Articles

The national labor shortage is disrupting businesses across the country, and the brewery industry is no exception. There are three million fewer Americans in the labor force today compared to February 2020, According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For agents and brokers, this presents an opportunity to help brewery clients navigate the labor shortage safely and avoid new risk exposures by helpin...

A convergence of global events has led to the hardest property-catastrophe reinsurance market in a generation and a “complex,” “grueling” and “late” January renewal season, which went down to the wire, according to reports issued by brokers Gallagher and Howden Re. The geopolitical and macroeconomic shocks that occurred during 2022 included the war in Ukraine, fractured energy markets, 40-year hig...

Insurance brokerage USI is forecasting that half of 32 commercial insurance product lines analyzed will experience softer pricing in the first half of 2023—including a predicted “buyer’s market” for directors and officers liability with some caveats. Comparing USI’s forecasts for the first half of 2023 from the firm’s recently published “2023 Commercial P&C Market Outlook” with midyear 2022 foreca...

The dark days of the pandemic are finally easing for the healthcare industry, bringing much needed insurance capacity back for directors and officers (D&O) and employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) coverage after underwriters effectively shut down to new business or for renewals, significantly restricted their terms, conditions and limit capacity two years ago. Healthcare entities ha...

If the insurance industry hasn’t noticed, the sport known as pickleball is exploding across the country, especially in Florida, where more than 15 indoor clubs, replete with air conditioning, cafes, locker rooms, video training and other amenities are planned or are under construction. The growth has brought new opportunities but some tricky challenges for carriers, insurance agents and property d...

Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage is one of those topics that people have a love/hate relationship with. For the most part, professionals who need E&O cover like to know what coverage they have, when it covers them, and how they can get it as cheaply as possible. On the other hand, this is one of those topics where the information can be contradictory, depending on to whom you’re listeni...

Historically, wholesale insurance brokers have been viewed through the limited perspective of being solely a transactional facilitator of submissions or an avenue to access additional markets, especially in the excess and surplus (E&S) marketplace. But now more than ever, the complex nature and specific needs of clients indicate this is an outdated view. Retail insurance agents must decide if...

It’s a great time to work in surplus lines, say specialists working in today’s busier than ever market. The excess and surplus lines (E&S) sector is experiencing record growth — again. In the first six months of 2022, premiums topped $31 billion, and premium bearing transactions pushed 2.8 million. According to the 2022 Midyear Report of the U.S. Surplus Lines Service and Stamping Offices rele...

The insurance market for senior care and housing facilities has emerged from the volatile period of the pandemic and is again responsive and competitive. Premiums that were going up considerably are moderating in some subclasses and carriers that pulled away are returning and competing with new entrants. At the same time, the sector is witnessing a technology explosion that promises to address som...

So far in 2022, the U.S. has experienced multiple tragic mass shootings. One only needs to see the images on the news following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., or the attack during the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., to be reminded of the heart-breaking, human impact these incidents have. There are varying ways to define an active assailant shooting incident....

As the pandemic recedes, the art market is getting back to business. Record-breaking auction sales, breakthrough success of young contemporary artists, and a range of new material and media used in artists’ creations are hot trends dominating the art scene today. Art collecting has also diversified in recent years, broadening the appetite of the collector class. Some are new to the market, drawn t...

Many reinsurers across the globe increasingly have been doing business with certain select managing general agents (MGAs), seen as market innovators, by reinsuring the fronting insurers that provide the paper for MGAs to underwrite. In recent years, it is a trend that has continued from the soft market into the current hard market — as long as the interests of MGAs and their capacity providers are...

A busy summer travel season provided a much-needed boost to the hotel industry but rising insurance costs and other economic factors threaten to undermine the sector’s ongoing recovery. After nearly three years of losses related to COVID-19, hotel industry revenue and occupancy may actually exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA...

The insurance market for condos has always had its challenges with limited appetite in the marketplace to begin with but the post-COVID environment has been especially challenging, according to Brian Davidian, executive vice president, casualty at RT Specialty LLC. The overall property/casualty market continues to see hard market conditions. At the same time, carriers are seeing upticks in claim f...

The real estate insurance market is in a state of transition. Increased frequency and severity of natural catastrophe losses have taken their toll on the real estate property market. Add in losses due to civil unrest endured in 2020 and top that off with inflation and other economic challenges, the market sees even tougher conditions ahead, says Ryan Flanagan, senior vice president at Heffernan In...