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 reservations, and seamless handoffs to live specialists. Early feedback is positive, and Travelers plans to extend the assistant to other lines of business. The rollout includes a training program that moves call‑center staff into more strategic, value‑added roles.
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...
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...
Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.
A bipartisan wave of state legislation is targeting the use of artificial intelligence in health‑insurance decisions, with at least nine states passing or proposing limits on AI‑driven claim denials and prior authorizations. President Trump’s December executive order seeks to preempt...
Matic and nCino Embed Home Insurance Into Digital Mortgages
Matic and nCino have teamed up to embed a home‑insurance marketplace directly into nCino’s digital mortgage platform. The integration lets borrowers compare and purchase policies from more than 70 carriers without leaving the loan application flow. Lenders gain earlier access...
OSHA Inspector Ranks Fell Sharply Before Projected 2026 Increase, Agency Says
OSHA’s federal safety‑inspection workforce dropped sharply, falling from 812 officers at the end of fiscal 2024 to 629 by September 2025. The agency projects a rebound to roughly 1,720 inspectors in 2026, a figure that includes staff from state‑plan programs....
Insurtech : Branch Extends Partnership with Akur8 Through Discover Adoption
Branch, a Columbus‑based insurer, has expanded its partnership with AI pricing firm Akur8 by adopting the company’s Discover tool. Discover converts unstructured U.S. regulatory documents into searchable data, giving Branch real‑time insight into pricing trends and compliance requirements. The new...
Clearwater Analytics Holdings Inc (CWAN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Corebridge Financial reported a strong fourth‑quarter 2025, posting adjusted pretax operating income of $760 million and operating EPS of $1.22, a 15% year‑over‑year increase. Total sales reached a record $42 billion, up 4%, while the company returned $2.6 billion to shareholders, lifting the...
Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Verisk Analytics reported Q4 2025 GAAP revenue of $779 million, up 5.9%, while GAAP net income fell 6.2% to $197 million due to early debt‑extinguishment costs and the absence of prior‑year investment gains. Subscription revenue, which now represents 84% of total sales,...
Jackson Financial Inc (JXN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Jackson Financial Inc. reported a strong fourth‑quarter 2025, posting adjusted operating earnings of $455 million and a 12% year‑over‑year earnings increase. Retail annuity sales hit a record $20 billion, while full‑year free capital generation rose to nearly $1.4 billion, supporting a $862 million capital...
Doctors Tell Senators CMS Red Tape Is Driving Workforce Exodus, Threatening Access
Physicians, medical educators and health system leaders testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging that escalating CMS regulations—particularly prior authorizations and Medicare quality reporting—are intensifying burnout and prompting many to leave clinical practice. The testimony highlighted that these administrative...
Digital Broker Konkrd Just Changed How You Buy Health Insurance, Using AI
Konkrd, a digital broker founded by former iSelect executives, completed Australia’s first fully autonomous health‑insurance sale using its agentic AI platform. The end‑to‑end process guided a real customer through a needs analysis, policy recommendation, and final purchase without manual intervention,...
Delaware High Court Rules for Insurers in Ransomware Case
The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower‑court dismissal and revived insurers’ claims against Blackbaud for costs incurred after the 2020 ransomware breach. The insurers, who paid more than $2 million for forensic, legal, and credit‑monitoring services, met the state’s notice‑pleading standard...
Munich Re Unit to Cut 1,000 Positions as AI Takes Over Jobs
Munich Re’s primary insurer, Ergo, will eliminate roughly 1,000 positions in Germany, driven by AI automation of routine telephony and claims‑processing tasks. The reductions will be phased over five years, ending in 2030, and support the group’s goal of €600 million...
Car Ownership Cost Estimates, Reality Are Miles Apart
A wave of strategic moves reshaped the global insurance landscape on Feb. 17, 2026, as Aon secured a major reinsurance appointment and Zurich received an extension on its Beazley bid, while Ardonagh acquired a controlling stake in a Hong Kong...
Aon Makes Reinsurance Appointment
Aon announced that Nick Fraccalvieri will assume the role of CEO of global facultative for its Reinsurance Solutions division effective March 1, succeeding Andrew Laing after a decade at the helm. Laing will transition to UK CEO of Reinsurance Solutions while retaining his...
Design and Implementation of Cloud-Native Microservice Architectures for Scalable Insurance Analytics Platforms
A new study presents a cloud‑native microservice architecture designed for insurance analytics, leveraging Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka, and Spark to replace legacy monolithic systems. The design enables real‑time data ingestion, continuous AI model deployment, and automated scaling across services. Performance tests...
Dairy Margin Coverage Signup Slow in the Dairy State
Most Wisconsin dairy producers have yet to enroll in the USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, with only 1,616 of the state’s 5,116 licensed farms—31.5%—signed up as of Feb 17. The enrollment deadline is Feb 26, prompting FSA officials and risk‑management advisors...
