Firefighters in Massachusetts were investigating an explosion Wednesday that left a house engulfed in flames and at least two people injured, authorities said. Emergency workers responded to the fire at the three-family home about 9:50 a.m., fire officials said. Two injured residents, a 25-year-old mother with severe burns and a 2-year-old child with serious injuries, were transported to hospitals, officials said. “The situation is now under control, but this was a very serious incident,” fire Chief Steven Lavigne said. “The weather conditions present unique challenges, but we plan for these situations.” The home was a total loss and eight residents…
Author: Awais
Specialty Program Group LLC has acquired Proper Insurance headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. As part of the transaction, Michael Grimland has been named president of Proper. Grimland will lead the business and oversee day-to-day operations, underwriting strategy and continued development of the platform. Grimland has been with Proper Insurance since 2017 and previously served as director of operations. Proper provides insurance coverage for short-term rental properties, including homes owned by individual hosts and professionally managed portfolios, as well as those listed on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. Its program is supported by insurance markets, including Lloyd’s of London and Concert…
The payout, covering more than 49 million insured vehicles, is expected to average approximately $100 per vehicle, though final amounts will vary by state and premium level. It comes on top of rate reductions in 40 states amounting to roughly $4.6 billion annually in lower premiums, bringing total relief flowing back to policyholders close to $10 billion.
Federal workplace safety regulators penalized three businesses over their failure to protect six Colorado dairy workers who were killed by exposure to highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas after a manure pipe disconnected in an enclosed space. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced proposed fines totaling $246,609 against the dairy owner and two contractors working on a manure management system. The deaths of five men and a teenager on Aug. 20, 2025, shocked the rural communities in and around Keenesburg, 35 miles (55 kilometers) northeast of Denver. Dairy owner Prospect Ranch LLC, which did not immediately respond to a…
Crews in South Florida were trying to contain a wildfire in Big Cypress National Preserve that had burned more than 25,000 acres (100 square kilometers) near the immigration detention facility known as ” Alligator Alcatraz ” as of Wednesday. The fire caused periodic lane closures due to smoke and poor visibility on the stretch of Interstate 75 known as Alligator Alley, which connects Florida’s east and west coasts and runs through the vast Everglades wetlands. Wildfires are common the dry winter season. However, the wildfire posed no threat Wednesday to the state-run “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail, said Stephanie Hartman, director…
How insurers fared Among US annuity writers, the results were uneven. Lincoln Financial Group reported fourth-quarter annuity sales of $4.9 billion, up 33% year over year, though net income available to shareholders fell to $745 million from $1.68 billion. “Over the past two years, we have built important infrastructure to support this business,” said CEO Ellen Cooper.
Zurich Insurance Group AG is nearing an agreement to acquire UK specialty insurer Beazley Plc and raise billions of dollars in equity to help fund the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The Swiss insurer is likely to announce a firm, recommended bid for Beazley as early as Monday, the people said. Simultaneously, the Swiss company is expected to tap investors for $3 billion to $5 billion by March 4, the latest deadline for it to make a definite offer for Beazley, one of the people said. The final timing, and size of the equity raise, could still…
The state of New Hampshire and a federal judge remain on a collision course over the fate of the state’s motor vehicle safety and emissions inspection program. An injunction against a new law that sought to abolish the mandatory inspection and maintenance program for non-commercial vehicles as of January 31 remains in effect. However, there are no inspections being done because the state has refused to renew the contract of the long-time and only vendor, Gordon-Darby. On Wednesday of this week U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty denied a request by the state to stay an injunction against enforcement of…
A Tennessee man was released on bond after he was indicted for allegedly collecting premiums then absconding with the money. Richard Darrel Wolfe, 67, of Hendersonville, was indicted by a Sumner County grand jury last week, charged with 14 counts of theft and three forgery counts, dating to 2023 and 2024, court records show. He has a court hearing set for March 6. Investigators began looking into Wolfe’s alleged actions in November, after several local businesses alleged that the man had sold insurance policies but had not secured coverage, The Hendersonville Standard and other news sites reported. The National Association…
The Pentagon accidentally shot down a US Customs and Border Protection drone on the Texas border with Mexico using a high-energy laser, according to people familiar with the matter, weeks after a similar incident led to confusion and exposed communication lapses among several US agencies. The Defense Department didn’t realize the drone was being flown by CBP when it shot it down, the people said. The military had not first coordinated the use of the laser system with the US Federal Aviation Administration, which was notified Wednesday after the event occurred, according to two of the people, who were granted…
Britain’s government on Friday appointed a former regulator and current Barclays BARC.L executive, Katharine Braddick, as the Bank of England’s next deputy governor for prudential regulation to try to boost sluggish economic growth. Last year, finance minister Rachel Reeves criticized regulators for being “a boot on the neck of businesses,” raising concerns at the Bank of England, whose governor, Andrew Bailey, has said the lessons of the 2008 global financial crisis risk being forgotten. Braddick worked at Britain’s Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England as a bank regulator before joining the finance ministry and then moving to Barclays…
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd., the Japanese primary insurance group, is back in the catastrophe bond market to sponsor an initially $100 million Kizuna Re III Pte. Ltd. (Series 2026-1) transaction, that is designed to provide collateralized earthquake reinsurance protection and is being issued out of Singapore, Artemis has learned.This will become the tenth catastrophe bond we have included in our extensive Deal Directory that will provide reinsurance to part of the Tokio Marine Holdings group of companies and now the seventh in the Kizuna Re series of cat bond deals. Tokio Marine has been sponsoring catastrophe…
Last year, as the California hospital where she worked was appeasing the Trump administration by erasing words like “equity” and “diversity” from its paperwork, Brandy Frye had seen enough. Frye, an emergency room nurse with 25 years of experience, felt that ignoring inequality’s role in health and sickness was an affront to the compassionate soul of the nursing profession. “It felt like a step against everything I believe in,” Frye said. “And I didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore.” Email Sign-Up Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free weekly newsletter, “The Week in Brief.” Now Frye has found a new place to…
Property buyers are catching a rare break after six years of hardening