Articles by Chad Hemenway

Main Street America Insurance Exits Personal Lines

Main Street America Insurance said Thursday it will stop offering personal lines insurance in favor of a commercial lines strategy. The Jacksonville, Florida-based insurer founded about 100 years ago in Keene, New Hampshire said it is “tightening” its focus and …

Allstate’s National General Sued by DOJ Over Alleged Force-Placed Insurance ‘Scheme’

Allstate’s National General auto insurance brand has been sued by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegation that National General and subsidiaries “engaged in a scheme to defraud customers” by putting its insurance product onto vehicles financed by Wells Fargo. …

Trigger Warning: Cyber Policy Wordings to Impact Coverage for Tech Outage

Industry stakeholders continue to try to get a grasp of the implications from last week’s massive technology outage affecting motley industries around the world, but the theme of policy language is reoccurring for a cyber insurance industry not known for …

AIG Files Amended Suit Against Former Execs, Dellwood Insurance

American International Group and a group of its companies have filed a new, amended complaint against Dellwood Insurance Group, started earlier this year by a group of former AIG executives. The lawsuit filed July 10 in U.S. District Court for …

U.S. P/C Underwriting Results: Two Years in a Row Over $20 Billion in the Red

For the second year in a row, the U.S. property/casualty industry booked an underwriting loss of more than $20 billion primarily due to the lackluster performance of personal auto and home insurance lines. The total U.S. P/C underwriting loss in …

Allstate Reports May Pretax Catastrophe Losses of $1.4B

Allstate Corp. on Thursday reported May pretax catastrophe losses of about $1.4 billion. The Northbrook, Illinois-based insurer said 14 events contributed to nearly $1.5 billion in catastrophe losses for May, with 70% attributable to five wind and hail events mostly …

42 States, J&J Finalize $700M Settlement Over Talc Marketing

Attorneys general in 42 states said they finalized a $700 million settlement with Johnson & Johnson over the marketing of its talcum powder products. The settlement, announced in principle in January, resolves an investigation by the states and Washington D.C. …

NOAA Chimes in With Prediction of Above-Average Atlantic Hurricane Season

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an 85% chance of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season, with up to 25 named storms. “The upcoming Atlantic hurricane season is expected to have above-normal activity due to a confluence of factors, …

New Talc-Related Class Action Lawsuit Goes After J&J for Fraudulent Conveyance

With recent news that Johnson & Johnson is going forward with a third bankruptcy plan of a subsidiary to settle tens of thousand of lawsuits that it’s talc products cause cancer, a class-action lawsuit was filed today alleging the company’s …

S&P: 2023 Marked Stall of Rapid Growth in US Cyber Insurance

S&P Global Market Intelligence weighed in on the U.S. cyber insurance marketplace, reporting that premium dipped in 2023 to end several years of rapid growth. The overall 0.7% decline in cyber insurance direct written premiums was driven by a 3.2% …