losses News

Possibility of a Billion-Dollar Systemic Cyber Event ‘Real’

A systemic event and the threat it could pose to insurers’ portfolios is not the million dollar question, but perhaps the billion dollar question, according to Norman Niami, immediate past chairperson and member of The American Academy of Actuaries. “It’s …

Indiana, West Virginia Pass New Restrictions on Third-Party Litigation Financing

Efforts to rein in third-party litigation financing are on their way to becoming law in Indiana and West Virginia, a scorecard that is less than what business and insurance interests had hoped for this spring. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb …

UK Insurer Direct Line Posts Operating Loss as it Grapples With Auto Claims Inflation

Direct Line posted a 2023 operating loss as it grapples high motor claims inflation, but reinstated its dividend as the British home and motor insurer tries to fend off takeover offers from Belgian rival Ageas. The 189.6 million pound ($242.6 …

West Texas Ranchers Face Losses After Historic Wildfires

There are burned spots on Jay O’Brien’s ranch outside Stinnett that predate the Smokehouse Creek fire. Over the last several months, small fires — ones that weren’t pushed by strong winds or grew out of control — scarred his pastures …

UnitedHealth Sent $2B to Doctors, Hospitals After Change Hack

UnitedHealth Group Inc. said it advanced more than $2 billion to medical providers after a cyberattack on the company’s Change Healthcare subsidiary last month halted billions of dollars in medical payments. Health-insurance industry leaders are meeting with US officials Monday …

Insurers, Insureds Must Collaborate to Get Ahead of Social Inflation

Executive Summary: Setting up mock jury trials, taking cases to trial and refraining from issuing “hammer” letters to lower-layer insurers are just three of the strategies Aspen’s Chief Claims Officer Tony Rai suggests that insurers start undertaking—in concert with their …

Winning Over the Policyholder: How Claims Can Help Improve Carriers’ Relationships with Insureds

Many years ago, as the holiday season wrapped our home in a festive embrace, a tranquil evening turned into a night we’d never forget. Our family was enjoying the warmth and peace of the season when a fire broke out, …

Texas Fires Have Emitted a Near-Record Amount of Carbon

Texas fires released roughly 3.4 million metric ton of carbon dioxide in January and February, according to a new analysis. In January, Texas fires pumped out 440,400 tons of CO2 emissions, according to Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service data shared with …

Report: Ransomware Attacks ‘More Frequent, More Sophisticated, More Effective’

Ransomware attackers are using a multitude of techniques to gain access in attacks that are becoming “more frequent, more sophisticated, and more effective,” according to new report compiled from surveys with more than 1,000 IT professionals. Additionally, organizations breached in …

US Natural Gas Pipeline Accidents Pose Big, Unreported Climate Threat

Last October, an Idaho farmer using a backhoe punched a hole into a 22-inch pipeline buried under a field, sending more than 51 million cubic feet of natural gas hissing into the air. While the incident on Williams Companies’ Northwest …