Ernie Garateix, CEO of Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc., the nationally expansive, Florida headquartered property and casualty insurer, anticipates the June reinsurance renewals offering his company a chance to secure incremental capacity and improved pricing.Speaking during Heritage’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week, Garateix explained that the insurer foresees benefiting from the softening of the market, seeing this as a chance to secure more core catastrophe cover. “Reinsurance remains a critical component of our business and we have maintained a stable indemnity-based reinsurance program at manageable costs, with an excellent panel of highly rated and collateralized reinsurers, Heritage’s CEO explained. Going on…
Author: Awais
A North Carolina insurance agent is out on bond, awaiting court action, after he was charged with diverting premium payments from four automobile dealerships. Jeffrey Martin Webster, of Jamestown, North Carolina, was charged with 18 counts, including forgery and embezzlement by an insurance producer, after investigators with the state Department of Insurance examined evidence from 2024 and 2025, the DOI said in a bulletin. “The defendant did as an insurance agent accept premium payment from R&M Automotive Ventures LLC and agree in exchange to bind insurance coverage for R&M Automotive Ventures LLC and instead, did not bind coverage and did…
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fielding pressure from the White House to relax his controversial approach to vaccine policies as the midterms near, but his most steadfast supporters are pressing for more aggressive action — like restricting covid-19 vaccines and pesticide use — to carry out the Make America Healthy Again agenda. The tensions risk fraying Kennedy’s dynamic MAHA coalition, potentially driving away critical supporters who helped fuel President Donald Trump’s 2024 election win. The movement’s grassroots membership includes suburbanites, women, and independents who are generally newer entrants to the GOP and laser-focused on achieving…
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three people from the water approximately 23 miles south of Boothbay Harbor in Maine on Wednesday morning. The Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor crew reported they located the vessel at 9:01 a.m. and rescued three mariners from the water. One mariner reported minor hypothermia, while the other two had no reported injuries, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard’s northern New England command center received a mayday call at 7:03 a.m. from the crew of a sinking 40′ ridge liner vessel, Vesta Renee. The mariners reported that the vessel was taking on water and that…
Marsh Risk, a business of Marsh, and specialty insurer Apollo’s ibott division announced the launch of an insurance facility for Uber. According to the companies, the facility is the first of its kind and will “accelerate the deployment of autonomous vehicles across Uber’s global platform.” The bespoke Autonomous Vehicle Insurance Program (AVIP) is among Uber’s recently announced Uber Autonomous Solutions designed to support its autonomous vehicle (AV) partners, including developers, fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers/owners, and original equipment manufacturers. Autonomous vehicles “demand a fundamentally different approach to risk and insurance,” said Chriss Moore, president of ibott. AVIP will be underwritten by…
The technology giant is the latest in a string of companies to roll out an AI tool specific to consumers’ health queries.
Appointments span operations, underwriting, and employee benefits
When his parents were about his age, they bought their first home. But for 27-year-old Brian Torres Suazo, that milestone feels like a distant dream, despite a secure job with union wages and down payment assistance. Torres Suazo expects to continue sharing an apartment with roommates for the foreseeable future, kept on the sidelines of homeownership by stubbornly high costs, even in cities once known for their affordability, such as his native Las Vegas. He’s not alone. In a restless electorate frustrated by high prices, the cost of housing stands out. Democrats are pushing to channel this anger into support…
The Andover Companies Names Nadeau SVP and CUO, Duchette SVP and CUO Paul Nadeau Patrick Duchette The Andover Companies, headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, appointed Paul Nadeau as senior executive vice president and chief operating officer and Patrick Duchette as senior vice president and chief underwriting officer. Nadeau leads enterprise operations, including underwriting, claims, marketing, innovation, business intelligence, digital experience and solutions, reinsurance, and information and technology services. He joined The Andover Companies in 1992 and has three decades of experience across underwriting, field marketing, and regional leadership roles. He most recently served as executive vice president, overseeing personal and commercial…
The U.S. Coast Guard and the states of Delaware and New Jersey on Wednesday declared the barge fire in Delaware Bay under control. No injuries were reported for the incident. The barge was carrying salvage metal at the time of the incident. Multiple fire companies worked to extinguish the fire, while state agencies and the Coast Guard coordinated to support response operations and minimize impacts to federal waterways, coastal communities, and the surrounding environment. The Coast Guard said it will ensure the vessel is stable and able to safely proceed to Camden, New Jersey, where the material will be offloaded.…
The war in the Middle East is creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, a day after it agreed to release a record volume from strategic stockpiles to offset shortages and a spike in prices. Global supply is expected to drop by 8 million barrels per day in March, the IEA said in its latest monthly oil market report – a volume equal to almost 8% of world demand – due to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel along the Iranian coast, since the U.S. and Israel began…
Change management tops the priority list for the second straight year, but more than half are still winging it
Florida lawmakers, with no dissenting votes, have approved a measure that would let insurance agencies’ customer service representatives bypass licensing classes if they have taken insurance courses in high school. House Bill 1343, co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Hodgers, one of only two insurance agency owners in the Florida Legislature, is seen as a way to help address a growing shortage of insurance industry workers. Customer service reps often are the first line of defense when policyholders call about coverage or premium issues, Hodgers said. But Florida’s required nine hours of education have discouraged some people from sitting for the CSR…
César Manuel González, 37, used to work with stone that was engineered to endure: dense, polished slabs designed to outlast the kitchens in which they were installed. Engineered quartz countertops have surged in popularity in the home renovation market, with industry analysts estimating the global engineered stone market at around $30 billion. It’s continuing to expand as quartz surfaces replace natural stone in kitchens in the United States and worldwide. When González was working, the dust that rose from his saw didn’t look extraordinary. It settled on his clothes, in his hair, across the shop floor. In a small countertop…