Monthly Archives: <span>May 2016</span>

PwC: World Drone Market Seen Nearing $127B in 2020

Drones will soon be boosting crop yields, verifying insurance claims, and assisting in future Hollywood blockbusters in a business that’s due to boom by more than 6,000 percent by the end of the decade. The global market for commercial applications …

Chatbots the New Way to Communicate With Your Employer

Starting this July, when customer service employees at Overstock.com are too sick to come to work, they’ll tell Mila they’re not feeling well using an app on their phones or computers. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Mila will respond. After …

Alberta Fires Worse on Canada Economy Than Katrina Was for U.S.

Intact Financial Corp. may post insured losses of as much as C$1.1 billion ($850 million) from the wildfires in Alberta, which could dent the Canadian economy harder than Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Intact, Canada’s biggest property and casualty insurer, …

Understanding Animal Liability Claims

An expert may be the single best defense in a case involving an animal causing damage or injury, according to a recent panel discussion on animal liability during the Property & Liability Resource Bureau annual conference in San Antonio. Experts …

As El Nino Dissipates, Texas Still Recovering From Warmer Than Normal Winter

The current El Nino weather pattern that’s been in place since last summer over the central Pacific Ocean is on its way out, Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said Friday, but not before leaving Texas with one of its warmest …

Opioids Remain at the Top of California Workers’ Comp Drugs

The use of opioids in California workers’ compensation has declined in recent years, along with the associated payments, yet these potentially addictive painkillers remain the number one therapeutic drug group used in the system according to a new California Workers’ …

PCS: $3.8B in US Insured Losses Makes Q1 2016 Worst in Decade

Catastrophe activity in the U.S. led to $3.8 billion in insured losses in 29 states during the 2016 first quarter, with much of the damage hitting Texas. Those events were the worst in a decade in terms of frequency and …

New Penn State Abuse Claims Reopens Emotional Wounds

The pain and passion over the Penn State sexual abuse scandal were reignited with new allegations that Joe Paterno was told Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a child as early as 1976 and that two assistant coaches witnessed the abuse of …

Massive Alberta Wildfire Will Likely Burn for Months

The images are ones of devastation – scorched homes, virtually whole neighborhoods burned to the ground. It rained a little Sunday morning in Fort McMurray, but Canadian officials say they expect to fight the massive wildfire that has destroyed large …

A Practical Approach to Pollution Exclusions

The Supreme Court of Vermont recently demonstrated in Whitney v. Vermont Mutual Ins. Co., 2015 VT 140, 2015 WL 8540432 (filed Dec. 11, 2015) a practical approach to the application of an absolute pollution exclusion. The case facts involved a …