Intel

Following several years of double-digit rate increases and restrictive adjustments to Terms and Conditions (T&C), the Property Insurance sector has reached a point of relative stability. Rates are largely modest as insurers secure the required premium, now applying rates against a proper exposure basis—Insurance to Value (ITV). With few exceptions of traditional CAT-prone perils in specific geographies, most carriers are…

A lawsuit filed Feb. 1 against the makers of the highly sought-after Stanley insulated cup accuses the company of failing to disclose the presence of lead in its popular tumbler. The lawsuit, brought by consumers in California and filed as a potential class-action case, claims Stanley parent company Pacific Market International concealed their use of lead in the tumblers until…

Many of the primary factors that influenced the status of the Property & Casualty (P&C) market in 2023 are likely to remain in 2024. We continue to operate in a comparatively hard environment marked by rising but moderating rates on some lines of business, where it is often necessary to layer available capacity that includes carefully worded terms and conditions…

Jobs in truck transportation may be showing signs of a slow comeback, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest numbers, released Jan. 5, indicate that seasonally adjusted truck transportation jobs grew by 3,300 in December to a total of 1,586,300 jobs, FreightWaves recently reported. It is the second consecutive month of growth for trucking jobs.…

Home building costs are continuing to rise in the U.S. and Canada. In San Jose, California, construction costs have reached record highs as builders deal with increased costs and high interest rates, Newsweek recently reported. Many would-be homeowners are priced out of the market, while some home builders have turned to designing smaller houses so more buyers can afford them.…

Despite the continued “flight toward profitability” for most carriers, moderation in both rate and capacity is occurring in many insurance sectors. Most rates are rising, but the level of increases is slowing. Capacity is generally available but often requires creativity. On the Casualty side, some classes remain stressed while carriers are competing for business in others. These and other trends…

More than 70 million candy products that contain rolling liquid dispensers were recently recalled due to the risk of choking. The two products separately recalled — 145,800 Cocco Candy Rolling Candy dispensers and 70 million of the Candy Dynamics Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candy — contain a roller ball mechanism that dispenses liquid. According to the U.S. Consumer Product…

Philips Avent recently recalled nearly 13,000 baby monitors after receiving reports of the devices overheating, causing seven minor injuries. The affected Digital Video Baby Monitors, which were manufactured between March 2016 and December 2019 and sold for between $120 and $200, could have an issue with their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The batteries reportedly could overheat when…

A powerful thunderstorm that included hail the size of tennis balls left hundreds of vehicles damaged at car dealerships in the Davison, Michigan, area earlier this summer. The entire inventory at Hank Graff Chevrolet was impacted, the owner said, as hail shattered windshields and sunroofs and dented roofs and hoods while staff inside the building watched the destruction unfold. One…

A construction crane accident in New York City tragically injured 11 individuals and shut down traffic July 26 after the crane burst into flames 45 stories above ground. The top portion of the crane, which was lifting 16 tons of concrete at the time as it worked on a 54-story building in Midtown Manhattan, struck a neighboring building as it…

The title of this quarter’s overview and forecast could easily be: “Profitability Matters.” That is especially true in the Property space for both Personal and Commercial policies. The industry faces daily challenges from CAT storms and events, making every state subject to immediate loss from hurricanes, wildfires, and convective storms—defined as severe local storms associated with wind, thunder, lightning, heavy…

Federal regulators in the U.S. are demanding that several cannabis companies stop making THC-containing products that mimic common children’s snacks like Doritos, Nerds candy, and Oreos. Making cannabis edibles that kids could mistake for normal food items is \"reckless and illegal,\" Samuel Levine, a Federal Trade Commission director, said in a July 5 statement announcing the cease-and-desist letters that were…