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:
Being Tracked Keeps Drivers on Track
University of Pennsylvania researchers found that usage‑based insurance programs with real‑time feedback and up to $100 cash incentives significantly improve driving behavior. Speeding dropped up to 13 percent, while hard braking and rapid acceleration fell as much as 25 percent. The study compared standard feedback, assigned‑goal, and driver‑chosen‑goal formats, all of which sustained safer habits after the incentives ended. Phone‑use scores, however, were inflated by default app settings, resulting in no measurable change in distracted‑driving behavior.
Homeostatic Third-Party GRC in GRC 7.0 – GRC Orchestrate
GRC is evolving from static third‑party risk management to a homeostatic, ecosystem‑wide approach that treats suppliers, cloud providers and partners as living nodes within an extended enterprise. GRC 7.0 – GRC Orchestrate introduces a digital twin that maps interdependent relationships, objectives and...
Behind the Headlines: LMG’s Caroline Wagstaff on Why London Must Not Stand Still
In this episode, Caroline Wagstaff, CEO of the London Market Group, warns that the London insurance market’s record £187 bn premium write‑off in 2024 and its £61 bn contribution to UK GDP should not breed complacency. She stresses the need for continuous...

How Insurers Scale Agentic AI Safely Across Their Operating Model with Orchestration
Insurance carriers are moving from isolated AI pilots to enterprise‑wide agentic AI, but they lack a coordination layer that embeds agents into core workflows. Agentic orchestration merges deterministic process control with dynamic AI behavior, enabling safe, regulated automation across claims,...
6 Ways Hospitals Can Structure CMS TEAM Collaboration Agreements with Specialists
The CMS Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) now holds hospitals financially accountable for costly surgical episodes, prompting a shift toward true specialist collaboration. Hospitals must craft Collaboration Agreements that align incentives, share data, and avoid punitive scoring to keep surgeons...
Westfield Specialty Reports $1.93B in Gross Written Premium
Westfield Specialty posted $1.93 billion in gross written premium for 2025, delivering $87.2 million of underwriting income and a 93.1% combined ratio. The U.S. segment generated 55% of the premium base, while London‑based international operations contributed the remaining 45%. Business‑line breakdown shows...

Newly Launched Pinion Hires Fortegra’s Kyle Selvig as US CUO
Pinion Insurance, a newly formed specialty carrier backed by up to $180 million of preferred equity from Barings, announced the appointment of Kyle Selvig as its U.S. Chief Underwriting Officer. Selvig, who brings 25 years of P&C experience and previously managed roughly...

Marsh Risk Launches Excess Casualty Facility for US Digital Infrastructure
Marsh Risk has introduced Nimbus Casualty, an excess general liability facility targeting U.S. digital infrastructure construction projects. The new program offers up to $75 million of coverage with a $25 million attachment point and is underwritten by a consortium of Lloyd’s and...

EV Collision Claims Rise Even as Sales Falter: Report
Mitchell International’s "Plugged‑In: EV Collision Insights" report shows U.S. electric‑vehicle collision claims rose 14% and Canadian claims 24% despite a 2% dip in BEV sales. Repairable claim shares grew 6% for PHEVs and 20% for MHEVs in the U.S., with...

Guest Post: Venture Capital, Startup Liability, and D&O Insurance
When a startup secures venture capital, its liability profile shifts dramatically as cash, fiduciary duties, and litigation exposure rise overnight. Without directors and officers (D&O) coverage, founders and executives can face personal financial loss from employment, equity, or disclosure disputes....
D&O Liability Market Finds Stability as Downward Pricing Pressures Ease: AM Best
The directors and officers (D&O) liability market is moving toward stability after several years of aggressive price competition. AM Best upgraded its outlook to stable as renewal rates flatten and premium cuts become modest through 2026. Insurers are shifting focus from...

In FTC Settlement, Cigna Agrees to Change Some PBM Business Practices, Charge Customers Less for Insulin
The episode examines Cigna’s settlement with the FTC over its Express Scripts PBM, which was accused of inflating insulin prices through opaque rebate deals. Key provisions require Cigna to prioritize lower‑cost drug versions, base patient copays on net prices, increase...

