Category: Business Insurance

Insurance executives who attended a White House meeting on cybersecurity Wednesday say the meeting was productive and left them more optimistic about businesses’ ability to tackle the issue.

The U.S. government on Wednesday said it would work with industry to hammer out new guidelines to improve the security of the technology supply chain in a meeting kicked off by President Joe Biden, who appealed to private sector executives to “raise the bar on cybersecurity.”

Greg Hendrik, CEO of Bermuda-based, private equity-backed insurer and reinsurer Vantage Group Holdings Ltd., said the meeting was “reassuring.” 

“It was a very rich conversation that we had across a number of topics,” including the need for an estimated half-million cybersecurity personnel and to do a better job in sharing data, Mr. Hendrik said.

Attendee Joshua Motta, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Coalition Inc., which provides cyber liability insurance and security to organizations in

Small businesses are the backbone of Louisiana’s economy. Now, on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these businesses find themselves dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.  

The insurance claims process is an important first step towards a return to normalcy following a major hurricane. The funds obtained from a business interruption policy can keep a Louisiana business afloat while it remains shuttered during hurricane restoration. However, the hurricane insurance claims process can be very complicated, and missteps along the way can result in increased delay and under payment of claims.    

Unlike pandemics and severe Louisiana weather events, Louisiana businesses can exercise some degree of control over the insurance claims process so as to maximize recovery. Here are a few Hurricane Ida business insurance claims tips to get you started:

1. Notify Your Insurance Company Immediately – If you have a business insurance policy and were affected by

Performance among the 17 non-life reinsurers monitored by Fitch Ratings Inc. improved during the first half of 2021 as the group’s combined ratio dropped to 94.5% from 105.9% during the first half of 2020 and net premiums written jumped 18.47% to $72.78 billion, Fitch said in a report Monday. 

Last year’s first-half combined ratio included $6.1 billion of  COVID-19 pandemic-related reinsurance losses, Fitch said, compared with only $500 million in non-life pandemic reinsurance losses in the first half. 

Only two of the companies, Markel Corp. and RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., reported a higher reinsurance combined ratio than in the prior year. 

Insured natural catastrophe losses were a “manageable” $40 billion in first-half 2021, more than both the $35 billion of insured catastrophe losses in first-half 2020 and the $33 billion 10-year average from 2011-2020 of first-half insured losses.  

Meanwhile, reinsurance premium rate increases continue, although “market pricing at the various 2021

Aon PLC on Monday announced several executive changes in its reinsurance brokerage unit.

The moves come about a month after the brokerage reshaped its top leadership ranks following the termination of its agreement to buy rival Willis Towers Watson PLC.

Under the reinsurance changes, Joe Monaghan was named to the role of global growth leader. He will continue as CEO of Aon’s public sector partnership business.

In addition, Tim Ronda was named global geographic leader of Aon’s reinsurance solutions unit. Previously, he was president of reinsurance solutions’ U.S. business. That role will not be filled, an Aon spokeswoman said.

Nick Frankland was named chairman of Aon’s insurance consulting group. Previously, he was U.K. CEO of reinsurance solutions.

Richard Posgate was named head of strategy. Previously, he was co-CEO of EMEA.

The four executives will report to Andy Marcell, global CEO of reinsurance solutions.

Leonara Siccardi was named chief operating officer

“The cloud will be the most influential technology.”

Insurers are already beginning to maximize this digital storage tool because it can be economical, scalable, flexible and secure.
(Photo: Fotolia)

“An automation rate of 70% is achievable.”

Technologists continue to be drivers of change in the insurance world.
(Photo: ipopba/Adobe Stock)

“Reporting and policy administration will be broadly automated.”

Digital natives have come to demand the speed and agility provided by automated services.
(Photo: Funtap/Adobe Stock)

There will still be a market for traditional and modular insurance products.

