Today's Insurance Pulse
AI Elevates Workers’ Compensation from Automation to Strategic Augmentation
Artificial intelligence is shifting workers’ compensation from basic digitization to strategic augmentation, letting adjusters concentrate on high‑value tasks such as fraud detection and biopsychosocial care. Early‑intervention tools powered by wearables, IoT and computer vision are reshaping safety and claim outcomes. AI‑driven claim summarization and generative models speed up case resolution.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Korean Re raises $75M via multi‑peril retrocession
Resilience Launches New Cyber Risk Management Platform Purpose-Built for Multi-Entity Organisation
Cyber‑risk firm Resilience unveiled Arc, a platform designed for multi‑entity organizations such as corporate groups and private‑equity firms. Arc continuously monitors and quantifies cyber exposure, translating telemetry into financial risk scores that feed directly into insurance decisioning. The solution claims to slash manual assessment effort by 80%, cut portfolio assessment costs by up to $900,000 annually, and reduce board‑reporting time by 75%. By standardizing risk across subsidiaries, Arc aims to align security, finance and leadership on a unified risk view.
ACA Marketplace Loses 1.2 Million Enrollees, Premiums Jump 58% as Subsidy Cliff Returns
The federal data shows the ACA marketplace shed roughly 1.2 million enrollees in the 2026 open‑enrollment period, the sharpest drop since the program began. Average monthly premiums climbed 58% to $178, and deductibles rose 37% to $3,786 as consumers shifted to...
SFCR 2025 30 Days On: Solvency II up, Solvency UK Down
Solvency II Wire Data examined 30‑day SFCR filings from about 1,600 European and UK insurers, representing roughly two‑thirds of the solo market. The analysis shows the average Solvency II solo solvency ratio climbing from 243% to 252% in 2025, while...
Hub International Says Geopolitical Volatility Is Ending the Annual Insurance Renewal Cycle
Will Mulè, executive vice‑president at Hub International, says escalating geopolitical instability is forcing insurers and brokers to abandon the traditional annual renewal cycle in favor of ongoing, proactive consultations with multinational clients.
U.S. P/C Insurers Post Biggest Q1 Underwriting Profit in 25 Years
U.S. property‑casualty insurers recorded a combined ratio of 89.5 in Q1 2026, the strongest underwriting performance in at least 25 years. After accounting for policyholder dividends the ratio was 91.9, still a record since 2006, translating into roughly $22.1 billion of underwriting gains....
AI Accelerates Excess‑and‑Surplus Cycle, Says CRC’s Neil Kessler
At the 2026 E&S Insurer Conference, CRC Group’s Neil Kessler said AI is not ending the excess‑and‑surplus (E&S) cycle but accelerating it. He warned that faster placement and tighter orchestration are reshaping value for reinsurers and specialty carriers.
Life Insurer's Failure Puts 100,000 Customers at Risk of $2.2 Billion in Losses
PHL Variable Insurance Co., a private‑equity‑owned life insurer, collapsed after a $450 million reinsurance asset tied to a 2019 transaction was found to have no value. The failure will force liquidation, leaving roughly 100,000 policyholders with a $2.2 billion shortfall and recoveries...
Weathering NOAA’s ‘Below Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season’ And A Super El Niño
NOAA’s June outlook gives the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season a 55% chance of being below‑normal, forecasting 8‑14 named storms, 3‑6 hurricanes and 1‑3 major hurricanes. The forecast aligns with Colorado State University’s earlier prediction that a developing super El Niño will...
From Uptime to Resilience: AI Infrastructure Changes the Data Center Risk Equation
Zurich North America’s 2026 U.S. report warns that the AI‑driven data‑center boom is reshaping risk from a simple uptime focus to a complex resilience challenge. Projects now span multi‑mile campuses, demand up to 2,000 MW of power and have ballooned in...
Moody's Study Shows AI‑Enriched Property Data Shifts Risk Ratings for 45% of U.S. Homes
Moody's new white paper reveals that artificial‑intelligence‑driven enrichment of property data triggers risk rating changes of 15% or more for 45% of U.S. homes. The shift affects more than 492,000 locations, with 226,000 seeing higher modeled loss and 266,000 seeing...
