Articles

This market has opened the door for new business opportunities for specialists in hospitality. As restaurant owners search for ways to save money they are more willing to "shop" their insurance. "It helps to get your foot in the door," John Parkhurst, Hospitality Practice Leader, Trucordia, said. Start by offering to take a look at their insurance portfolio especially when you know a carrier incre...

The global boat insurance market size was projected at $1.8 billion in 2024 and is expected to hit $2.6 billion by 2032. The U.S. region accounted for an 87% share of the boat and yacht insurance market. In 2023, the boat insurance segment accounted for over 63% of the boat & yacht insurance market share and is expected to exceed $1.7 billion by 2032. Boat insurance includes smaller recreatio...

This year restaurants and bars continue to grapple with many of the same challenges they faced in 2024. The rising cost of labor and food, along with the ongoing struggle to recruit and retain employees, remain among the top concerns for restaurant operators nationwide. The good news: the restaurant industry is expected to reach new sales heights again in 2025, according to the National Restaurant...

Faced with heightened climate risks and political uncertainties, insurers writing agribusiness and farm and ranch are deploying data analytics and technology as they grapple with a hard market and the need for greater transparency with their agricultural clients. Insurers are turning to a variety of models for risk assessment and using the data to determine how to accurately assess and price risks...

This is obviously a warped paraphrase of the famous line from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "Badges! I don't need no stinkin' badges!" Warped is the insurance world we live in, and here is what the future holds for stinkin' order-taker agents: 8% commission, if they even have a job. First and foremost, no one needs agents that only take orders. This is the lowest standard of care from an E&a...

When the calendar flipped to 2025, Lacey Garrison Strom was optimistic. As the executive vice president of private client services at California-based Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Garrison Strom secures insurance coverage for affluent clients across the Golden State. Her renewals were flat--some even went down. "I was so excited," she reflected in a February interview. "This is going to be our yea...

The business environment is constantly evolving, with each new development and innovation offering a unique variety of potential risks and rewards. Broad, systemic challenges may sometimes create unexpected obstacles, while technological transitions and advancements can often create as many hurdles as they do opportunities. The systemic implications of social inflation, in addition to the potentia...

IQUW, the London-based specialty insurer and reinsurer, has launched its new ports and terminals product, reinforcing its position as a lead market for marine insurance. Under the leadership of Ali Welchman, an expert in the Ports and Terminals class, the product helps brokers and clients manage their risks with coverage for physical loss or damage to marine property and cargo handling equipment,...

This article follows Part One from last month and covers group benefits and health insurance, the effects of natural disasters on insurance, insurtech and technology, and market conditions. Group Benefits and Health Insurance Today's younger employees expect benefits packages to be tailored to their unique needs and life stages, leading to a surge in personalized benefits offerings. Employers are...

The brokerage industry is adapting to a changing landscape as macroeconomic conditions temper the tailwinds that have driven growth in recent years. High interest rates, historical valuations, and tighter access to capital have slowed M&A activity, with deal flow declining nearly 20% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, moderating renewal rate increa...

What a start to the new year for the insurance industry. January 1 saw two separate incidents that drew attention from the insurance industry as the threat of increasing political and terror risk continues to affect individuals and businesses worldwide. A terror attack in the early morning hours of New Year's Day killed 15 people in New Orleans when Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a c...

Everyone is familiar with the significant price increases of many products and services in recent years. We call that "inflation" and it is essentially the reduction in value of a product or service based on the product or service remaining the same while its price increases. But price inflation is not the only way that products and services can decrease in value. Sometimes we lose value in a prod...

Economic losses caused by natural catastrophes reached an estimated US$280 billion in 2023, with US$51.6 billion of that total due to floods, according to Swiss Re Institute. As climate change intensifies extreme weather events and rapid urban sprawl increased asset values in high-risk areas, these flood losses are likely to keep rising, said Swiss Re in a report titled "Resilience or rebuild? The...

Special relationships, fiduciary duties, the hard market and disasters, are areas of exposure that agencies need to watch over when it comes to agency E&O, the experts say. Here's why. Special Relationships One area that is getting extra attention in agency E&O risk is determining the nature of an agency's relationship with the client. "Whether it is easy or difficult for a policyholder's...

What emerging risks could electric vehicles present as they become more widespread? Experts at Verisk recently explored the current EV landscape and hypothesized what insurance concerns the vehicles could prompt in the future. During a webinar presentation, Greg Scoblete, a principal on Verisk's Emerging Issues team, said a shift to more EVs on the road could have far-reaching impacts. "Without be...