Latest COVID-19 Headlines
All the headlines from our COVID-19 Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Tells Auto Insurers to Disclose Pandemic Profits
Oct 4 2022 // California’s insurance commissioner ordered nearly 50 auto insurers to provide detailed information about their claim costs during the pandemic, his latest attempt to compensate consumers he says were overcharged as...
Vermont Supreme Court Revives COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Claim
Sep 26 2022 // The Vermont Supreme Court has kept alive a COVID-19 business interruption loss claim by major shipbuilder against a group of reinsurers. The state’s high court ruled that the case brought by Huntington Ingalls...
Barbados Issues 1st Pandemic-Protected Bond, Which Also Covers Natural Disasters
Sep 22 2022 // Barbados has issued the world’s first government bond with a clause allowing payments to be suspended in the event of another global pandemic, a move expected to attract interest from dozens of other countries...
New York City Lifts COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Private Businesses
Sep 21 2022 // New York City Mayor Eric Adams is encouraging private businesses to put in place their own vaccine policies after making the private sector vaccine mandate optional. The city has also now made vaccines optional for...
Pandemic, Labor Shortage Keep Hurricane Victims in Limbo
Sep 15 2022 // Nearly six years after flood damage from Hurricane Matthew displaced Thad Artis from his home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he has still not been placed in permanent housing. Living alone in a motel for the last two years,...
Jury Awards $48.5M to Baylor Medical College for COVID Business-Interruption Claim
Sep 7 2022 // A Texas jury awarded the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston $48,529,961 for damages caused by COVID-19 in what appears to be the first jury verdict in a lawsuit that sought insurance coverage for lost business income...
COVID Impacts Linger in Courtrooms, Often a Disadvantage for Defendants
Sep 5 2022 // Courts have reopened and trials have resumed, but the impacts of COVID-19 continue to linger in the judicial system, a panel of claims litigation experts said during the Combined Claims Conference last month. For one...
Regulatory Roundup: DHS Adjuster Licensing, Pandemic Regulatory Catchup, Idaho Joins SBS
Aug 29 2022 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. State by state variations of laws, compliance protocols, industry transparency, and general regulatory cultures can lend one the impression that keeping up with...
Moderna Sues Pfizer/BioNTech for Patent Infringement Over COVID Vaccine
Aug 26 2022 // Moderna is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years...
US Pandemic-Era Inflation Mostly Driven by Demand Surge, NY Fed Study Finds
Aug 24 2022 // The majority of US pandemic-era inflation came from a surge in demand, but supply-chain constraints stoked it further, Federal Reserve Bank of New York research shows. About 60% of the inflation seen from 2019 to 2021 was...
COVID Impacts Linger in Courtrooms, Often a Disadvantage for Defendants
Aug 23 2022 // Courts have reopened and trials have resumed, but the impacts of COVID-19 continue to linger in the judicial system, a panel of claims litigation experts said during the Combined Claims Conference on Thursday. For one...
Arizona Nightclub Wins $1.6M in COVID-19 Lockout Lawsuit
Aug 23 2022 // The operators of a Tucson, Arizona, nightclub have won a $1.6 million settlement against the landlord who locked them out of their business during the pandemic. The Arizona Daily Star reported that a jury in Pima County...
What the COVID-19 Digital Threat Landscape is Teaching Insurers Post-Roe
Aug 17 2022 // The digital threat landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic is teaching insurers and other companies some valuable lessons about digital privacy in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade...
Two More Appeals Courts Rule Against Businesses in COVID-Interruption Suits
Aug 12 2022 // Federal and state appeals courts in two Southeastern states have ruled against pandemic-affected businesses, adding to the list of decisions that have found that insurance policies cover only physical damages. In South...
Another State Supreme Court Rules No Coverage for COVID-19 Shutdown
Aug 12 2022 // The South Carolina Supreme Court on August 10 became the fourth state high court in the nation to rule that the virus that causes COVID-19 cannot cause a direct physical damage or loss covered by a commercial property...
Seattle Ending COVID Hazard Pay for Grocery Store Workers
Aug 5 2022 // The Seattle City Council has voted to end COVID-19 hazard pay for grocery store workers. The Seattle Times reports the council voted 5-2 on Tuesday, with Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Teresa Mosqueda absent, to repeal a...
Safety Insurance Cites Q2 Combined Ratio, COVID Claim Court Win
Aug 4 2022 // Boston-based Safety Insurance touted a combined ratio of 92.1 and a win in a COVID-19 business interruption court case as highlights for its second quarter. However, second quarter net income was $7.9 million compared to...
NHL Stymied by Judge in Its Pursuit of Billions From Insurer for COVID Damages
Jul 21 2022 // The National Hockey League can pursue a lawsuit against its insurance provider over losses stemming from the COVID pandemic — but not for the billions of the dollars in damages the league’s 19 clubs...
Lost Luggage Claims Jump 30% Compared to Pre-Pandemic Levels: Mapfre
Jul 20 2022 // The number of travelers reporting stranded luggage this summer jumped 30% from 2019, according to Spanish insurer Mapfre SA. More bags are going missing as short-staffed airports and airlines struggle to keep up with...
California Insurer’s Efforts to Keep Workers and Help During Pandemic Led to Viable New Business
Jul 18 2022 // In the annals of how the pandemic changed things, toss in a positive tale from insurer CSAA Insurance Group. Walnut Creek, California-based CSAA, a AAA Insurer, offers automobile, homeowners and other personal lines of...
