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

Irish Regulator Presses Insurers to Pay COVID-19 Claims Following Court Ruling

Ireland’s central bank governor told insurers to urgently honor and pay valid claims related to COVID-19 disruption, following a successful test case in court last week, or risk facing legal action by the regulator. Ireland’s High Court ruled on Feb. …

Finnish Insurer Sampo Books Q4 Loss on Banking Group Stake

Finnish financial group Sampo on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss as the company booked a 899 million euro ($1.09 billion) impairment charge due to a revaluation of its shares in banking group Nordea. The unexpected earnings hit was offset by …

Zurich 2020 Profit Drop of 8% Reflects Pandemic, Catastrophe Claims

Zurich Insurance’s new capital target disappointed market expectations on Thursday, even as claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic and higher losses from natural catastrophes bit less than expected into full-year earnings. Insurers have faced hefty claims from event cancellations and …

Bond Insurer MBIA Agrees to Settle Mortgage Claims Against Credit Suisse

New York-based municipal bond insurer MBIA Inc.’s unit MBIA Insurance Corp. entered an agreement to settle a litigation it filed in 2009 against lender Credit Suisse and certain affiliated entities over property debt in the United States. The settlement followed …

New York Woman Arrested for Insurance Fraud in Obtaining $200K of iPhones

A Bronx, New York, woman has been arrested and charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $200,000 worth of iPhones from an insurance company. Rosanna Lucrecia Cruel Blanco, 39, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit …

Baltimore County School Board to Address Ransomware Attack

The Baltimore County Board of Education has approved more than $1.7 million in contracts for services that were necessary after a ransomware attack on school systems in November. Administrators told board members that they expect the school system’s cyber insurance …

Florida Consumers ‘Flabbergasted’ by Property Insurance Rate Hikes

Florida property insurers are jacking up rates by double-digit percentages, blaming the hikes on lingering damage from past hurricanes, a wave of litigation, and a law that encourages lawyers to sue by allowing courts to award them big fees. The …

Amazon Sues New York Over COVID Workplace Safety, Firing Lawsuit

Amazon.com Inc. on Friday sued New York’s attorney general to stop the state from filing its own lawsuit over the online retailer’s early response to COVID-19, including its firing of activist Christian Smalls. In a complaint in Brooklyn federal court, …

Lawmakers Vote to Extend Georgia COVID Lawsuit Shield by One Year

The Georgia state House has voted in favor of extending by one year a law that protects businesses from being sued by a person that blames them for contracting COVID-19. The protection is currently set to expire on July 14. …

Cody Appointed President of Orchid Insurance

Kathy Cody has been appointed president of Orchid Underwriters Agency, LLC (Orchid Insurance), a specialty underwriter of catastrophe-exposed property insurance. Brad Emmons, chief executive officer at Orchid, said Cody, who joined Orchid Insurance in 2019 as chief operating officer, has …