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Every morning
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Assurant announced a partnership with Dutch online mobile operator hollandsnieuwe to launch mobile device protection in the Netherlands. The offering includes a Standard plan covering accidental damage and a Premium plan adding theft and loss coverage. A fully digital enrollment and claims process, plus a 1‑working‑day fulfilment service, aims to deliver a seamless customer experience. The deal expands Assurant’s European footprint while enhancing hollandsnieuwe’s value‑focused product suite.
CollectForU Expert and Debt Hunter released a joint report revealing that over 70% of Hong Kong SMEs lack basic credit defense mechanisms, exposing them to severe liquidity risk as supply‑chain payment cycles lengthen. The study highlights a growing gap between...
AutoFlight has introduced AF Care+, an all‑in‑one protection programme for operators of its CarryAll eVTOL aircraft. The offering, built on an initial arrangement with People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC), insures ten aircraft and expands to cover aircraft damage, third‑party liability,...
Viriyah Insurance is considering higher premiums for electric‑vehicle (EV) policies after its EV segment posted a combined‑ratio loss slightly above 10 %, meaning claims and expenses exceed premiums. The insurer will adopt a model‑by‑model pricing approach, tailoring rates to each vehicle’s...
Medicare Advantage (MA) spending is projected to be 14% higher than fee‑for‑service Medicare in 2026, adding roughly $76 billion in excess costs. The gap stems from intensified diagnostic coding, a quality‑bonus program that adds $16 billion, and favorable selection that boosts payments...
CMS announced that the third round of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program will proceed with full manufacturer participation, covering 15 high‑cost, single‑source drugs and one drug slated for renegotiation. The agency will issue initial price offers by June 1, 2026,...
The American Hospital Association (AHA) submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the agency’s proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027. While the AHA praised CMS’s push for innovative coverage options, it warned...
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its March 2026 report to Congress, outlining recommended payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services for 2027. The commission also proposed allocating an additional $1 billion to safety‑net hospitals through a new Medicare safety‑net...
A recent Ames & Gough survey shows eight of fifteen designer‑liability insurers raised premiums in 2025, though most hikes were five percent or less. Five insurers kept rates flat and two even lowered them, leaving the overall professional‑liability market for architects...
The Smoke Damage Recovery Act (AB 1795) is moving through the California Legislature to establish a statewide framework for evaluating and remediating wildfire smoke damage in homes. Prompted by the 2025 Los Angeles fires, which generated over 42,000 insurance claims—including 13,000 smoke‑damage...
Louisiana regulators announced that three Allstate‑group insurers filed personal‑auto rate cuts in March 2026. Imperial Fire & Casualty reduced its Value Product by 6% for about 41,000 high‑risk drivers, IFAC lowered its Mid‑Market premiums 2.9% covering 32,000 policyholders, and Allstate...
Moody's warns that insured losses from the Iran‑Israel conflict remain manageable for large, diversified specialty insurers if hostilities are brief, projecting a baseline scenario of a few weeks before navigation through the Strait of Hormuz resumes. However, a prolonged war...
The Washington Senate voted 30-19 to approve amendments to S.B. 5847, sending the bill to Governor Bob Ferguson. The legislation lets network providers deviate from Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) coverage decisions and national treatment guidelines when medically appropriate....
The Metals Agency has secured export credit insurance through JPMorgan Chase and the U.S. Export‑Import Bank, marking its first bank‑backed protection for international metal trades. The coverage gives customers a safety net against payment defaults, especially as copper, aluminum and...
Regulators including the FCA and SRA have warned that duplicate representation in motor‑finance commission claims creates confusion, delays and potential unfair termination fees. Firms must ensure consumers understand which agreement governs their claim and that any supersession clause is clearly...
The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) loss estimate for Hurricane Helene now sits above $7 billion, surpassing the attachment points of several FloodSmart Re catastrophe bonds. As a result, the $225 million Class A tranche of the 2023‑1 series has been allowed to...
Finance leaders are being urged to grasp subrogation, a legal practice where insurers recoup payouts from at‑fault parties, as an untapped lever to curb soaring health‑care costs. Intellivo, a pure‑play subrogation firm, showcased the potential by recovering up to 1%...
