Those of us in the Northeast still thawing out from the last two winters will be relieved to hear that this year’s winter is likely to bring warmer and wetter conditions thanks to El Niño. NOAA’s just-released 2015 U.S. Winter Outlook (December through February) calls for cooler and wetter weather in the South, and above-average...
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VW: Reputation Risk Report
We’re well into the second week of the VW emissions scandal fallout and as we scan the latest news headlines it appears that reputation risk-related matters remain front and center. Multiple auto manufacturer reputations are on the line especially with the news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now broadened its investigation to look into at least...
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Marine, Transport Risks of Refugee Crisis
As European governments approved a controversial plan to share 120,000 refugees between most of the European Union countries, there’s an important insurance story playing out amid the ongoing flow of thousands of refugees into Europe. The risk management challenges and costs for freight transporters, haulers and shipowners arising from the refugee crisis are outlined in...
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Cyber Business Interruption Risk Often Underestimated
Corporate data breaches and privacy concerns may dominate the headlines, but a new report by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty makes the case that future cyber threats will come from business interruption (BI), intellectual property theft and cyber extortion. The impact of BI from a cyber attack, or from operational or technical failure, is a...
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Spreading Awareness of Insurance to Small Businesses
A couple of new studies appear to shed light on the continuing need to communicate the importance of insurance for small business owners. First, a Nationwide-sponsored survey found that 66 percent of small businesses do not have business interruption insurance (hat tip to Insurance Journal for its report here). This is despite the fact that...
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Out-of-Pocket Spending Rule Will Make Health Plans More Expensive
Guidance on out-of-pocket spending issued by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury will make health plans more expensive for employers. The Affordable Care Act places annual limits on employees’ out-of-pocket expenses for certain “essential health benefits.” For plan years beginning in 2016, limits equal $6,850 for self-only coverage and $13,700...
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Storm Surge Risk Rising Along U.S. Coast
While there’s much focus on storm surge risk in New Orleans as we mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, two new reports highlight the vulnerability of other U.S. coastal cities to storm surge flooding. An analysis by Karen Clark & Co ranks the U.S. cities most vulnerable to storm surge flooding based on losses...
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Lightning Fatalities Prompt Warning
The number of lightning deaths in the United States in 2015 continues to rise, the National Weather Service (NWS) has warned. So far this year some 22 lightning fatalities have been recorded, just four shy of the 26 deaths recorded for the whole of 2014. Alabama, Florida and Colorado top the states for lightning deaths...
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Man-Made Disasters, Global Impact
A New York Times article over the weekend takes a behind-the-scenes look at the recent deadly blasts at the port city of Tianjin in China. The series of explosions and fire that began at a hazardous chemicals storage warehouse in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin August 12, leveled a large industrial area, leaving at...
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More Small and Mid-Sized Companies Buying Cyber Insurance
The cyber insurance market for small- to mid-sized companies is much friendlier than the market for larger insureds, according to the findings of an annual survey just released by Betterley Risk Consultants. The Cyber/Privacy Insurance Market Survey 2015 notes that there are many insurance products competing for the business of small and mid-sized (SME) organizations....
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