Mississippi will soon become the latest state to provide wind-mitigation grants for homeowners if the governor signs bills approved by lawmakers this week. Senate Bill 2049 revives a 20-year-old retrofit plan and creates the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program, providing grants of as much as $15,000 for mitigation measures. The bill, as approved by the House and the Senate on Wednesday, would not require premium discounts from property insurers but would require carriers to notify policyholders about available discounts and credits. The state Department of Insurance would also have to provide annual reports to the governor and legislators showing the number…
Author: Awais
The state of Georgia must pay some 5,000 military service members and their spouses a total of $3 million to settle charges that state boards failed to recognize out-of-state professional licenses. The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that 42 Georgia licensing boards had violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act of 2023, which requires states to waive “bureaucratic hurdles” for family members of armed forces personnel who relocate. “This groundbreaking settlement ensures that service members and their spouses stationed in Georgia can have their out-of-state licenses recognized without facing unnecessary hurdles,” U.S. Attorney Margaret “Meg” Heap, of the Southern…
Ollie Super has moved in and out of cancer treatment since she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a toddler in foster care. Now 8, the second grader is dealing with it again. Her cancer came back late last year. Ollie’s parents, who adopted her in 2020, tried to sign her up for a clinical trial using CAR T-cell therapy — which genetically reprograms a patient’s white blood cells to help them fight cancer — at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, an hour-and-a-half drive from their home in Eden. Her mother, Britany Super, described it as Ollie’s “last option.”…
A tugboat captain has been charged in a deadly Miami collision in July that killed three girls from a sailing camp, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, of Miami, faces a charge of seaman’s manslaughter in the crash, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Insua didn’t have a clear view as the tugboat pushed a barge full of construction debris in Biscayne Bay, according to the office. There was also no one assigned as lookout as it sailed through the body of water sandwiched between Miami and Miami Beach, the…
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the University of Pennsylvania to hand over records about Jewish employees on campus to a federal agency as part of an investigation into antisemitic discrimination but said it did not have to reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific group. U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert said employees can refuse to take part in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation but the agency “needs the opportunity to talk to them directly to learn if they have evidence of discrimination.” He mostly upheld an administrative subpoena but said Penn does not have to disclose any…
Alternative reinsurance capital is reinforcing current reinsurance market trends as total non-life insurance-linked securities (ILS) assets reached $135 billion at year-end 2025, a 19% increase year-on-year.Gallagher Re CEO Tom Wakefield said this significant capital influx is bolstering underwriter conviction, even as the broader reinsurance cycle shows signs of softening. In the reinsurance broker’s latest 1st View Report for the April 2026 renewals, the CEO explained that a combination of strong Q4’25 underwriting results and low Q1’26 insured natural catastrophe losses have reinforced the conviction of underwriters who might otherwise be more cautious at this stage of a softening cycle. “Alternative…
Patriot Growth Insurance Services, headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, named Jason Bowie as national cyber practice leader. Bowie has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance brokerage industry, with a background in cyber liability, errors & omissions (E&O), and management liability. Over the past two years, Bowie has worked to build out the Patriot Cyber Practice and add structure to one of Patriot’s fastest-growing verticals. In this national role, Bowie is tasked with advancing the organization’s cyber risk strategy, expanding product distribution, and providing agency partners with guidance on cyber liability for clients. Topics Cyber Leadership Was this…
Lockton has expanded its presence in California across the evolving life sciences sector, hiring Cristina Varner as senior vice president and life sciences practice leader for the West region. Varner has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. This move expands Lockton’s services to organizations including biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutraceuticals. Lockton is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Topics California Was this article valuable? Yes No Here are more articles you may enjoy. The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day. Get the insurance industry’s trusted newsletter
The insurance industry relies on data to assess and price risks, and to develop products that meet policyholders’ needs. Insurance agencies and brokerages collect data about customers and their risks, and this data in turn is exchanged with underwriters to quote and bind. Ideally, data flows smoothly through all the various systems agents and brokers use every day. Reality is quite different. Agents and brokers are challenged by complex data and systems that don’t all communicate well. The result is a difficult navigation that saps intermediaries’ productivity and slows their growth prospects and impairs the customer experience. One source of…
This week, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention posted online its first large tranche of advanced genetic data from measles viruses spreading last year. Scientists with knowledge of the operation expect the agency to post heaps more in weeks to come, revealing whether the U.S. has lost its hard-won measles elimination status. The CDC withheld the data for months as a team hit hard by mass layoffs and resignations sorted through the information. But now that scientists at the agency have posted their first batch of whole measles genomes — the genetic blueprint of the viruses — the rest…
The motor finance industry must pay around 9.1 billion pounds ($12 billion) to compensate UK motorists for unfair vehicle loans under the market regulator’s trimmed, final bill for one of Britain’s costliest financial mis-selling scandals. The headline number, unveiled by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after market hours on Monday, was lower than an originally proposed 11 billion pounds amid pushback during a consultation with the industry, which includes Lloyds, Barclays, Close Brothers, and the finance arms of vehicle manufacturers. The redress scheme has rattled the industry and tested the mettle of the FCA, which is seeking to draw a…
About 100 of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste sites are in areas prone to flooding and wildfires, a potential public health threat to millions of Americans in surrounding communities, the internal watchdog at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued two new reports last week that are part of a series assessing the weather-related vulnerabilities of the 157 federal Superfund sites prioritized for cleanup due to the serious risk they pose to public health and the environment. About 3 million Americans live within a mile of a Superfund site, while 13 million…
In recent days, the operator of an oil tanker stuck in the Persian Gulf received a compelling proposal. After weeks at anchor with missiles and drones passing overhead, it could finally sail safely out through the Strait of Hormuz and into the open ocean — escorted by the Iranian Navy. But first it would need to change its registration and raise the flag of Pakistan, according to a company executive, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive conversations. The company wasn’t able to take up the offer, which came from the government of Pakistan. Iran agreed to…
The outstanding market for collateralized reinsurance sidecar structures grew by more than $5 billion in capacity terms over the course of full-year 2025, with casualty and non-catastrophe vehicles a key driver of sidecar market expansion, Aon Securities has said.Growing third-party and insurance-linked securities (ILS) capital levels and increased investor appetite are helping reinsurance sidecar sponsors expand their vehicles, benefiting from increased capacity or limit, as well as enhanced efficiency through pricing. Importantly for investors and allocators, we’re told sidecar structures and terms have not changed dramatically over the last year or two, with most sidecars having much more favourably aligned…