The operator of a pizza parlor in California must pay back wages following an investigation that showed the business did not pay the required minimum wage and overtime. The U.S. Department of Labor reached a settlement agreement with the operator of a Little Caesars restaurant in Redwood City to pay $409,457 to 32 workers. An investigation reportedly found the employer failed to pay workers the required minimum wage and overtime, in violation of federal wage law. The agreement follows an investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division that found franchise operator MG Fast Food Inc. violated minimum wage and…
Author: Awais
A crew guided a York County barge equipped with a giant sea vacuum across the waters of Wells Harbor last week. One contractor nudged the so-called dredge in a tiny tugboat. Another manned the equipment, which sucked up sand from the seabed. Still more workers maneuvered a more than 2,000-foot tube to Wells Beach. There, the tube deposited great heaps of sand that a crew member in a bulldozer carefully molded with GPS-guided precision, restoring dunes that disastrous winter storms washed out two years ago. The equipment deposited sand right up to the seawalls of some residences. Roughly 7,600 cubic…
Tanner’s car was insured through Esurance Property and Casualty Insurance Company, with a $250,000 limit on personal protection insurance, or PIP, benefits – the coverage that pays for medical expenses under Michigan’s no-fault system. Slade’s father, meanwhile, carried an auto policy through United Services Automobile Association that included unlimited PIP coverage, and Slade was a covered person under that policy because he lived with his parents.
Marine insurers are nonetheless canceling some war-risk policies, with rates in affected areas potentially rising as much as 50%. Mahesh Mistry, senior director at AM Best, noted that Qatar – one of the world’s largest LNG exporters – has shut down production facilities, and that large property risks such as refineries are reinsured internationally, with terms largely driven by foreign-leading reinsurers.
Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers, the underwriting management division of Ryan Specialty, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, promoted three members of the Ryan Financial Lines (RFL) executive team. Deborah Egel-Fergus, president of lawyers E&O – Egel-Fergus most recently served as vice president for LawyerGuard, which has now joined RFL. She has over 25 years of leadership experience in the professional liability space. She is replacing Kevin Sullivan, who retired at the end of 2025. Brooke Tanner, chief claims officer for RFL (North America), Global cyber and celerity risk – Tanner first joined RFL (then EmergIn Risk) in 2022. Before joining the Ryan…
States are facing constrained budgets, putting pressure on HIV care and prevention programs, including the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Ryan White, the nation’s HIV safety-net, is funded each year through discretionary federal appropriations, state dollars, and other sources. However, funding does not necessarily match the number of people who need support or the cost of services. The largest component of Ryan White provides grants to states, including for their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), which provide HIV treatment and insurance assistance for people with HIV. In the past, ADAPs have used waiting lists and other cost-containment measures when programs could…
President Donald Trump says the US will ensure the free flow of energy through the Persian Gulf with insurance guarantees and even naval escorts. But the shipping industry sees it — at best — as only a partial solution to a historic crisis. “While President Trump’s comments about insurance and tanker escorts caused a pullback in oil prices, we question how much planning has been done on the insurance backstop thus far and think there could be a number of challenges in executing this plan quickly,” RBC Capital Markets LLC analysts said in a note. US and Israeli strikes on…
SullivanCurtisMonroe has acquired Stepco Insurance Agency. The Stepco group will join SCM’s Pasadena team. Stepco was founded in 1962 as George Joseph & Associates, dba Mercury Insurance Agency. In 1983, CEO Steve Stepanian took over the agency from his brother-in-law, later passing it to his son Steven, who expanded the firm’s reach into Arizona and Nevada. SCM is a locally managed insurance brokerage firm offering industry-specific coverage services for commercial property/casualty, risk management, surety, employee benefits and personal lines insurance. Based in California, SCM has offices in Orange County, Los Angeles County and Inland Empire. Was this article valuable? Yes…
The U.S. Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, adding he had ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf. The move marks one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices amid escalating conflict in the Middle East that has raised risks to shipping through key waterways. Global crude pricesO/R have spiked since Israeli and U.S. forces began striking Iran over the weekend, leading to fighting that has…
A Georgia bill that would bring larger insurer fines, more fraud enforcement and more wind-mitigation funding now moves to state Senate, where it is expected to pass in the next few weeks. The Georgia House of Representatives late last month approved, by an overwhelming majority, House Bill 1344, which has been endorsed by an insurance agents’ group, by a national carrier group, and by state regulators. The measure is ostensibly aimed at making property insurance more affordable, and it would affect much of the industry, including carriers, agents and policyholders. The main sponsor, Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, called it “the…
Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive had the unusual task of reporting lower 2025 underwriting and investment income for GEICO and other insurance and reinsurance operations in his first report to investors recently. After two years of rising underwriting profits, Greg Abel, taking the helm from Warren Buffett, addressed the state of the conglomerate’s insurance and reinsurance operations, which remained profitable but showed shrinking levels of underwriting income and higher combined ratios in all sectors—personal lines, commercial lines and reinsurance—in a letter to shareholders opening the annual report on Saturday. Personal lines insurer, GEICO, the largest in the group, accounted for more…
Looking for deals, consumers are increasingly shopping year-round for home and auto insurance, bucking seasonal trends and insurer expectations. Elevated insurance shopping trends seen throughout 2024 and earlier in 2025 continued through the end of the year, prompting questions about whether the surge should be viewed as a temporary lift or permanent shift in consumer behavior, according to Q1 2026 Insurance Personal Lines Trends and Perspectives from TransUnion. Auto and property shopping saw a year-over-year increase of 10.6% and 5.3%, respectively. Q4 data showed shopping exceeded the usual end-of-year numbers and given the decelerating rate of growth in shopping reported…
Florida’s property insurer of last resort Citizens Property Insurance Corporation began 2026 with 67% less exposure, while the firm also projects it will need $3 billion of traditional reinsurance and / or catastrophe bonds for the 2026 hurricane season.We reported last year that Florida’s Citizens was anticipating lower reinsurance costs in 2026, as the firm’s policy count and exposure-base continued to decrease meaning less limit was likely to be needed this year. The catastrophe bond market provides $3.125 billion of reinsurance limit to support Florida Citizens for the hurricane season in 2026, however the company’s $500 million Lightning Re Ltd. (Series…
Nesselt joins from Risk Strategies, where he served as commercial lines leader for the Atlantic region with responsibility for sales, recruiting, market relationships, retention and organic growth. His earlier career includes senior roles at Marsh McLennan and McGriff Insurance, and producer and account executive positions at Brown & Brown.