According to a recent report from Willis, a division of WTW, natural catastrophe events generated over $100 billion in insured losses in 2025. This marks the sixth consecutive year that losses have exceeded this amount, highlighting the ongoing severity and persistence of natural catastrophe risk, despite the fact that no single hurricane made landfall in the United States during that time.The company does not give a specific estimate, but Willis does highlight some interesting trends that are developing within its latest report, which also includes contributions from Willis Re. The findings are included in the company’s Natural Catastrophe Review, where…
Author: Awais
A wave of cyberattacks has hit Bumble Inc., Panera Bread Co., Match Group Inc., and CrunchBase Inc., as cybersecurity experts warn about a new round of social engineering attacks targeting US companies. Bumble Inc., the parent company of dating apps Bumble, Badoo and BFF, contacted law enforcement after one of its contractor’s accounts “was recently compromised in a phishing incident,” a spokesperson said. The hacker made “a brief unauthorized access to a small portion of our network,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company believes the access had ended. The hackers didn’t get into the company’s member database, member accounts,…
Arch Insurance International (Arch) announced the launch of its event cancellation cyber coverage, which is available through both the London market and Arch’s instant quote and bind platform, Arch IQ. Offered as a cyber extension to an event cancellation policy, the coverage protects against cancellation, abandonment, curtailment, interruption, postponement or relocation of an event resulting from an unauthorized, malicious or criminal cyber act, or computer system failure. It also covers third-party infrastructure, including the failure or interruption of communications and utilities. To assist event organizers in managing a cyber incident efficiently, coverage is broad and includes access to security incident…
Medicare Advantage health plans are blasting a government proposal this week that would keep their reimbursement rates flat next year while making other payment changes. But some health policy experts say the plan could help reduce billions of dollars in overcharges that have been common in the program for more than a decade. On Jan. 26, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials announced they planned to raise rates paid to health plans by less than a tenth of a percent for 2027, far less than the industry expected. Some of the largest, publicly traded insurers, such as UnitedHealth Group…
The association’s property, located at 1121 Albion Street in Denver, sustained significant damage following an incident on or about January 19, 2024. The building was insured under a program involving all six carriers, covering the period from July 24, 2023, to July 24, 2024.
The United States has been carrying out a months-long effort to seize oil tankers linked to Venezuela – carrying out seven apprehensions since late last year. The officials, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, identified the vessel being handed over to Venezuelan authorities as the Panama-flagged supertanker M/T Sophia. They did not say why the tanker was returned. Along with most tankers under Western sanctions or part of the so-called shadow fleet, many of the Venezuela-linked tankers seized were built over 20 years ago and pose hazards to shipping because they lack safety certification and adequate insurance, experts…
Circuit Judge Stephen A. Higginson, writing for the panel, noted that a nearly identical case had just been decided. In Town of Vinton v. Indian Harbor Insurance Co., another town in Calcasieu Parish had the same policy language, the same hurricane damage, and faced the same litigation moves from insurers. The parties in the Police Jury case had even asked the court to wait for the Vinton decision before proceeding, knowing it would likely settle their dispute too.
Listen to the article 8 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. The Trump administration has taken a big step toward curbing Medicare Advantage overpayments, proposing a rule that would stamp out one strategy insurers use to inflate their members’ sicknesses to get higher reimbursement in the privatized Medicare program. In a rule released Monday, the CMS proposed excluding patient diagnoses that aren’t linked to actual medical care from MA risk adjustment. The policy would eliminate the financial motivation insurers have to mine their members’ medical charts for additional diagnoses, since insurers wouldn’t be able…
Spending $7,500 on home repairs may not seem like much in 2026. But a bill approved by a Florida House of Representatives panel on Wednesday would allow construction work below that threshold without a building permit, a change that could have an unexpected impact on inspections and some insurance claims. House Bill 1049, by state Rep. Tiffany Esposito, R-Fort Myers, would bar local governments from requiring permits for work that is projected to cost less than $7,500 on a single-family home. Permits would still be allowed for structural, electrical and plumbing work below that level, and contractors would need to…
Breakdown cover and car insurance company RAC is close to selecting banks to lead its initial public offering in London, according to people familiar with the matter. The nearly 130-year-old firm is set to pick Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc to help arrange a possible listing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The listing would value it at around £5 billion ($6.9 billion), the people said. Lazard Inc. is acting as a financial adviser on the transaction, the people said. The RAC is one of the UK’s…
A major winter storm that hit the United States in recent days is expected to cause billions of dollars in insured losses, analysts at brokerage UBS said in a note. The heavy storm has left much of the central and …
The US Marshals Service, which provides custody of cryptocurrencies seized by or forfeited to federal law enforcement agencies, said it’s investigating a possible hack of US government digital-asset accounts. “At this time, we will not be making any statement as the matter is under investigation,” a spokesperson for the agency said in an email. On Jan. 26, Patrick Witt, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, said in a post on X that he is “on it,” and linked to another post by an anonymous onchain investigator who goes by ZachXBT. In the online note, ZachXBT…
A second Russia-linked oil tanker lost control as it was entering the Mediterranean Sea in under a week. The medium-range vessel Chariot Tide first showed signs of difficulty as it approached Tangier, Morocco, on Jan. 21, when its speed abruptly dropped to less than two knots. Hours later the vessel’s navigation status was changed to “Not under command,” — a designation indicating a loss of control that would mean it can’t avoid other ships. By Wednesday, its operational status had shifted to “in casualty or repairing.” Last week, another tanker, the Progress, also showed as “not under command” while on…
W.R Berkley reported a “flattish” top line but nearly 15% growth in underwriting income for fourth-quarter 2025 this week. The insurer’s chief executive signaled a change in the level of rate increases going forward. President and CEO W. Robert Berkley, Jr. said during an call with analysts that while it may be early to make a definitive call, some recent prior years seem to be “developing out” favorably. In reaction to this, he said the company is not reducing prior-year loss picks, and added, “We are not feeling, across the board, the same level of pressure to keep pushing on…