescription drugs since day one, and it’s past time that Washington catches up. Colorado was the first state to cap insulin costs long before the federal government and expand...
Revenue protection guarantees are rising for soybeans and slipping for corn as the 2026 spring price outlook solidifies. Soybean prices hit $11.09 per bushel, roughly five percent above last year, while corn settled at $4.62, just eight cents lower. Higher...
Iran doesn’t need to physically “shut” the Strait of Hormuz—ship traffic has already plunged >80%. “Insurance availability may now act as a primary gating factor for transit decisions independent of formal navigational closure.” https://t.co/6FxXpLwnJq
Ascendiun CEO Paul Markovich announced Worthy, a new lobbying effort funded by his company to overhaul the U.S. health‑care system. The initiative, launched with Mark Cuban, targets insurer‑driven inefficiencies such as outdated provider directories, burdensome prior‑authorization, and excessive administrative costs. Markovich...
They didn’t even cancel insurance for ships targeted by Russia for entering Ukraine…. They just jacked up the rates. This is all very unusual.
A 2023 Insurance Research Council study finds 15.4% of U.S. drivers—about one in seven—are uninsured, with a third lacking sufficient coverage overall. Without personal uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) policies, victims may face out‑of‑pocket medical bills, vehicle repairs,...
The Trump administration is proposing a rule that revives catastrophic, or "junk," health plans with a $31,000 family deductible, effectively undoing the ACA’s ban on such high‑deductible products. These plans, once sold by major insurers like Cigna, Aetna and UnitedHealthcare,...
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency will automatically add up to 30 million new commodity base acres for the 2026 crop year, making them eligible for ARC and PLC payments. Farms qualify if they planted or were prevented from planting a covered...
MS Reinsurance announced that Group Chief Underwriting Officer Charles Goldie will retire on 1 April 2026, transitioning to a senior advisory role. Jörg Bruniecki, currently CUO for Global Specialty Lines, will succeed him as CUO, overseeing the firm’s worldwide underwriting strategy. The change...
Medicare has extended its telehealth reimbursement flexibilities through 2027, preserving payment for a broad array of virtual services. Behavioral health telehealth restrictions were made permanent in 2021, removing geographic and originating‑site limits. The DEA also prolonged its telemedicine prescribing allowances...
The Oklahoma Insurance Department licensed 14 new captive insurers in 2025, while four existing captives were dissolved, delivering a net gain of ten captives for the state. Among the new formations are HK Captive, backed by The Hanor Company of...
In November the SEC altered its proxy‑vote rule, shifting approval from staff reviewers to company executives, giving firms broader discretion to exclude shareholder proposals from proxy statements. The change has sparked at least three high‑profile lawsuits—against AT&T, Axon Enterprises and...
Canada Life has completed an £80 million buy‑in transaction for the Safeway Pension Scheme, covering more than 350 deferred members and 1,450 pensioners. The deal was brokered by Aon, with Hymans Robertson providing investment advice and Clifford Chance and Gowling WLG handling...
New research predicts that nearly 3 million Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees—about 10 % of the market—will be forced out of their plans in 2026 as payment reforms curb historic over‑payments. The exits will hit rural beneficiaries hardest and will deepen the divide...
Many insurers are issuing AI press releases. It's all very exciting. So at @lemonade_inc we built an AI BS detector: three KPIs, public data, no spin. It won't boost our popularity. It might boost your returns. https://t.co/Ua8vWxkObh https://t.co/xzazrKJ9zB
A new Willis Research Network report warns that gray‑zone aggression has become a material threat for businesses across all sectors. Previously limited to aviation and shipping, these ambiguous, deniable tactics now disrupt supply chains, insurance coverage and operational continuity. The...
The insurance brokerage sector is riding a wave of better pricing, disciplined underwriting and rising demand for a broader range of policies, pushing industry revenue higher. Digitalization and AI adoption are sharpening margins and enabling faster scale, while a wave...
Rokstone has launched Rokstone Velocity, a new division dedicated to underwriting complex casualty risks emerging from the digital economy, beginning with the U.S. market. The unit is led by Andrew Cooper, a veteran with 25 years of insurance experience, and...
Third‑party administrators (TPAs) must ensure that a self‑funded health plan’s formal document and its Summary Plan Description (SPD) are perfectly aligned. Gaps or missing clauses—especially around subrogation—can expose both the TPA and plan sponsor to ERISA class‑action lawsuits costing tens...
Hong Kong's Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui announced plans to broaden the SAR's preferential tax regime to cover insurance-linked securities (ILS) such as catastrophe bonds. The proposal expands the definition of “funds” to include pensions, endowments and single‑investor vehicles, and adds...
