Articles

The market for yacht insurance has hardened in recent years, due to the frequency and severity of catastrophic (CAT) claims. Widespread losses incurred along the West Coast of Florida and the Atlantic Coast from Hurricane Ian in 2022, for example, resulted in more than $112 billion in damages. Because of catastrophes such as Ian, many watercraft insurance carriers - both admitted and non-admitted...

The food services industry is anticipating record sales for 2024. But insurance specialists serving the restaurant and bar sector say that forecast isn't all good news. With higher sales come higher costs all around. Restaurants are being squeezed from all sides – higher food, labor and insurance costs. Add in outside forces such regulatory moves to cut "tip credits" in some jurisdictions and a fe...

As risks from extreme weather, technology glitches and cyberattacks rise, so does the need for agricultural insurance that can cover a rapidly diversifying and evolving industry. "With the interest rates, production expenses, and cost of diesel constantly on the rise, the average farmer is feeling the squeeze as we move into 2024," said Becky Tucker, program manager and broker, XPT Specialty Agenc...

We are obviously in one of the most intense hard markets of the last several decades. While much has been said and written about how to navigate the challenges the market is creating for agents, I'd like to take a different tack and discuss something that is easy to overlook while struggling to service and retain existing accounts -- the pursuit of organic growth. It's easy in a rising rate enviro...

Underwriters who thought the growing cyber risk landscape of the past several years would level off soon might want to think again. Woodruff Sawyer's annual survey of cyber insurance carriers found all underwriters surveyed believe cyber risk will increase in 2024. The survey, included as part of Woodruff Sawyer's 2024 Looking Ahead Guide, sought underwriter perspectives on the current risk enviro...

No one can predict the future, but insurance professionals are likely the best qualified when it comes to predicting risk. For this special report, Insurance Journal magazine asked industry thought leaders their predictions for the property/casualty world in 2024 and what they'd wish for if they could have what they wanted. Here's what they had to say. 'Only a Matter of Time' A look back at the se...

A report from the South Carolina Department of Insurance confirms what insurers and bars and restaurants have said for the past few years: Liquor liability coverage in the state is "extremely unprofitable" for carriers - and costs are far out of line with surrounding states. "Combined ratios for the industry make it clear that this sub-line of insurance is being writen at massive underwriting loss...

Despite a "significant slowdown" in job growth in 2023, a new National Council on Compensation Insurance briefing shared that "wage growth will likely continue to drive workers compensation payroll growth throughout 2024." "Employment gains slowed in 2023 from 2022; however overall payroll gains, a key metric for workers compensation, remained robust," the quarterly economics briefing said. "Addit...

I recently read an article regarding how the U.S. Senate wants to investigate how well reserved Florida Citizens is because of their expressed concern that if a large hurricane destroys enough property insured by Florida Citizens, will Florida Citizens have the wherewithal to pay claims? That seems like a pretty reasonable question to ask and because the state is the insurer, a reasonable person m...

The excess and surplus lines insurance market is a rapidly-growing avenue for the placement of insurance policies in the United States. Many alien (non-U.S.) insurance carriers write surplus lines insurance coverage via their inclusion on the NAIC IID Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers, and there has been exponential growth in the formation of "domestic surplus lines insurers" that are U.S.-based...

As workplace barriers for minority groups have been challenged, diversity has improved in traditionally male-dominated professions. While it's encouraging to see the work being done to attract and promote women in the construction profession, there is still a very long way to go. A recent report from the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission says, "Women and people of color are underrepresented...

Recently, I spent a week learning about an entirely different industry than insurance. It was a great education. Along the way, I also learned about their insurance situation. As is common, provably common, about insurance coverages for small and medium sized businesses, they were grossly underinsured. Our own industry states that 75% of small businesses are underinsured and more than 70% don't ev...

I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they made of the value of things.” – Benjamin Franklin Last year, I participated in a panel discussion on property undervaluation at the annual conference of the American Association of Insurance Management Consultants. It is no secret that the majority of buildings in this country, both commercial a...

Yesterday was my son's 12th birthday but he didn't spend it unwrapping presents or gorging on ice cream and cake. Most of our evening was spent solemnly observing unspeakable horror and devastation as the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfolded." That was the opening paragraph in an insurance coverage article I wrote for the Big "I" Virtual University (VU) on Sept. 12, 2001. My son recently celebrated...

Small business owners are optimistic about their future with 71% expecting revenue increases in 2024, according to Q3 2023 MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. The survey found that 42% of small businesses say they plan to increase investment in the next year and two in five (40%) small businesses say they anticipate increasing staff in the next year. While small businesses...