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

The Company You Keep Can Make All the Difference for Your Small Business Clients

This post is part of a series sponsored by Hanover Insurance Group Inc. Tens of thousands of small businesses have changed the way they do business, interacting with customers digitally and adjusting their offerings to provide new consulting services, advice, …

Brazil Miner Vale, State Authorities Narrow Differences in Disaster Settlement: Reuters

Brazilian miner Vale SA and state authorities narrowed their gap in a potential settlement deal over the Brumadinho mining disaster to 11 billion reais ($2 billion) before talks fell apart, a person close to the negotiations told Reuters on Friday. …

Tennessee Insurance Dept. Makes Multiple Leadership Changes

The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) has announced multiple senior leadership role additions and staffing updates from Commissioner Carter Lawrence. Jennifer Peck has assumed the role of chief of staff and chief operating officer, while continuing in her …

New Wave of Virus Claims Hit California Workers’ Comp

A California Workers’ Compensation Institute analysis of claims reported to the state Division of Workers’ Compensation as of Jan. 11 shows that the number of COVID-19 claims in the California workers’ compensation system more than tripled between October and November, …

New California Trade Group Targets Illegal Workers’ Comp in Staffing Industry

The California Staffing Agency Reform Association has been established by staffing industry leaders to “clean up” the worker’s compensation marketplace for staffing. Cal-SARA, a new nonprofit, trade association, has been formed to deal with a market that is “inundated with …

Navajo Nation Reaches Settlements with Mining Companies

The Navajo Nation’s Department of Justice announced in mid-January it settled with mining companies to resolve claims stemming from a 2015 spill that resulted in rivers in three states being fouled with a plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy …

Drone Maker Settling for $25M in Military Gear Parts Suit

Aerial drone manufacturer, Insitu, in Bingen, Washington, will pay $25 million to settle allegations that its military drones were outfitted with used components instead of new ones. U.S. attorney Brian Moran said cases such as this one should be seen …

California Insurance Agents Arraigned in $687K Grand Theft Scheme

Licensed insurance agents Robert Farmer, 65, of Camarillo, Calif., and Marion Urcan, 67, of Agoura Hills, Calif., were arraigned in mid-January in Los Angeles County Superior Court on multiple counts of grand theft after allegedly accepting over $687,000 in insurance …

Florida’s Citizens Ends Moratorium on Cancellations, Nonrenewals

After extending the moratorium on cancellations and nonrenewals put into place at the start of the pandemic, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has announced it will resume processing these as of Feb. 1, 2021. The Florida insurer of last resort said …

Tougher Rules for Louisiana Car Accident Lawsuits in Effect

Louisiana motorists filing car accident lawsuits will encounter tougher rules to win damage awards, under a new law championed by the state’s business lobby that took effect Jan. 1, a law that backers hope will lower the state’s hefty insurance …