Longtime insurance professionals continue to report that many clients, while wanting more convenience and ease of doing business, will not make a major financial decision without some level of human contact.
(Photo: LongQuattro/Shutterstock)

When the international business advisory and software specialist Sollers Consulting first opened its doors 20 years ago, most people still purchased music on albums and CDs from a brick-and-mortar music

1. AMERISURE
26777 Halsted Rd.
Farmington Hills 48331
800-257-1900
amerisure.com
2020 Revenue: $754.9M
2019 Revenue: $840M
2020 Premium Volume: $754.9M
Local Employees: 3,042.

2. BROWN AND BROWN OF DETROIT
35735 Mound Rd.
Sterling Heights 48310
586-977-6300
bbdetroit.com
2020 Revenue: $72.6M
2019 Revenue: $71M
2020 Premium Volume: $435M
Employees: 554

3. MARSH AND MCLENNAN AGENCY
755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Ste. 2300
Troy 48084
248-822-8000
mma-mi.com
2020 Revenue: $47.1M
2019 Revenue: $46.5M
2020 Premium Volume: $1.9B
Employees: 154

4. KAPNICK INSURANCE GROUP
769 Chicago Rd., Third Floor
Troy 48083
248-352-4455
kapnick.com
2020 Revenue: $35.7M
2019 Revenue: $34.1M
2020 Premium Volume: $372.1M
Employees: 85

5. HYLANT GROUP
24 Frank Lloyd Wright Dr., Ste. J4100
Ann Arbor 48105
734-741-0044
2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Ste. 400
Troy 48084
248-643-8750
hylant.com
2020 Revenue: $31.4M
2019 Revenue: $32.8M
2020 Premium Volume: $31.4M
Employees: 152

6. ASSURED PARTNERS INC./MICHIGAN
3099 Biddle Ave.
Wyandotte 48192
734-283-1400
assuredpartners.com

TROY, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug 24, 2021–

The U.S. insurance industry doled out tens of billions of dollars in refunds to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic but, since coverage was not affected, there was no such relief to be had for small business insurance customers. According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study℠ released today, that lack of proactive support and personalized attention has put a strain on customer satisfaction, causing scores to fall significantly for a second consecutive year.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210824005381/en/

J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Small Commercial Insurance Study (Graphic: Business Wire)

“We see a real pattern of small business insurers missing the mark on soft skills, such as interaction with agents and proactive outreach—both being areas in which commercial insurers have historically thrived,” said Robert M. Lajdziak, senior consultant of insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. “There’s also

A federal appeals court overturned lower court rulings Wednesday and agreed with insurers that COVID-19 business interruption cases could be heard in federal district courts rather than state courts.

The divided precedential ruling by the 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, which concerned insurance disputes over COVID-19-related closures of various Pennsylvania and New Jersey restaurants, did not address coverage issues, but marks another win for insurers in the swathe of litigation in state and federal courts over pandemic-related losses

While court decisions have varied depending on policy wordings and other issues, federal courts have generally issued rulings that are consistently more favorable to insurers than state courts.

The appeal involved three cases: Dianoia’s Eatery LLC, dba Dianoia’s and Pizzeria Davide v. Motorists Mutual Insurance Co.; Umami Pittsburgh LLC dba Umami v. Motorists Commercial Mutual Insurance Co.; and Mark Daniel Hospitality LLC, dba INC v. Amguard Insurance Co.

BRUCE SACKRISON

Climate-driven events are prompting changes in commercial property insurance policy wordings and tighter terms and conditions as insurers try to manage an increase in the frequency and severity of natural catastrophe losses, brokers say. 

How policies define change in temperature and how deductibles and limits are applied are some of the areas where commercial property policyholders are seeing changes, they say. 

Global insured natural catastrophe losses totaled $40 billion in the first half of 2021, according to a report published last week by Swiss Re Institute, part of Swiss Re Ltd. 

Winter storm Uri, which hit swaths of the United States in February, caused estimated insured losses of $15 billion, the highest ever recorded for this peril in the U.S., and accounted for about 38% of all estimated insured losses from natural catastrophes in the first half of the year, Swiss Re said. 

Weather-related events — not just one-off events