Latest Trends Headlines

All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.

US Nuclear Verdicts Break Records and Drive Social Inflation to 7% in 2023: Report

Oct 7 2024 // Nuclear verdicts in the United States are breaking records with 27 court cases each awarding compensation of more than $100 million during 2023, according to Swiss Re executives. Social inflation in the U.S. rose to 7% in...

Helene-Soaked Florida Faces New Threat: Up to a Foot of Rain

Oct 4 2024 // One week after Hurricane Helene barreled ashore, Florida is bracing for another round of heavy rainfall and strong winds from a tropical system brewing in the Atlantic. The potential storm could bring as much as a foot of...

AccuWeather Increases Estimate of Helene’s Economic Loss to $225B-$250B

Oct 4 2024 // AccuWeather has increased its estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene in the U.S. to between $225 billion and $250 billion. The range makes Hurricane Helene one of the most damaging and...

AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Farmers Insurance of Flemington

Oct 2 2024 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Farmers Insurance Company of...

Dellwood Insurance Says AIG’s ‘Ginned-Up Claims’ Must Be Dismissed

Oct 2 2024 // The legal squabble between American International Group (AIG) and a startup-up formed by some former employees continued this week with another filing from Dellwood Insurance Group in support of its motion to dismiss...

Delaware’s Workers’ Compensation Claims Cost Grew 3% a Year: WCRI

Oct 1 2024 // The average cost of workers’ compensation claims in Delaware, for cases with more than seven days of lost work, went up by 3% per year between 2019 and 2022, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation...

Powerful Typhoon Krathon Forecast to Hit Taiwan’s Populated West Coast

Sep 30 2024 // Taiwan issued a warning on Monday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Krathon, which has strengthened into the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane and is expected to cross the densely populated west coast bringing torrential...

75% of Independent Agencies Report Revenue Gains From 2022-23

Sep 27 2024 // Despite challenging conditions, 75% of independent insurance agencies saw revenue gains from 2022 to 2023, according to the 2024 Agency Universe Study. That number is significantly higher than between 2020 and 2021, during...

Climate Change and Rising US Insurance Rates

Sep 27 2024 // A new article directly blames climate change for rising U.S. insurance rates. While the article mulls the various and numerous reasons for rising rates, it calls out what the author sees as a “common thread”...

Damage Predictions Mount as Helene Strengthens: Atlanta in Its Path

Sep 26 2024 // As Hurricane Helene gains strength in the unusually warm waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, forecasters, claims adjusting firms and analytics experts are warning that the storm could be more damaging than other recent...

AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Members of Coverys Companies

Sep 26 2024 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable while affirming the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) of “a” (Excellent) of...

AI Being Used to Scam Small Business Owners, Says Nationwide Survey

Sep 26 2024 // Just when employees have learned to ignore scammy texts and emails from the boss, along comes the next generation of impersonation using artificial intelligence. Cybercriminals increasingly use generative AI, including...

Why US Home Insurance Rates Are Rising Fast – Climate Change Plays a Big Role

Sep 26 2024 // Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024...

US Court Declines to Dismiss Mandarin Hotel COVID-19 Claim Against Insurers

Sep 25 2024 // Insurers have failed to win dismissal of a federal COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit against them by the luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental. Judge John P. Cronan of U.S District Court in New York found that...

As E&S Market Growth Hits New Heights, Some Risk May Be There to Stay: AM Best

Sep 24 2024 // In 2023 the U.S. surplus lines market for the first time surpassed the $100 billion mark in direct premiums written, and some of the risk that has found non-admitted insurers might stay there beyond an eventual turn in the...

Ex-Google Executive’s Startup to Use AI to Forecast the Weather

Sep 19 2024 // A startup founded by a former Google executive aims to use artificial intelligence to improve weather forecasting, joining technology behemoths like Nvidia Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co. in an increasingly crowded...

Apex One Inspections & Surveys Expands Comprehensive Home Inspection Services in Florida to Ensure Buyer Confidence and Safety

Sep 18 2024 // Miami, FL., September 17, 2024 — Apex One Inspections & Surveys, a leading provider of home inspection and property survey services in both residential and commercial properties, is pleased to announce the expansion...

Bump in Federal Trade Secret Litigation Seen in 2023: Report

Sep 18 2024 // Analytics from Lex Machina 2024 Trade Secret Litigation Report reveals a rise in trade secret cases filed in federal district court in 2023, along with the continued steady trend of trade secret cases that involved Defend...

In The Line of Fire: Key Insights from the 2024 CoreLogic® Wildfire Risk Report

Sep 16 2024 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. August 8, 2024, marked one year since the Lahaina Fires in Maui, which scorched approximately 6,500 acres and destroyed over 2,200 structures, leaving the Lahaina...

Reinsurance Outlook to ‘Neutral’; US to Push for Double-Digit Casualty Increases

Sep 16 2024 // Fitch Ratings said reinsurers are likely to push for double-digit U.S. casualty rate increases during January renewals to keep up with loss trends from social inflation. The rating agency in a new report changed its...