State Farm Gets $1.5bn of Reinsurance with Merna Re Enterprise 2026-1 Catastrophe Bond
State Farm has returned to the catastrophe‑bond market, closing a $1.5 billion private issuance through Merna Re Enterprise Ltd.’s Series 2026‑1. The deal consists of two $750 million tranches, Class A at a 6.25% spread and Class B at 9.25%, providing fully collateralized reinsurance through...
Asian Insurtech Secures $100 Million in Q1 2026 Despite Global Funding Slowdown
CB Insights reported that Asian insurtech companies raised $100 million in the first quarter of 2026, the third‑largest regional share worldwide. The median deal size doubled to $10 million, even as global insurtech activity hit its lowest level since 2016.
Patriot Select Secures $310m of Catastrophe Reinsurance, with $145m for Second Events
Patriot Select Property and Casualty Insurance completed its 2026 catastrophe reinsurance renewal, securing $310 million of coverage. The program includes $220 million from private markets, $90 million from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, and $145 million dedicated to second‑event protection. Improved market conditions and...
ASIC Warns of "Lost Generation" Risk if Australia Falls Behind on Fintech and AI
ASIC warned that Australia could create a "lost generation" of citizens with lower living standards if the nation falls behind in fintech and AI, releasing a Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre review that benchmarks the country against six leading jurisdictions....
Protection Costs at Historic Lows; Sustainability Remains Uncertain
The cost of protection is near the cheapest levels in history. *Is it sustainable? / What happens next? https://t.co/VvU44Ihozn
Iowa Overhauls Captive Insurance Rules, Adds Tax Break and Life Reinsurance
Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 2766 on May 15, revamping Iowa's captive insurance framework with a premium‑tax break for redomesticating captives, a five‑year clawback provision, and a brand‑new life captive reinsurance regime. The changes also lower the capital floor...
The Big Picture: Faulty Communication – Do Post-Issue Underwriting Audits Put Customers at Risk?
The article examines how post‑issue underwriting audits—reviews conducted after a policy is issued—can suffer from faulty communication between insurers and policyholders. It highlights that unclear or delayed notices often lead to retroactive changes in coverage, premium adjustments, or claim denials....
Success Factors in Digital Underwriting
Underwriting leaders now face a crowded vendor landscape offering workbenches, AI extraction, and workflow platforms, but most solutions share the same cloud‑based components. The decisive factor is not the technology itself but how well the implementation aligns with an insurer’s...
Australian Regulator Flags Rising Private Credit Risks and Tightens Oversight
Australian regulator ASIC has warned that private‑credit exposures are rising faster than borrowers’ ability to service debt, prompting tighter supervision and reporting requirements. At the same time, investors are accelerating capital deployment: Swiss pension fund Publica is earmarking roughly $1.2 billion...
Tune Protect Q1 Profit Drops 44% as Revenue Falls 9% Amid Regional Pressure
Tune Protect Group Berhad reported first‑quarter earnings of MYR3.29 million ($0.69 million), a 44% decline from a year earlier, while revenue dropped 8.6% to MYR80.86 million ($17 million). The results highlight mounting pricing pressure and slower growth in its core Southeast Asian markets.
CorVel Q4 Profit Rises to $31M, Boosting Claims‑Management Outlook
CorVel Corp. reported fourth‑quarter profit of $31.0 million, up from $26.4 million a year earlier, and revenue of $248.5 million, a 7.4% increase. The results signal strong demand for the firm’s medical‑claims management and cost‑containment solutions among U.S. health insurers.
Congress Takes Up Hospice Home Health Fraud Bill
Rep. Beth Van Duyne introduced the Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act to curb hospice and home‑health Medicare fraud. The legislation would boost oversight by increasing survey frequency for new or high‑risk providers, adding fingerprinting and liability‑insurance requirements, and standardizing...
California Is Renegotiating Rate Rules in Every Forum at Once
On April 20, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara submitted the first overhaul of Proposition 103’s intervenor compensation mechanism in 35 years, triggering a 30‑day review by the Office of Administrative Law. Three days earlier Consumer Watchdog filed a trial brief challenging more than $420 million...
MS&AD Insurance Group Posts $5.1 Billion Full‑Year Profit, Signals Dividend Rise
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings announced a full‑year net profit of JPY787.339 bn ($5.1 bn), a 14% increase from the prior year, while ordinary income rose to JPY7.653 tn. The insurer also lifted its dividend target to JPY170 per share, even as it projects...
