Latest Claims Headlines

All the headlines from our Claims Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Buffett’s Duracell Countersues Energizer, Alleging False Ads Over Battery Life Claims

Sep 9 2020 // Duracell, the battery unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., sued the maker of Energizer batteries on Tuesday, accusing it falsely advertising that its Energizer MAX batteries last up to 50% longer than...

Defendants in Separate COVID-19 Business Interruption Suits Score Wins in Texas Courts

Sep 7 2020 // Rulings in two lawsuits originating in Texas over business income losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic were handed down in August in favor of insurance firms.In one, an insurance agency was added to a restaurant...

Insurers, Covid-Hit Businesses May Be at Odds Over Interruption Claims for Disasters

Sep 4 2020 // As insurers brace for an expensive natural-disaster season because of storms and wildfires ravaging parts of the United States, the novel coronavirus is giving them an odd financial break.Many companies that were damaged...

Florida Workers’ Comp Rates Going Down, Again

Sep 4 2020 // The downward trend for Florida workers’ compensation rates is set to continue next year thanks to favorable loss experiences from policy years 2017 and 2018.The latest filing from the National Council on Compensation...

How One Hospital Addresses Sexual Harassment Claims and Culture

Sep 3 2020 // Sexual harassment is not a new or rare phenomenon in the workplace, but since the #MeToo movement began in late 2017, more victims have come forward to report allegations of harassment at work, including at health care...

Hudzik-Presson Named Chief Claims Officer at Wisconsin’s Church Mutual

Sep 3 2020 // Becky Hudzik-Presson has been named chief claims officer at Merrill, Wisconsin-based Church Mutual Insurance Co. S.I., reporting to Scott Names, senior vice president – Shared Services and chief information...

Accusers Oppose $35M Weinstein Insurance Settlement of Sexual Misconduct Claims

Sep 3 2020 // Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein’s bankrupt film studio on Wednesday presented a revised proposal to settle sexual misconduct claims against the disgraced former producer, but an attorney for accusers pledged to oppose...

Family of Teen Killed Near Washington Protest Zone Files $3B Claims

Sep 2 2020 // The father of a 19-year-old Seattle man shot and killed in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone has filed wrongful death claims totaling $3 billion, seeking $1 billion each from the city of Seattle, King County and the...

Florida High Court Rejects Strems Bid to Dissolve Suspension; Contempt Petition Filed

Sep 2 2020 // A Florida attorney accused of causing great public harm through a “vast campaign of unprofessional, unethical, and fraudulent conduct,” by way of thousands of insurer lawsuits has lost his latest battle to...

Insurance Plays Key Role in Civil Rights Settlements Against Law Enforcement

Sep 2 2020 // Municipalities, their insurers and risk pools should be heeding the current public re-examination of police and prosecutorial actions taking place across the country, according to an insurance policyholder attorney who...

Drones Help Insurance Companies Check Windstorm Damage in Iowa

Aug 31 2020 // Insurance adjusters who descended on Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after the Aug. 10 derecho storm are using drones to check roofs and asking homeowners with less severe damage to take their own photos.Some of this is due to the...

Analytics Helping Insurers Identify Workers’ Compensation ‘Mega’ Claims More Quickly

Aug 28 2020 // The share of “mega” workers’ compensation claims — those expected to cost $3 million or more — climbed steadily since 2013 after dropping as construction employment declined sharply during the Great...

North Carolina Fines Gerber Life Insurance Co. $1.1 million for Claims Violations

Aug 28 2020 // The North Carolina Department of Insurance has entered into a voluntary settlement agreement with Gerber Life Insurance Company that includes a $1.1 million penalty for numerous violations related to its claims practices...

California Commissioner Issues Emergency Notice to Expedite Wildfire Claims

Aug 26 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Wednesday issued an emergency notice to all property/casualty insurance companies doing business in California, requesting they expedite claims handling for California...

Natural Catastrophe Claims Cost Insurers More Than Coronavirus in First Half: Fitch

Aug 26 2020 // COVID-19-related claims were not the biggest driver of the North American property/casualty insurance industry’s overall combined ratio during the first six months of 2020. Natural catastrophes cost insurers more,...

Honda to Pay $85 Million to States Over Defective Takata Air Bags Claims

Aug 26 2020 // Units of Honda Motor Co. have agreed to pay $85 million to settle an investigation by most U.S. states into its use of defective Takata airbag inflators in its vehicles, according to a consent order made public on...

Taiwan Claims Alibaba-Linked Site Is Cyber Security Risk

Aug 25 2020 // Taiwan declared an e-commerce platform linked to China’s Alibaba Group a potential security risk and has told its operator to register as a company from the rival mainland or dispose of its ownership stake.The order...

Lloyd’s Appoints Canal’s Bond as U.S. Head of Claims

Aug 25 2020 // Lloyd’s of London has named Carey Bond as U.S. head of Claims, a newly created role that stems from the Future at Lloyd’s strategy.Based in Greenville, South Carolina, he’ll be responsible for overseeing...

Georgia Dept. of Public Safety Claims Police Wrote Tickets Outside Jurisdiction

Aug 25 2020 // A small Georgia city’s police department wrote more than 130 speeding tickets on a road where it had no jurisdiction, a state agency’s investigation found.Citations issued on Kildare Road over a two year period...

Anbang, Andy Bang, $1 Trillion in Claims. Ritz-Carlton Mystery Gets Its Day in Court.

Aug 24 2020 // When a 26-year-old Uber driver walked into a California deeds office two years ago, it was the real-estate equivalent of a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a tsunami half a world away.Hired by an elderly Chinese...