National News

A Troubling Phrase: ‘Just a Category 1 Hurricane’

Here’s a troubling phrase hurricane forecasters hate but often hear: “It’s just a Category 1. Nothing to worry about.” Or even worse: “Tropical storm? Just some wind and rain.” But look at Hurricane Beryl, which hit Texas this week as …

Project 2025 Plan to End NFIP Welcomed by Some, Rejected by Others in Insurance

A plan by a politically conservative group to dismantle the National Flood Insurance Program, if Donald Trump is elected president, has been met with approval from a private flood insurer but sharp skepticism from economists and insurance agents who say …

What Happened to Reinsurance ‘Class of 2023’? Hard Market Defies Age-Old Patterns.

Catastrophic events, such as major hurricanes and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, traditionally have led to hard markets that in turn drove the formation of startup reinsurers to fill capacity needs. Reinsurers launched in “the class of 1992,” “the class …

Insurers Hike Rates as Extreme Storms Like Beryl Proliferate

Destructive storms like Hurricane Beryl that knocked out power to 3 million homes and businesses in Texas are growing more frequent and intense, and insurers are jacking up rates in response. That could mean big profits for property and casualty …

AT&T Says Data From Around 109M Customer Accounts Illegally Downloaded

AT&T said Friday the company suffered a massive hacking incident as data from about 109 million customer accounts containing records of calls and texts from 2022 was illegally downloaded in April. The U.S. telecom company said the FBI is investigating …

Conning Study: MGA Market Still Growing

A hard market combined with underwriting capacity from fronting companies allowed for robust growth in the MGA market in 2023, according to a new Conning strategic study. The global investment management firm’s 11th annual study on the P/C program business …

CBO Says Mortgage Subsidy Cost from Flood Damage to Hit $395M by 2053

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of floods in the U.S., posing greater risks to homeowners and mortgage lenders—and since flood damage tends to lower the market value of affected homes, it’s more likely that homeowners …

People Moves: AXA XL Appoints Madigan CUO for Mid-Market Environmental; Edsall Joins Tara Hill as SVP

AXA XL, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, appointed Joseph Madigan as chief underwriting officer for its North American environmental insurance business for the middle market. Madigan joined AXA XL’s environmental insurance business as an environmental underwriter in 1998 and previously served …

SpaceX Wins Block on Labor Board Case Over Severance Agreements

A federal judge in Texas said on Wednesday he would block the National Labor Relations Board from pursuing claims that Elon Musk’s SpaceX forced workers to sign illegal severance agreements, pending the outcome of the rocket maker’s challenge to the …

Honeywell Defeats Fired Engineer’s Appeal Over Diversity Training

Honeywell did not violate workplace anti-discrimination laws by firing a white engineer who refused to participate in mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training after the Black Lives Matter movement began, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday. The 7th U.S. …

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