Donegal Group’s Net Income Climbs 56% as CoR Improves in 2025
Donegal Group reported a 56% jump in net income to $79.3 million for 2025, driven by a stronger combined ratio of 95.4% versus 98.6% the prior year. Net premiums earned fell slightly to $921.2 million, with commercial lines posting modest...

Georgia Supreme Court Disbars Workers’ Comp Attorney for Taking Client Funds
The Georgia Supreme Court disbarred workers’ compensation attorney Bryan Matthew Pritchett after an investigation revealed he forged client signatures and diverted nearly $160,000 in settlement funds. Pritchett, suspended in 2024, must repay over $104,000 to one client and additional amounts...

Markel Expands Cybersecurity Support for Policyholders Through Upfort Partnership
Markel announced a partnership with cyber‑security firm Upfort to extend AI‑driven protection tools to eligible U.S. cyber‑insurance policyholders. The collaboration introduces the Upfort Shield platform and an endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution with behavioural analytics. Markel says the offering...

Lemonade Books Q4 Net Loss of $21.7M as Customer Count Grows
Lemonade reported a Q4 2025 net loss of $21.7 million, an improvement from the $30 million loss a year earlier. Revenue surged 53% and gross profit rose 73% year‑over‑year, while operating expenses climbed 13% to $141.2 million as the company invested in customer acquisition....
SageSure Moves up to Third in Our Cat Bond Sponsor Leaderboard, as Largest Gateway Re Closes
SageSure has risen to third place on the Artemis catastrophe‑bond sponsor leaderboard after closing its largest Gateway Re issuance, a $670 million multi‑peril cat bond. The transaction brings the MGU’s outstanding risk capital to just over $3.1 billion across 12 issuances. The...

Neptune’s Total Revenues Grew 39% to $43.8m in Q4’25
Neptune Insurance Holdings reported Q4 2025 revenue of $43.8 million, a 39% jump from the prior year, driven by a 41% rise in written premium to $100.3 million. Net income fell 63% to $4.3 million, largely because of $4.6 million in IPO‑related costs, while adjusted...

London Market Brokers Favour Technologically Forward Insurers: Guidewire
A Guidewire survey of over 250 London Market brokers reveals that 78% now weigh an insurer’s digital efficiency heavily when placing risk. Brokers cite outdated technology as the top barrier to modernization, with 24% highlighting legacy cores. AI-driven automation, especially...
Govt Identifies L1 Insurers for Restructured Weather Crop Insurance Scheme in J&K
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has appointed Agriculture Insurance Company of India and Tata AIG General Insurance as the lowest‑bid insurers for the Restructured Weather‑Based Crop Insurance Scheme. The scheme will protect apple and saffron growers in Kashmir and mango,...

Augment Risk Adds Weather and Parametric Risk Capabilities to Its LatAm Platform
Augment Risk has expanded its Latin American platform to offer specialist weather‑parametric and structured weather risk transfer solutions. The Miami‑based team will design bespoke products for energy producers, utilities and large industrial firms, leveraging proprietary analytics, data‑driven triggers and clear...

Global InsurTech Funding Surges on Record Re/Insurance Investments: Gallagher Re
Global InsurTech funding jumped 19.5% in 2025, reaching $5.08 billion—the first annual rise since 2021. The fourth quarter alone surged 66.8% to $1.68 billion, the largest quarterly total since Q3 2022. Reinsurers and insurers led the investment wave with a record 162 deals,...

Storm Nils Insured Losses Could Exceed €3bn: Morningstar DBRS
Storm Nils devastated southwestern France with heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding, causing two deaths and dozens of injuries. Morningstar DBRS estimates insured wind damage between €800 million and €1.2 billion, and total insured losses—including flood, vehicle and business interruption claims—could exceed...
Private Health Insurance: Provider Participation and Payments for Selected Services Before and After the No Surprises Act
The Government Accountability Office examined how the No Surprises Act affected provider participation and payment levels for emergency medicine, radiology, anesthesiology and air‑ambulance services from 2019 through 2023. After the act’s protections took effect on January 1 2022, the share of in‑network...
Take Two: EP398: Why Are Commercial Carrier Marketplaces Completely Boring? Maybe Because There Isn't a Marketplace, With Jacob Asher, MD
In this episode of the "No Market" series, host Stacey Richter talks with Dr. Jacob Asher, a former chief medical officer for major health plans, about why commercial carrier marketplaces—especially in California—are stagnant and lack true competition. They identify six...