EOS Property Leads Insurance MGA Consolidation with Trust‑Centric Model
EOS Property and Asset Management, under Kris Hamburger, is driving a new consolidation wave among managing general agents (MGAs) and underwriters. Hamburger says the niche has grown from about eight firms a decade ago to 13‑14 today, attracting investors seeking...
Washington State Updates, Clarifies Captive Oversight
The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner has issued revised rules that clarify reporting requirements for captive insurers operating in the state. The update follows a protracted regulatory dispute between former Commissioner Mike Kreidler and large Washington‑based corporations from...
Tokio Marine Posts 7% FY25 Net Income Drop, Projects 21% Lower FY26 Profit
Tokio Marine Holdings reported a 7.1% fall in FY25 net income to ¥980.43 billion ($6.5 bn) despite a 5.1% rise in revenue. The insurer now forecasts FY26 net income of ¥830 billion ($5.5 bn), a 21% drop from the prior year, prompting a 1.66%...
When Algorithms Decide Who Gets Health Care
Law professor Jennifer D. Oliva warns that AI‑powered coverage algorithms used by insurers to approve, deny, or limit care operate without FDA‑type safety testing. Her analysis shows that nearly one‑in‑five insured Americans experience claim denials, with 82% of physicians observing...
Government Indecision on Flood Re Threatens Housing Market
The UK government must provide clarity on the future of Flood Re or risk seeing its failure to do so feed through to the country’s housing market https://t.co/6uv8oR4cIJ
Post-Montgomery, Focus Grows on Fate of 3PL Insurance Premiums
The Supreme Court’s Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II ruling expands liability exposure for freight brokers, prompting a scramble over rising insurance costs. TD Cowen’s round‑table with industry leaders estimates a 90‑point premium gap—carriers spend roughly ten times what 3PLs pay—while brokers...
California Mandates Wildfire Modeling for High‑Risk Property Coverage
California regulators approved a rule that obliges insurers to write coverage in high‑risk wildfire zones if they want to rely on predictive catastrophe models. The mandate targets the 408,432 FAIR Plan policies covering about $393 billion of exposure and aims to...
Trump Says It's Not a 'War.' Insurers with Money on the Line Say It Is
U.S. President Donald Trump continues to label the Iran‑linked conflict as “hostilities,” but insurers say the legal definition of war in policies drives coverage decisions. Most companies operating in the Middle East have only purchased terrorism and sabotage protection, leaving...
War Overtakes Civil Unrest as Top Political Violence Concern
A recent InsuranceERM survey shows war has eclipsed civil unrest as the leading political‑violence concern for insurers. More than half of respondents now rank war risk above civil unrest, driving a 22% year‑over‑year rise in war‑related premium volumes. The shift...
US Personal Motor and Home Insurance Rate Changes Ease Towards Pre-Pandemic Patterns in 2025: AM Best
AM Best reports that U.S. private passenger motor and homeowners insurance rate hikes eased in 2025, moving toward pre‑pandemic levels. Homeowners premiums rose 8.3% year‑over‑year, a 5.2‑point drop, while motor rates increased 3.7%, down from 9.7% in 2024. The moderation...
Bipartisan Bill Aims to Break Pharmacies Away From Health Insurers and PBMs
Congress is reintroducing the Patients Before Monopolies Act, a bipartisan bill that would require health insurers and pharmacy‑benefit managers (PBMs) to divest any pharmacies they own. The legislation is led in the Senate by Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley and...
Parts of England Could Become "Unviable" Without Flood Resilience Reform
A new analysis warns that without accelerated flood‑resilience reform, large swathes of England could become financially unviable. Climate‑driven flood frequency is set to double by 2050, pushing insurance premiums up to 30% in high‑risk areas. The report, citing Pensions Insurance...
ACA Enrollment Falls 5‑6 Million, Prompting Insurers to Eye Further Premium Hikes
Health insurers are preparing for another wave of premium hikes after new data show ACA enrollment has slipped by 5‑6 million people. The drop, driven by the expiration of enhanced subsidies and rising deductibles, threatens market stability and could push more...
Reinsurance Re-Imagined for the Future- Gavin Lillywhite SVP Xceedance
In this episode, Pete Tessier and Kurt Wyatt interview Gavin Lillywhite, SVP of Business Development for Xceedance in the UK and Europe, to explore how reinsurance is being transformed by technology and data. Lillywhite explains Xceedance’s role as a digital‑first,...
