Specialty insurance market rates declined in 2025 and during the January 1, 2026 renewals, with the pace of change exceeding expectations, according to WTW’s Specialty Insurance Marketplace Survey (SIMS). Data from the January 1 renewals and new business point to continued rate softening, with a 10-point decline in the insurance rate index, back to 2020 levels, WTW added. The findings also highlight the speed of recent market movements. An approximate 45% cumulative rate increase was achieved between 2017 and the market peak in 2023, with around half of that increase eroded over the past two years. “Substantial concerns relate to…
Author: Awais
Key Takeaways About four in ten (41%) U.S. adults say they support the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement – a group largely made up of Republicans and supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Yet, many of the concerns elevated by the MAHA movement about food safety and corporate influence resonate with a larger share of the public beyond those who identify as supporters. Majorities of the public say there is not enough regulation of chemical additives in food (75%) or of pesticides used in agriculture (64%) in the U.S., and most adults express distrust in agricultural,…
Greece has rescued all nine crew members, eight Turkish and one Azerbaijani, of a cargo ship that hit rocks and sank off the island of Andros early on Wednesday, a Greek coast guard official said. The Vanuatu-flagged freighter had left Albania with hundreds of metric tons of soda on board and was bound for Ukraine when it sank off Andros, the coast guard official said. It was not immediately clear what caused the cargo vessel, which was identified as Corsage C by the Marine Traffic ship tracker, to run aground. A Greek shipping ministry official, who spoke on condition of…
Volkswagen’s Brazilian unit announced on Monday [May 4] a recall of five models manufactured up to five years ago for a software inspection and potential update to fix a malfunction in the instrument cluster. The recall includes the Polo, Virtus, Nivus, T-Cross and Tera models. The instrument cluster may not function properly when the vehicle is started due to a software fault, the company said in a statement. The component may display unexpected behavior or remain inoperative, it added, increasing accident risks with potential physical harm to occupants and third parties. Owners of the models recalled must visit a Volkswagen…
Premium contraction tied to programme non-renewals
The China Eastern Airlines Corp. jetliner that plummeted into a hillside in 2022, killing all 132 people on board, had its fuel supply cut during the flight, newly released investigative material shows, supporting the theory that the aircraft was intentionally brought down. While China still has yet to release a final report on the accident, findings released by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board this month show that levers controlling the flow of fuel to the jet’s engines were switched to the “cutoff” position while the Boeing Co. 737 aircraft was at a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet. The movement…
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple on Tuesday issued a directive to residential property and personal auto insurers for mandatory annual reporting of policies. Beginning in 2026, data submissions are required on an annual basis, replacing the previous quarterly reporting requirement. Directive 204 requires insurers to submit the following data through the Louisiana Department of Insurance’s Industry Access Portal by February 28, 2027: Number of policies written Number of policies canceled Number of policies nonrenewed Total dollar amount of premiums written Total amount of insurance coverage in force All data must be categorized by policy type and coverage type and reported…
At a minimum, it means that when a customer calls about their home insurance, the agent — or the AI-assisted interface — already knows they recently renewed their auto policy, have a teenage driver, and live in a postcode that experienced severe weather last spring. It means coverage recommendations that reflect their actual life stage, not a demographic cohort. It means renewal notices that include relevant product suggestions based on documented life changes, not generic upsell scripts.
The fast-growing private credit industry’s deepening links with traditional banks and asset managers create risks to the global financial system, the global Financial Stability Board watchdog said on Wednesday, warning some broader measures showed upwards trends of defaults. Signs of some underlying stress are emerging across private credit – typically lending to mid-sized companies by non-banks – including rising defaults, while a lack of transparency is posing challenges for regulators and investors alike, the watchdog said in its “Vulnerabilities in Private Credit” report. It singled out the “retailisation” of private credit – particularly in the United States where funds are…
The amount of non-life alternative reinsurance capital from catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS) grew by a “historic” amount in 2025, with the latest data from Gallagher Re indicating significant inflows and non-life ILS capital rose $21 billion to $135 billion in the year.In the reinsurance brokers latest market report, Gallagher Re explains that the sector faces a supply-demand imbalance due to the weight of capital from traditional and alternative sources. ILS capital growth in 2025 is exacerbating this trend and this is continuing into 2026, as “year-to-date” activity remains strong”, the broker noted. Gallagher Re does anticipate traditional reinsurance…
The New York Times was sued on Tuesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which accused the newspaper of passing over a white man for a top editorial role because of his race and gender, in order to meet what the agency viewed as illegal diversity goals. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the EEOC said the Times discriminated against the male candidate based on his race or sex, violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The reverse discrimination lawsuit reflects EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas’ new approach to employment cases, as the agency aligns…
Microsoft, Google and Elon Musk’s xAI agreed to give the U.S. government early access to new artificial intelligence models for national security testing, as U.S. officials grow alarmed by the hacking capabilities of Anthropic’s newly unveiled Mythos. The Center for AI Standards and Innovation at the Department of Commerce said on Tuesday that the agreement would allow it to evaluate the models before deployment and conduct research to assess their capabilities and security risks. The agreement fulfills a pledge the Trump administration made in July 2025 to partner with technology companies to vet their AI models for “national security risks.”…
The Trump administration is proposing rules to tighten security against rogue drone flights. Owners of certain facilities such as energy plants, oil refineries, state prisons and amusement parks would be able to request restrictions on drones near their sites under proposed regulations from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The rules, released Tuesday, require applicants to explain why a restriction is necessary for “aviation safety, protection of people and property on the ground, national security, or homeland security.” That includes describing drone operations over the facility during the previous 24 months, highlighting any gaps or weaknesses that might be exploited and…
Corgi AI Coverage Fills Gaps Left by Traditional Tech Coverage From autonomous agents making financial decisions to models generating customer-facing content, AI systems are no longer just experimental, they are operational. But what happens when one of these systems malfunctions, produces biased outputs, or acts unpredictably? The resulting financial and legal exposure can be significant. As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded in business operations, there is a new category of risk is emerging that traditional insurance policies were not intended to cover. The new AI Insurance Coverage from full-stack insurer Corgi is designed to fill those gaps. “Businesses are moving…