SEC Chair Atkins Proposed Further Securities Litigation and Disclosure Reform
SEC Chair Paul Atkins used a Texas A&M law symposium to unveil a second wave of securities‑litigation and disclosure reforms. He urged Texas to consider "loser‑pays" fee‑shifting bylaws and to permit mandatory arbitration provisions for corporations incorporated under state law....
From Convenience to Crime: How Payment Apps Stand to Reshape Business Fraud
Businesses of all sizes are embracing peer‑to‑peer payment apps such as Venmo, Zelle and Cash App to streamline vendor payments and employee reimbursements. The convenience has sparked a surge in fraud, with New York regulators reporting more than $390 million in losses...

Nevada Debuts Public Option Amid Tumultuous Federal Changes to Health Care
Nevada launched its Battle Born public option health plans last fall, aiming to lower premiums and expand coverage. Early enrollment reached just over 10,000 members, far short of the 35,000 target set by state officials. The program must cut premiums...

Florida Investor’s Guide to Premium Financing Risks 2026
Florida’s insurance market is stabilizing, but high‑net‑worth investors face a new danger from premium‑financed life insurance. The strategy, once attractive because cheap borrowing let the ultra‑wealthy keep assets liquid, now collides with sharply higher interest rates. Federal Reserve hikes pushed...

AM Best: Administration’s Executive Order Could Provide Impetus Towards Stabilizing the Cannabis Insurance Market
The episode reviews the Biden administration’s recent executive order aimed at fostering a more stable cannabis insurance market, highlighting how the policy could encourage insurers to offer coverage to cannabis businesses. It explains the current challenges—such as regulatory uncertainty and...

Diocese’s Sex Abuse Claims Fund to Get $180 Million Boost to Pay Survivors
The Catholic Diocese of Camden agreed to contribute an additional $180 million to its abuse‑claims trust, supplementing the $87.5 million settlement approved in 2024. The boost follows a mediation that resolved insurers' objections to the original plan, which had been stalled on...

CFC Owners Said to Tap Banks for Sale, IPO of £5 Billion Insurer
Private equity firms EQT AB and Vitruvian Partners have engaged Evercore and Goldman Sachs to explore a sale or initial public offering of cyber insurer CFC, targeting a valuation around £5 billion. The advisers are assessing both London and New York as...
Employers Holdings Inc (EIG) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Employers Holdings reported Q4 2025 gross premiums of $156.8 million, an 11% decline driven by weaker new business, while losses and LAE jumped 18.7% to $134.4 million. Net investment income rose 17.6% to $31.4 million after a strategic portfolio rebalance that cut equity...
Lemonade Inc (LMND) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Lemonade reported record Q4 2025 results, with in‑force premium hitting $1.24 billion, a 31% year‑over‑year rise, and revenue surging 53% to $228 million. Gross profit jumped 73% to $111 million, while adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $5 million, putting the insurer on the brink of...
Ategrity Specialty Insurance Company Holdings (ASIC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
American International Group (AIG) posted a strong Q4 2025, delivering adjusted EPS of $1.96, a 51% year‑over‑year increase, and underwriting income of $670 million, up 48%. The company’s expense ratio fell to 31.1%, and the accident‑year combined ratio improved to 88.9%,...
Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
First American Financial reported a 47% jump in adjusted EPS to $1.99 and a 14% rise in title‑segment revenue, driven by a 35% surge in commercial revenue and higher average revenue per order. The company launched its AI‑powered Endpoint escrow...
Donegal Group Inc (DGICA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Donegal Group reported a record $3.7 billion after‑tax operating income for 2025, driven by a 26% jump to $1.1 billion in Q4. The consolidated combined ratio improved to 80.6%, underscoring strong underwriting profitability across insurance, reinsurance and mortgage segments. Share repurchases totaled...

