Latest Commercial Lines Headlines

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

W.R. Berkley Names Levesque President of Preferred Employers; Gallacher Now Chairman

Jan 3 2020 // W. R. Berkley Corp. has appointed Dennis J. Levesque as president of its Preferred Employers Insurance subsidiary, a California specialty workers’ compensation writer.He succeeds Steven A. Gallacher, who has been...

Hanover Insurance Names Mitchell, Grieco to Key Commercial Lines Posts

Jan 3 2020 // The Hanover Insurance Group announced leadership appointments in its commercial lines business.Matthew S. Mitchell was appointed president of The Hanover’s middle market business. He has been with The Hanover for...

Commercial Lines Insurtech Bold Penguin Acquires E&S Brokerage Tech Platform xagent

Jan 2 2020 // Bold Penguin, a commercial insurance exchange technology platform launched in 2016, announced it has acquired xagent, an independent, single-entry, multi-quote platform for standard and surplus lines business insurance...

Commercial Airplane Crash Deaths Drop by More than 50% in 2019: Aviation Consultant

Jan 2 2020 // The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes fell by more than 50% in 2019 despite a high-profile Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March, a Dutch consulting firm said on Wednesday. Aviation...

Why Small Business Liability Insurance Must Be Advanced Into the Digital Age

Dec 30 2019 // Liability insurance as we know it no longer suits a large fraction of today’s and tomorrow’s small-business owners. Brokers and insurers are at a crossroads on how to serve small businesses’ changing...

California ‘Gig’ Worker Law Affects Employers Inside and Outside the State

Dec 30 2019 // A California law that makes it harder for companies to treat workers as independent contractors takes effect next week, forcing small businesses in and outside the state to rethink their staffing.The law puts tough...

Employers Warned of Potential Wage-and-Hour Claims Under New Overtime Rule

Dec 29 2019 // Time is running out for employers to familiarize themselves with new federal rules on overtime pay.Starting January 1, the threshold for who is entitled to overtime pay — and who is not — changes. It’s the first...

Wyoming Workplace Deaths Last Year Were Below Long-Term Trend

Dec 27 2019 // Thirty-one people died on the job in Wyoming in 2018, a rate slightly below average.Wyoming has averaged 33 workplace fatalities each year in data going back to 1992, according to the Wyoming Department of Workforce...

Underwriters and Insureds Taking Harder Look at Commercial Property Risks

Dec 24 2019 // Commercial property underwriters are adjusting to a market defined by rising catastrophe losses and dwindling profits. From increasing rates and higher deductibles to fewer classes of business and stricter underwriting,...

Ascot Appoints Walter as Executive VP and Head of Cyber & Commercial E&O

Dec 20 2019 // Ascot has appointed Drew Walter as executive vice president and head of Cyber & Commercial E&O. Also joining the team are Tracy O’Hara, Abigail Oliver, Greg Garijanian and Ben Mancuso. Based in New York,...

Former NHL Player Dies of Injuries from Minnesota Workplace Accident

Dec 19 2019 // The family of former NHL player Scot Kleinendorst says he has died of injuries suffered in a workplace accident in northern Minnesota.Kleinendorst suffered severe brain trauma and numerous broken bones at UPM Blandin paper...

Applied Systems to Acquire Indio to Digitize Commercial Lines Sales

Dec 16 2019 // Leading insurance technology firm Applied Systems has agreed to acquire digital insurance technology startup Indio Technologies.The move will enable Applied Systems to offer Indio’s digitized commercial insurance...

Commercial Insurance Market Stable in 2020: A.M. Best

Dec 16 2019 // The market outlook on the U.S. commercial lines industry for 2020 is stable. according to analysts at ratings firm A.M. Best who cite “improved market conditions and solid levels of risk-adjusted capitalization that...

Fitch Sees Stronger Commercial Lines But Weaker Auto, Workers’ Compensation Results Coming

Dec 16 2019 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance sector should see small improvements in underwriting profits in 2019 and 2020, thanks largely to commercial lines price increases, Fitch Ratings predicts in a new report.But personal...

U.S. Commercial Insurance Prices Were Up 4% in Q3: WTW

Dec 16 2019 // U.S. commercial insurance prices accelerated during the third quarter of 2019, as the aggregate price change reported by carriers exceeded 4%, according to insurance broker Willis Towers Watson.WTS’s Commercial Lines...

Study: California Self-Insured Employers Save Over Traditional Workers’ Comp

Dec 16 2019 // A new study on California workers’ compensation shows the cost of self-insurance is 14% to 28% less than a traditional workers’ comp policy.It should be noted that the study was commissioned by the California...

McDonald’s Wins Battle With Labor, Avoids Joint Employer Liability with Franchises

Dec 13 2019 // McDonald’s Corp. has won a huge victory in a multiyear legal battle over whether it should share responsibility for alleged labor violations in its franchisees’ restaurants, a case that posed a major threat to...

Louisiana’s Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Adds Lege, Moore

Dec 12 2019 // Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co., based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has hired Brandon Lege as director of Loss Prevention and John Moore as a production underwriter.Lege was formerly the safety and training manager for...

Allianz UK Launches ‘Cyber Select’ Offering for Mid-Size Corporations

Dec 12 2019 // Allianz UK has launched Cyber Select, a cyber offering designed primarily for mid-corporate businesses.Cyber Select’s cover is designed to deal with the consequences of unauthorized use of IT systems and data...

Beazley Life Sciences Product Aimed at Small Businesses, Start-Ups

Dec 10 2019 // Beazley has launched its BioSecure policy, a life sciences proposition designed for small businesses. The coverage provides flexible insurance protection against a range of exposures in the pharma, biotech and medical...