Prior Authorization Criteria Differ Significantly Across Leading Commercial Insurers
A new industry analysis reveals that prior‑authorization (PA) criteria vary widely among the top five U.S. commercial insurers, with differences in required documentation, clinical thresholds, and turnaround times. Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare demand detailed lab results for cardiac procedures,...
Excellent Insights From a New Risk Survey
Gartner’s Quarterly Emerging Risk Report surveyed 337 ERM leaders and senior executives, revealing a shift toward technology‑driven threats. The top five emerging risks for Q1 2026 include information‑integrity risk, US‑policy‑induced investment uncertainty, heightened financial exposure from disasters, agentic AI, and an...
Kord Fire Protection Calls on Southern California Owners to Prioritize Sprinkler Inspections
Kord Fire Protection, a Southern California fire‑protection firm, is urging property owners, facility managers and building operators to schedule annual and five‑year fire‑sprinkler inspections. The campaign highlights hidden system failures and ties compliance to insurance requirements under NFPA 25 and...
Less Than 1% of Chicago Homeowners Have Flood Insurance Amid Rising Storm Risks
A new study finds fewer than 1% of Cook County residents carry flood insurance, exposing a massive protection shortfall as climate‑driven storms intensify. The finding underscores urgent questions for insurers, regulators, and homeowners in the Midwest’s largest city.
Solid Underwriting Results Continued in 2025 for Leadenhall Backed Nectaris Re: Am Best
Nectaris Re Ltd., the Leadenhall‑backed Class 3A reinsurance platform, received a third consecutive affirmation of its ‘A’ (excellent) rating from AM Best, citing solid underwriting results from 2023 through 2025. The company generated roughly $13 million in profit after tax in both 2023...
Premium Renewal Rates up YoY Across Nearly All Major Commercial Lines: Ivans
Ivans, a division of Applied Systems, released its April 2026 Ivans Index showing year‑over‑year premium renewal rates rising for Commercial Auto, Business Owner’s Policy, General Liability, Commercial Property and Umbrella, while Workers’ Compensation declined. Commercial Auto’s YoY renewal rate climbed...
Hawaii Passes HB 1804 to Forge Public‑Private Long‑Term Care Funding Model
The Hawaii Legislature approved House Bill 1804, mandating the Executive Office on Aging to develop an actuarially sound, affordable mix of public and private funding for long‑term care. The move revives a four‑decade effort to protect middle‑income families from soaring...
Lloyd’s Warns AI Is Amplifying Evolving Cyber Risk Vectors and Uncertainty in Coverage Exposure
Lloyd’s Q2 Market Message flags the cyber line as “Marginal,” indicating that current pricing margins are under significant pressure. The insurer warns that artificial intelligence is adding new threat vectors and deepening uncertainty around policy coverage, especially regarding liability exposures....
Bitcoin Hormuz Payments for Ship Insurance Will Test Crypto’s Neutral Money Thesis
According to Iran‑linked Fars News, the Economy Ministry is developing Hormuz Safe, a digital platform that would settle vessel insurance premiums for transits through the Strait of Hormuz in Bitcoin, with projected revenues exceeding $10 billion. The website currently displays only...
Prudential to Acquire 75% of Bharti Life for $389 M, Reshapes India Insurance Landscape
Prudential plc announced it will purchase a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance for an initial cash consideration of about $389 million (₹3,500 crore), with up to $78 million (₹700 crore) additional contingent payment. The deal forces Prudential to reduce its share in ICICI...
Zurich Expands Agentic AI Rollout with Cytora Partnership
Zurich Insurance has deployed Cytora’s AI‑driven risk digitisation platform in five countries within 90 days, slashing manual underwriting triage time by 80%. The rollout boosted straight‑through processing from 10% to 95% and lifted digitisation accuracy to 98%. Zurich now aims...
Iran Unveils Crypto Insurance Regime for Hormuz
Iran announced a new insurance‑based regime called Hormuz Safe to manage transit through the Strait of Hormuz, issuing blockchain‑verified marine policies payable in Bitcoin. The scheme requires vessels to file a mandatory Vessel Information Declaration with the newly created Persian...