Houston Companies to Pay $200K to Workers Fired for Asbestos Concern
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered two Houston construction firms, Rise Construction LLC and Niko Group LLC, to reinstate two workers they fired for raising asbestos safety concerns during a hotel repair after Hurricane Beryl....
Bayer to Make $10.5 Billion Push to Settle Roundup Cases
Bayer AG is set to announce a $10.5 billion settlement initiative to resolve Roundup litigation, combining a $7.5 billion class‑action proposal in Missouri with $3 billion for existing U.S. cases. The German conglomerate has already spent more than $10 billion on verdicts and settlements...
L&G to Maintain Exposure to Catastrophe Bonds Despite Spread Tightening
Legal & General Investment Management will keep its catastrophe‑bond exposure despite recent spread compression. The firm’s portfolio, estimated at a minimum of $400 million, remains in diversified multi‑asset funds while it waits for more attractive entry points. Turner and Dietz note...
Convergence: Navigating the Blurred Lines Between Public and Private Credit
In a recent InsuranceAUM interview, Chris Gudmastad, Head of Private Credit, discusses the growing convergence between public and private credit markets. He highlights how blended financing structures are blurring traditional asset class boundaries and reshaping investment opportunities. The conversation underscores...
The Great Opt-Out: Why Patients Are Ditching Insurance for Cash-Pay Digital Care
Vanessa Slowey, CEO of TelyRx, highlights a growing shift as millions of Americans, burdened by rising premiums, limited ACA subsidies and fragile telehealth policies, are opting for cash‑pay digital care. Uninsured rates sit at 27 million, and roughly one‑quarter of insured...
Florida Cargo Theft Ring Busted, Responsible for $7.8M in Losses
Florida Attorney General announced the arrest of six suspects linked to an organized cargo theft ring responsible for 32 cargo thefts and one vessel theft across six counties, causing nearly $7.8 million in losses. The ring, classified as a Major...
Intrepid Travel Signs up to to the Safer Tourism Pledge
Intrepid Travel, the B Corp‑certified adventure operator, has signed the Safer Tourism Pledge, the travel industry’s leading framework for traveller risk, health and safety. The company runs more than 900 small‑group trips in over 120 countries, and the pledge adds...
AI Needs Its Own Risk Class: Lockton Re
Lockton Re, together with Lockton International and Armilla AI, released a report urging insurers to treat artificial intelligence as a distinct risk class. The study maps AI‑related exposures across cyber, errors‑and‑omissions, casualty, D&O and employment lines, exposing coverage silences and...
Half of Americans Believe only the Rich Can Afford GLP-1s without Insurance
A ValuePenguin study finds that a median‑income American household would need to allocate about 7.3% of earnings to afford a two‑milligram monthly supply of Ozempic, the flagship GLP‑1 weight‑loss drug. In the poorest states, the cost can approach one‑tenth of...
Experian Launches Insurance Marketplace App on ChatGPT
Experian has launched an Insurance Marketplace app on ChatGPT, enabling users to compare auto insurance rates from 37 carriers via conversational AI. The service offers real‑time quotes, customized recommendations, and leverages Experian’s data expertise. The company says the tool could...
AIG’s Zaffino: Outcomes From AI Use Went From ‘Aspirational’ to ‘Beyond Expectations’
AIG announced that its generative‑AI platform, AIG Assist, has dramatically outperformed the aspirational goals set at last year’s Investor Day. The tool now handles over 370,000 commercial‑line submissions, edging toward a 500,000 target for 2030, while cutting processing time without...
Challenger Life’s Cat Bond Investments Beat Benchmark in Last Half-Year
Challenger Life, an Australian life insurer, reported that its catastrophe bond and broader insurance‑linked securities (ILS) investments outperformed the Plenum CAT Bond UCITS Fund Index over the last six months. The cat bond segment delivered a return above the index’s...
Is Risk the Main Ingredient in Ultra-Processed Food?
Convenience has made ultra‑processed foods a staple, but emerging scientific evidence links them to chronic diseases and early‑onset cancers. A CDC study shows children obtain roughly 62% of daily calories from these products, prompting early product‑liability and public‑nuisance lawsuits. Casualty...
Deephouse, Lee to Lead IIHS and HLDI Boards
Brian Deephouse, chief actuary at Auto Club Enterprises, was elected chair of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) board for 2026, succeeding Allstate’s Ginger Purgatorio. Dawn Lee, PEMCO Mutual’s chief product and underwriting officer, will continue as chair of...
OpenAI Deleted Word ‘Safely’ From Its Mission – Its New Structure Is A Test
OpenAI’s latest IRS filing removed the word “safely” from its mission, replacing it with a broader pledge to benefit all of humanity. The change coincided with a legal restructuring that split the organization into a nonprofit foundation and a for‑profit...