AI Quoting Hits Retail. Specialty Gains Leverage
The episode examines the February 2026 selloff in U.S. insurance broker stocks, triggered by the launch of AI quoting tools from Insurify and Tuio on ChatGPT. While the market panicked, assuming AI would disintermediate all broker services, the discussion highlights...

AM Revises Outlook for State Street Captive
AM Best upgraded the outlook for State Street’s captive insurer, Federated Underwriting Company, from stable to positive. The agency also reaffirmed the captive’s financial strength rating at A‑ (excellent) and its long‑term issuer credit rating at a‑ (excellent). Federated Underwriting...

Japan Accounting Group Seeks to Ease Insurer Bond Loss Rule
The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA) has proposed treating life insurers' government‑bond holdings as held‑to‑maturity, removing the need for impairment accounting when certain criteria are met. Under current rules insurers must record a loss if market value falls...

Legislation Revived to Protect Drivers From Underride Crashes
The Stop Underrides Act 2.0, reintroduced by Senators Gillibrand and Luján and supported by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, aims to mandate side underride guards on all new commercial trucks. The bill expands federal safety requirements, restarts the DOT advisory committee,...

AI Claim Assistant Now Taking Auto Damage Claims Calls at Travelers
Travelers Companies has launched an AI Claim Assistant, an agentic voice service built on OpenAI’s models, to field auto‑damage claim calls. The system guides callers from initial consultation through claim submission, provides policy details, and enables photo uploads, appraisals, rental...

Employers Push Critical Illness Plans Amid Health Risks
Employers are increasingly adding critical‑illness insurance to their benefits portfolios to offset gaps left by high‑deductible health plans. A recent Equitable survey shows 31% of American workers filed a critical‑illness claim in the past year, yet only 49% feel confident...
Public Company Stakes NXM, Earns Yield on On‑Chain Risks
Love to see it. A publicly listed company staking NXM to earn yield by backing onchain risks.

Legacy Banks' Failures Fuel $1.3T Debt Fintech Surge
$1.3 trillion in credit card debt. An all-time high. One unicorn CEO says his fintech wouldn’t even exist if traditional banks had served customers better. When legacy systems fail to manage risk, transparency and affordability, disruption isn’t optional. It’s inevitable. https://t.co/b072MMXcSy @fortunemagazine...

INTX Selected by Xitus as Core Insurance Operating System
Texas‑based INTX Insurance Software has been chosen by Xitus to serve as its core insurance operating system for global run‑off, loss‑portfolio transfer (LPT), insurance‑backed transaction (IBT) and captive reinsurance activities across its Bermuda, UK and Europe subsidiaries. The selection covers...
FinTechs Become Latin America’s SME Financial Operating System
Latin America’s small businesses don’t lack ambition. They lack liquidity. FinTechs are stepping in to close persistent cash flow gaps with smarter underwriting, real-time data and embedded finance solutions. The real opportunity isn’t just lending. It’s becoming the financial operating system for...

UK Caps Launch Liability in Timely Boost for Nascent Domestic Market
On February 18, the UK enacted a €60 million liability cap for launch operators under the Space Industry (Indemnities) Act 2025, replacing the previous unlimited exposure. The cap, which must be included in launch licences, is intended to make the nascent UK...
From Brooklyn Bookshelves to Building Resilience: Lesli Rice on Mentorship, Market Shifts and Modern Risk
Lesli Rice, a veteran risk manager who rose from a Brooklyn library job to senior roles at Allstate, Turner Construction, and Lincoln Avenue Communities, highlights the risk management field’s strong mentorship culture. She points to the industry’s narrowing coverage, rising...
Gallagher Brings Woodruff Sawyer Under Brand in $1.2bn Deal
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has completed the integration of Woodruff Sawyer, fully bringing the specialist broker under the Gallagher brand after a $1.2 billion acquisition. The move adds Woodruff Sawyer’s $268 million pro‑forma revenue and $88 million EBITDAC, along with its 14...