The United States Court of Appeals has weighed in on a lawsuit regarding the Vesttoo fraud and the fake letters of credit (LOC) that underpinned reinsurance deals linked to the company, with a finding that could have some ramifications for brokers.The appeal in question came under the lawsuit filed by Porch Group against broker Gallagher Re, regarding the Vesttoo reinsurance letter of credit (LOC) collateral fraud. Recall that this particular Vesttoo fraud related lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by a Texas court a year ago, but at the time Porch said it intended to continue to pursue recourse in the…
Author: Awais
U.S. agriculture equipment maker Deere on Monday agreed to pay $99 million into a settlement fund for farms and farmers that are part of a class action over costs and access to repairs. The case is part of broader scrutiny in the U.S. over so-called right-to-repair practices, with regulators and plaintiffs arguing that some manufacturers limit competition by controlling access to repair tools and software. The settlement fund covers eligible plaintiffs who paid Deere’s authorized dealers for repairs to large agricultural equipment from January 2018, according to a document filed on Monday in the federal court in Chicago, Illinois. In…
Two firefighters traveling in a utility vehicle along a Pennsylvania road during a search for a missing woman were killed in a head-on crash with a car, officials said. The two members of the Walnuttown Fire Company died after the crash with a Toyota Camry at about 6 p.m. Saturday, roughly 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. Fire Chief Jeff Buck and Assistant Fire Chief Robert Shick Jr. were heading north when they were struck by a sedan heading south on Route 222, according to the Berks County Coroner. NBC Philadelphia reported that the utility vehicle was riding on…
LISTEN: AI scribes are changing medical care. Here’s what to know if the technology shows up at your next doctor’s appointment. Family physician Eric Boose has been using an artificial intelligence tool to get back to what he calls “old-fashioned medicine” — talking with patients face-to-face, without having to type into a computer at the same time. “I can really just sit there and engage and just focus on them and listen,” said Boose, who practices at Cleveland Clinic. Roughly two years ago, he started using an AI notetaker app during patient visits. The tool listens while he talks with patients and…
CMP performance isn’t just about what you write, but where you write it. The same package can behave very differently depending on local hazard, construction and business mix, regulatory environment, and litigation intensity. That’s why geographic diversification is now a strategic lever, not a footnote.
Regulators locked in a 2.48% rate hike for next year, much higher than the 0.09% that was proposed. Analysts said the Trump administration was likely spooked about coverage disruptions for seniors before the midterm elections.
A Texas Department of Insurance investigator and crime analyst helped identify a Russian national who reportedly filed $400 million in fake Medicare claims. Nikolai Buzolin was living in Houston in 2025 when he created a durable medical equipment company and stole patients’ and doctors’ identities to submit fake claims to health plans that administer Medicare Part C. He opened eight bank accounts to deposit the $1.7 million he received in reimbursements, according to the TDI. A few patients checked their explanation of benefits and noticed that they were getting medical equipment that they didn’t need coming from doctors they’d never…
The inaugural MGA-carrier scorecard is being built – and your first-hand experience is the foundation
In 2024, over 61 million adults in the U.S. experienced a mental illness and deaths due to suicide, gun violence, and drug overdose remained high. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and necessary public health responses exacerbated an already existing mental health and substance use crises. At the same time, many people experience difficulties affording mental health treatment or finding providers. Among insured adults who described their mental health as fair or poor, 43% reported at least one time in the past year when they needed mental health services or medication but did not receive them; some groups – including communities of…
TROY, Ala. (AP) — A series of police pursuits have led to at least eight deaths around the country in less than a week amid ongoing calls from some law enforcement experts to curb risky high speed car chases. In Texas, a man fleeing from police died Sunday. In Alabama, four people died when a car being pursued by a state trooper went off a road and hit a tree Friday. And in California, three people were killed in vehicle crashes during police pursuits in separate incidents last week. The deadly incidents are among the hundreds of fatalities that occur…
Insurer Nationwide finished 2025 with net operating income up 37% compared with 2024, to $4.3 billion as total sales and premiums were up 7% to a record $73.2 billion. The Columbus, Ohio-based mutual insurance company—entering its 100th year of operation in 2026—released its 2025 operating results late last week. During a year marked by wildfires and severe convective storms, Nationwide said it paid more than $20.2 billion in claims and benefits to policyholders in 2025. Nationwide completed its buy of Allstate Benefits’ group health business for $1.25 billion in July 2025. The move expanded the company’s ability to sell stop…
A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that average premium increases between risk levels are larger for wind than for wildfire. Between 2019 and 2024, homes in areas classified as severe or extreme wind risk had premiums about 58% higher on average—approximately $1,294 more per year—than similar homes in major wind risk areas, the next lower category. By comparison, premiums for homes in severe or extreme wildfire risk areas were about 8% higher—roughly $181 more annually—than those in major wildfire risk areas. The findings highlight differences in how premiums vary across catastrophe risk categories, particularly at the highest…
Boston-based specialty insurance broker Risk Strategies Co. is suing two former employees and their new employer for allegedly stealing customers and poaching employees in a scheme the firm says has thus far cost it nearly $900,000 in revenue. On March 20, 2026, more than six years after Risk Strategies acquired their family-owned Connecticut employee benefits agency and hired them, Tim and Sheena Tracy left Risk Strategies to join the Poughkeepsie, New York insurance agency Marshall + Sterling Enterprises. Risk Strategies claims that when they left, the Tracys, in concert with their new employer, poached two key employees and solicited customers…
Zurich, the European headquartered global re/insurance company, is now aiming to secure up to $150 million of US named storm and earthquake reinsurance protection from its Turicum Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance, while the price guidance has been lowered for the notes on offer, Artemis can report.Zurich was first seen as a sponsor in the cat bond market back in 2001, and went on to return a number of times up to its last Lakeside Re issuance in late 2012, according to our records in the Artemis Deal Directory. Then, after more than 13 years, Zurich made its return to the catastrophe…