Monthly Archives: <span>December 2021</span>

J.D. Power: Insurers Lagging on Offering Claimants Digital Options

The insurance industry is lagging behind other sectors in offering customers digital options to communicate with claims administrators, according to a report by J.D. Power. The consumer analytics firm said only 40% of claimants interacted with an estimator using digital …

From Killer Heatwaves to Floods, Climate Change Worsened Weather Extremes in 2021

Extreme weather events in 2021 shattered records around the globe. Hundreds died in storms and heatwaves. Farmers struggled with drought, and in some cases with locust plagues. Wildfires set new records for carbon emissions, while swallowing forests, towns and homes. …

Investors Push World’s Top Chemicals Companies Over Hazardous Substances

LONDON — Investors managing $4.1 trillion in assets are urging the world’s biggest chemical companies to phase out production of hazardous substances which linger in the environment and have been linked to serious health problems. The move by 23 investors …

US Supreme Court Snubs J&J’s Bid to Avoid Mississippi Talc Lawsuit

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by Johnson & Johnson to throw out a lawsuit brought by the state of Mississippi over allegations that the company failed to inform residents that its talc-based …

Deadly Tornadoes to Cost Insurers Up to $5B

Insured losses from the swarm of tornadoes and severe convective storms that caused destruction in parts of the United States this month could amount up to $5 billion, industry experts said on Tuesday. Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company …

Amazon Warehouse Collapse Has Illinois Looking at Building Codes

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Monday questioned whether building codes need updating to counter risks from an increasing number of severe storms as investigators parse through reasons for the fatal collapse of an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in the state late …

Boy Scouts Secure $800M From Chubb For Sex Abuse Settlements

One of the Boy Scouts of America’s primary insurers, Chubb Ltd unit Century Indemnity Co., said on Monday it will contribute $800 million to a deal proposed by the youth organization to settle around 82,500 claims from people who say …

OSHA Opens Probe Into Amazon Warehouse Fatal Collapse in Illinois

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.–The U.S. workplace safety watchdog is investigating the circumstances around the collapse during Friday night’s storm of an Amazon.com Inc building in Illinois in which six workers died, an official at the U.S. Department of Labor said on Monday. …

5th Circuit: Indemnity Clause in Oil Field Contract Voided by Wyoming Law

A Wyoming oil exploration company may not avail itself to Texas law to evade liability for injuries to one of its contractor’s employees, a panel of the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided. Cannon Oil and Gas Well Services’ …

Mapfre to Make $983.8M Pay-Out Over Colombia Dam

BOGOTA — Spanish insurer Mapfre on Friday signed a contract to make a $983.8 million contingency pay-out to Colombia’s Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) over issues with the construction of the massive Hidroituango dam. The funds will guarantee that the …