‘Structural Shift’ Occurring in California Surplus Lines
California’s surplus lines market is undergoing a structural shift accelerated by the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. The Surplus Line Association of California reports surplus‑line policies have jumped over 500%, rising from about 50,000 in 2023 to 320,000 in 2025, while standard...
Radiologists Urge Cigna to Rescind Coverage Restriction for Key Imaging Procedure
Radiology societies, led by the Society of Interventional Radiology, have asked Cigna to reverse policy 0539, which labels implantable peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) for chronic pain as medically unnecessary. The groups cite robust randomized trials, FDA clearance, and a favorable...
Bootstrapped and Profitable AI InsurTech Company Mea Platform Raises €42.2 Million
UK‑based AI InsurTech mea Platform announced a €42.2 million minority growth equity investment from SEP to accelerate product development and customer engagement. The company, founded in 2021, has remained bootstrapped and profitable for four consecutive years. Its domain‑specific AI platform, already...
HIMSSCast: 2026 Could Be the Most Challenging Year yet for Medicare Advantage Payers
Medicare Advantage insurers are confronting a perfect storm of rising medical costs and a flat payment increase of less than 1% announced by CMS for 2026. The new risk‑adjustment formula and stagnant reimbursement fall below the medical‑cost trend, compressing margins...
Telefónica Tech Promotes Digital Identity Management in the Insurance Sector in Spain
Telefónica Tech is launching a unified digital identity platform for Spain’s insurance sector, enabling secure, self‑sovereign access to digital services. The initiative builds on a 2023 European trial and integrates cloud, IoT, big‑data and blockchain capabilities. Partnering with the insurance...
Active Employer Involvement Can Cut Workers’ Compensation Costs
Employers who actively manage workers’ compensation claims can dramatically lower expenses, according to Kinetic Insurance’s new guide. Reporting injuries within 24‑48 hours reduces medical utilization and litigation risk, while delayed reporting can increase costs by 30‑40 percent. The guide identifies...
IAG Sees Pricing Pressure After Bushfires, Storms
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) warned Australian policyholders of upcoming premium increases after a wave of severe weather events strained its loss portfolio. Over four months, 17 storms and bushfires across Queensland triggered A$800 million in claims for RACQ Insurance, which IAG...
Brasil Re’s Net Income Jumps 35%, Premiums Tumble 12%
IRB Brasil Resseguros SA reported a 35% jump in net income to 505 million Brazilian reais ($97 million) for 2025. Underwriting profit surged 64% year‑over‑year to 741 million reais, while written premiums fell 12% to 5.8 billion reais. The premium decline reflects a wave...
Mapfre Re to Open India Branch
Spain‑based Mapfre Re Compañía de Reaseguros SA has secured regulatory approval to open a branch in Gujarat, India. The reinsurer plans to commence operations within weeks after completing pre‑opening procedures with local authorities. This marks Mapfre Re’s first dedicated presence...
MS Amlin’s Premiums Surge 380%
MS Amlin reported a 380% jump in gross written premiums, marking a dramatic turnaround for the Lloyd’s syndicate. The surge stems from robust growth in specialty underwriting and reinsurance contracts across Europe and Asia. The company also highlighted improved loss...
Insurance Revolution Partners CM.com to Power WhatsApp Service
Insurance Revolution has teamed with CM.com to embed WhatsApp into its broker workflow via the Mobile Service Cloud. The move has driven a 50‑fold rise in message volume, cut email traffic by 22% and reduced calls per agent by 11%....
Editorial: Time to Find a Fix for Poaching Suits
The editorial highlights a surge of insurance‑broker poaching lawsuits, ignited by Howden’s aggressive hiring of hundreds of producers from rivals. It exposes a broken industry approach to employee mobility, where firms cling to proprietary data while brokers argue their client...
Insurance Broker M&A Stabilizes After Surge
Insurance brokerage M&A activity has settled into a lower‑than‑peak but sustainable level. Total reported transactions fell 12% in 2025 to 691, aligning with a ten‑year average of 686 when the 2021‑22 surge is excluded. Private‑equity‑backed (PE‑hybrid) firms continue to dominate,...
Mixed-Use Mega Venue Projects Create a Whole New Ball Game for Insurers
Mixed-use mega venues such as SoFi Stadium and The Sphere are expanding beyond traditional sports arenas to include retail, dining, residential, and high‑tech features. This diversification creates broader, more complex liability exposures, prompting owners to purchase higher limits and layered...
View From the Top: Manny Padilla, RIMS
Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has elected Manny Padilla, a veteran risk executive at MacAndrews & Forbes, as its 2026 president. Padilla, who transitioned from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Auxiliary to insurance, emphasizes that risk management is...