Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Most Americans Want Legal Reforms Against Practices Like Litigation Funding: Survey
Mar 6 2024 // A majority of Americans are unaware of third-party litigation funding but most believe state and federal laws should be changed to address abuses in the legal system. According to the results of a recent survey of 2,000...
Cal/OSHA Increases Civil Penalty Amounts for 2024
Mar 6 2024 // California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health recently increased penalties for certain violations, with some maximum penalties planned to rise as much as $4,983 this year, a smaller increase than in the...
New Survey Reveals How Independent Agents Are Adapting to the Hard Market
Mar 4 2024 // The hard market has independent agents “going the extra mile” to prioritize client communication, retention, technology and team morale. Trusted Choice, the national consumer brand representing the members of...
Skeptical AM Best Tags US D&O Segment With Negative Outlook
Mar 4 2024 // Rating agency AM Best has assigned a negative outlook to the U.S. directors and officers liability insurance segment as more market entrants increase capacity and drive down pricing in the face of some troubling potential...
25 Straight Quarters of Premium Increases for Commercial Lines: CIAB Survey
Mar 4 2024 // Overall commercial property/casualty premiums increased slightly for all account sizes to 7% on average in the fourth quarter 2023, continuing a trend that has now last more than 6 years. According to The Council of...
Rising Sea Levels Increase Threat of Arsenic in Drinking Water: Study
Mar 4 2024 // Rising seas due to climate change could exacerbate the threat of arsenic in drinking water, according to a study published in PLOS One in January. Researchers focused on arsenic in well water in Bangladesh, where up to 97%...
Continued Growth for Surplus Lines in 2023 as Premiums Up 14.6%
Mar 4 2024 // The excess and surplus lines market continued to grow in 2023, with premium reaching nearly $73 billion according to data from 15 state surplus lines offices released by the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association...
Why Totaled Auto Losses Are Hard to Pin Down
Mar 4 2024 // The auto insurance market is tough and varied. Totaled auto losses are up, down or relatively stable, depending on the data source. Ever since the personal auto segment recorded a combined ratio of 112 in 2022 – a figure...
Small Business Market: Rising Costs, Hard Market but Hope for New Opportunities
Mar 4 2024 // There are reasons to be optimistic about the small business insurance market. New businesses are opening their doors every day. Small business start-ups are booming with record-breaking new business applications reported...
Forecast: Blizzard Conditions Could Bury California Mountain Towns in Feet of Snow
Feb 28 2024 // Snow was expected to pick up across portions of Oregon, Northern California and northwestern Nevada by Wednesday night, according to AccuWeather meteorologists, who are forecasting heavy snow to expand through the northern...
Join the Future: 6 Reasons to Explore Automated Compliance and Producer Management with AgentSync
Feb 28 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync. The insurance industry has been slow to adopt digital-first frameworks for doing business, and the part of the business that deals with compliance and regulation change...
Clyde & Co: M&A Activity to ‘Start to Increase Through 2024’
Feb 27 2024 // The number of worldwide mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sector in 2023 dropped to 346, down from 449 in the previous year, according to a new report from Clyde & Co. But the global law firm believes...
Verisk’s Annual Profit Forecast Falls Short Amid Spending Uncertainty
Feb 26 2024 // Verisk Analytics forecast 2024 adjusted profit below market estimates last Wednesday, as the broader data and analytics industry grapples with worries that an uncertain economy would potentially trigger spending cutbacks...
Agents, Brokers Achieve Record Annual Growth in 2023
Feb 26 2024 // The independent insurance agent and broker channel posted an organic growth rate of 10.3% in 2023 — the highest annual level achieved since Reagan Consulting launched its quarterly growth and profitability study in...
A Decade After MH370, Planes Still at Risk of Vanishing Off the Map
Feb 23 2024 // “Good Night. Malaysian Three Seven Zero.” Those six words were the last radio transmission from the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, less than an hour after the aircraft took off late at night from...
3 Emerging Risks: AI-Driven Civil Unrest, Heavy EVs, Solar Panel Safety
Feb 23 2024 // Technology is poised to take over traditional markets and is rapidly creating new ones. For example, this trend is evidenced by the adoption of electric vehicles, demand for solar energy, and the blistering pace of...
That’s Gonna Leave a Mark: Large-Hail Days Hit Two-Decade High in 2023
Feb 22 2024 // Hail of two inches or greater struck the United States on 141 days last year — the highest number of annual days in two decades, according to a new CoreLogic report. Severe convective storms generated “an...
AXA’s 2023 Earnings Miss Forecasts on Higher Costs, Lifts Dividend 16%
Feb 22 2024 // France’s AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, pledged on Thursday to deliver higher earnings and returns to shareholders by 2026 by growing its client base, automating processes and reducing labor costs. The...
Cyber MGA Coalition Predicts Common Vulnerabilities to Increase 25% in 2024
Feb 22 2024 // Cyber insurance provider Coalition said it expects the total number of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) to increase by 25% in 2024 to 34,888 vulnerabilities, or roughly 2,900 per month. The insurtech’s...
Castle Key Defends 53.5% Condo Rate Hike, Blames Reinsurance, Ian, Rapid Growth
Feb 22 2024 // When Allstate’s Florida unit, Castle Key Indemnity Co., entered the surging condominium insurance market in 2020, it looked like it had made a smart bet: Within two years, the carrier had added no fewer than 123,000...