UK defined benefit pension schemes are seeing a strategic shift as new regulations unlock roughly £260bn of surplus previously funneled to insurers in buy‑outs. The reforms let sponsors and members reclaim surplus, prompting interest in alternatives like captive insurance structures...
A recent Big I survey reveals that only three in ten Americans review or shop for insurance each year, despite nine‑in‑ten rating insurance as important or somewhat important. Most policyholders act reactively, waiting for premium increases or major life events before...
U.S. commercial insurance rates rose 2.9% in Q4 2025, according to WTW’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey, marking a slowdown from the 3.28% gains in Q3 and the roughly 6% increases seen from late 2023 through Q1 2025. The moderation reflects a...
Ten medical societies, including the American College of Radiology, have written to UnitedHealthcare and Cigna urging them to revise their coverage policies for peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), a minimally invasive chronic pain treatment. The insurers currently classify PNS as experimental,...
Alberta has imposed strict auto‑insurance rate caps, freezing premiums in 2023 and limiting increases to 7.5% for good drivers in 2025‑26 and 10‑12.5% for all policy‑holders. The caps have created a mismatch between rising claim costs—up 7.8% annually—and allowed premium...
Coalition, a San Francisco‑based cyber insurer, launched its Active Cyber Policy in Canada, expanding coverage to address ransomware, AI‑enabled fraud and heightened regulatory scrutiny. The policy bundles popular endorsements, offers optional separate limits for breach response, and introduces financial incentives for...
Patients like Sheldon Ekirch have spent nearly $90,000 fighting insurer denials for costly IVIG therapy, only to receive coverage after a Virginia external review overturned Anthem's decision. The case highlights ongoing frustrations with prior‑authorization processes despite industry pledges, made last...
Kin Insurance is issuing a $300 million Hestia Re 2026‑1 catastrophe bond, marking its return to the cat‑bond market and its first effort to secure hurricane reinsurance beyond Florida. The bond is split into four tranches, each with distinct attachment points,...
Sanlam Ltd., Africa's largest insurer, warned that the protracted Iran war poses massive risks to its performance across 27 countries. The conflict is driving higher fuel prices, inflationary pressure and rising borrowing costs, which the CEO said will curb new...
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that unconditional payments restart the two‑year prescriptive period for first‑party insurance claims, even when the insurer becomes insolvent and the claim moves to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA). The decision arose from a Hurricane...
Neptune Flood debuted a flood‑insurance app inside ChatGPT, joining Steadily’s landlord‑insurance tool, Jerry.ai’s car‑insurance and repair estimator, and earlier entrants Insurify, Tuio and Experian. The apps deliver real‑time, preliminary quotes via conversational AI while clearly stating they cannot bind coverage....
Kevin Koehler, SVP of Financial Institutions at Westfield Specialty, emphasized that brokers who deeply understand their financial‑services clients and act additively secure better pricing and coverage. He warned that AI usage and model risk are top emerging concerns, with regulators...
U.S. executives enter 2026 optimistic, yet a stark gap exists between perceived threats and risks that could shut down their firms, according to Sentry Insurance’s 2026 C‑Suite Stress Index. While 54% expect growth, only 17% rank lawsuits—a danger that 93%...
New York City’s affordable‑housing operators are hit by soaring insurance costs and a disproportionate share of lawsuits. Although they represent only 20 % of the city’s multifamily stock, affordable and rent‑stabilized buildings account for 56 % of personal‑injury claims, making them three...
Jamaica announced it will renew its Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF‑SPC) parametric coverage in May 2026, but gave no indication that the World Bank‑backed $150 million catastrophe bond will be reissued. The renewal follows a record $91.9 million payout from CCRIF...
A new report highlights how artificial intelligence is reshaping underwriting across finance and insurance. AI-driven models ingest alternative data—such as transaction streams, social signals, and IoT metrics—to augment or replace traditional credit scores. Early adopters report faster risk assessments, lower...
