Curated insurance industry news, market analysis, regulatory updates, and professional insights.
Argonaut Insurance Co.'s directors and officers policy barred coverage for Yellowstone Capital LLC's $1 billion settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James. Yellowstone and its CEO sued for coverage after the attorney general's action over allegedly deceptive and fraudulent practices. Judge Jamel K. Semper found the policy exclusion for intentionally false or misleading advertising applied.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced charges against seven people in an alleged workers' compensation fraud and unlicensed money-service scheme that processed nearly $100 million. Five defendants were from Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast, and investigators said the group used shell construction companies, rented insurance certificates to subcontractors and cashed payroll checks through an illegal operation.
An Arizona jury found in favor of the Goudreaults on the Thomases’ tort claims for intentional interference with business expectancies and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Judgment included $55,895 in compensatory damages after a rent set-off, plus $2,050 in retaliatory damages, $10,000 in attorney’s fees and taxable costs. The court also cited an earlier Arizona case holding emotional distress damages could be awarded in a bad faith breach of insurance contract action.…
A Mississippi case involving Sentinel/Centre, Seaboard/St. Paul and Exxon produced jury awards to Kimmins on contract-related claims. The jury returned verdicts of $92,327 against Sentinel/Centre for Phase I, $874,048 against Sentinel/Centre and Seaboard/St. Paul for Phase II, and $724,593 against Exxon. The decision also discussed the elements of tortious interference with contract performance.…
Florida business interruption coverage after a hurricane usually requires direct physical damage from a covered peril before lost income benefits begin. The coverage may pay for a shutdown tied to wind damage, but flood and storm surge often require separate flood insurance. Policies also may include hurricane deductibles of 2% to 5% of insured property value and waiting periods before payments start.
A commentary on Fox Paine & Co. v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co. says the California Supreme Court clarified that policyholders need not exhaust all underlying coverage before suing excess insurers. The case involved Fox Paine, a private equity firm that alleged three excess insurers failed to reimburse covered litigation expenses. The article says the ruling is a pleading decision and does not itself establish that any excess carrier owes coverage.
A workers’ compensation column says employer fraud can far exceed claimant fraud, citing Texas Mutual Insurance Co. data showing premium fraud losses in the millions. The article says a roofing company in Orange County, California, had owners arrested on 106 felony counts and charged with $38 million in workers’ compensation fraud. It also says premium fraud includes misclassifying workers, underreporting payroll or failing to buy coverage.
Ivans released its July 2026 Index on Aug. 11, saying major commercial lines posted lower premium renewal rates month over month except workers’ compensation. The report showed commercial auto at 4.03%, BOP at 5.94%, general liability at 4.99%, commercial property at 6.16%, umbrella at 7.42% and workers’ comp at -1.26%. Ivans said the index analyzes more than 120 million data transactions across 38,000 agencies and 700 carriers and MGAs.
New Jersey Assembly Bill A4560 would create a Joint Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Impacts of Climate Change on Property Insurance. The task force would study how climate change affects the availability and affordability of residential and commercial property insurance, including flooding, sea level rise, wildfires and storms. The bill does not change rates or coverage, but would require a formal report to the governor and legislature.
Niya Curinton Dix, a 50-year-old Gainesville real estate broker, was arrested on multiple felony charges in an alleged insurance fraud scheme. Authorities said the case began after her ex-husband discovered a suspicious claim filed under his name. She was booked into the Alachua County Jail on five charges, including insurance fraud under $20,000, forgery, identity use and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
The Justice Department said an April enforcement package involved more than $500 million in attempted health-care billing, pandemic tax credits and related losses. Prosecutors said one matter centered on alleged insurance-marketing companies that enrolled consumers in Affordable Care Act plans without consent, causing about $141.5 million in unwarranted tax credits and subsidies.…
The SEC said Christopher Parris and John Piccarreto, two former Rochester, New York, brokers, agreed to be barred from the securities industry after a decade-long Ponzi scheme that took in more than $115 million. Prosecutors said the group persuaded investors to move savings into entities they controlled with false claims about businesses in financial services, insurance, real estate development and medical laboratories. Both men had pleaded guilty in 2021.
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