President Donald Trump’s recent military actions in Iran, a rapid raid on Venezuela, and broader geopolitical tensions have prompted multinational corporations to reassess exposure to political upheaval. Companies across energy, finance, and logistics are increasingly turning to political risk insurance...
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire is targeting mid‑guidance pricing for its $100 million Kizuna Re III catastrophe bond, which provides earthquake reinsurance for the Tokio Marine group. The bond, issued through a Singapore‑based SPV, carries a three‑year rolling aggregate trigger and a...
Catastrophe data firm PERILS released its final industry loss estimate for Cyclone Alfred at AU $1.877 billion, making it the costliest insured Australian cyclone since 2017. The figure represents a steep decline from the initial $2.568 billion estimate, after successive adjustments of 12%,...
Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS) has issued new Environmental Risk Management guidelines that focus on climate transition planning for banks, insurers and asset managers. The rules require firms to embed forward‑looking climate risk assessments, governance structures and client engagement into their...
New York lawmakers rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to reform the state's surprise billing arbitration system. The governor's budget aimed to save $56 million by exempting Medicaid and lowering benchmark rates, aligning them with average private insurer payments. The legislature...
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, operating as Elevance Health, is extending its "non‑participating care providers" policy to California, marking the 12th state to face a 10% administrative penalty on hospital claims that involve out‑of‑network radiologists. The policy, first rolled...
WTW argues that catastrophe bonds are a prime asset for a Total Portfolio Approach, delivering returns that are uncorrelated with traditional markets and improving diversification. The cat‑bond market is expanding as disaster frequency and severity increase, pushing premiums higher while...
Hannover Re posted a 13.4% rise in 2025 net income to €2.6 billion, driven by 4.7% higher reinsurance revenues and a 21.4% return on equity. Property‑casualty (P&C) results improved, with the combined ratio falling to 84% and service result reaching €2.6 billion....
S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that U.S. property‑casualty insurers posted a record $67.9 billion net underwriting gain in 2025, driving the combined ratio just under 93.0 – the strongest underwriting performance in 19 years. Personal lines such as homeowners (53.7 loss ratio)...
Edge Focus CEO Elliott Lorenz discussed a new generation of AI underwriting that transforms asset‑backed finance. By applying advanced machine‑learning algorithms to securitisation, lenders can more accurately price and structure credit for esoteric assets such as royalties, aviation leases, and...
A recent report reveals that Medicare Advantage (MA) overpayments are driving higher premiums for traditional Medicare beneficiaries. The analysis shows that excess payments to private MA plans have been passed on to the broader Medicare pool, inflating costs for all...
Zhibao Technology Inc. has partnered with Sichuan Fanmo Technology to launch China’s first online insurance product aimed at individual drone operators. The policy, priced at CNY 395 (USD 57) per year, offers full‑value coverage and can be activated within 15 minutes via...
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Outsurance Holdings posted a 7.7% rise in normalised earnings to R2.324 bn for the six months to 31 December 2025, while its return on equity improved to 32.3%. The insurer’s claims ratio jumped to 58.6% as natural‑perils losses in Australia doubled, yet cost...
CVS Health’s Aetna Medicare Advantage subsidiary agreed to pay $117.7 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that it submitted inaccurate diagnosis codes to boost risk‑adjustment payments. The Department of Justice accused Aetna of running a chart‑review program that added unsupported...
Captive insurers are increasingly being used to underwrite third‑party programs such as extended warranties, delivering underwriting profits of 20‑30% and additional investment income from premiums held. Manufacturers like Subaru and Harley‑Davidson have built captives to reinsure service contracts, achieving risk,...
Fidelis Insurance Group secured a roughly 20% reduction in reinsurance rates during its January 2026 renewal, while enhancing aggregate protection across multiple classes. The firm leveraged long‑standing relationships with top‑tier reinsurers and opportunistic purchases to broaden coverage and improve terms....
Alabama lawmakers introduced H.B. 466 to add Parkinson’s disease to the state’s list of recognized firefighter occupational illnesses. The bill creates a presumption that the disease stems from job‑related toxin exposure, provided the firefighter has a clean pre‑service physical and...
