Intel

As we enter the long-awaited season of Spring which conjures up thoughts of new beginnings, I draw parallels to the Excess & Surplus (E&S) Insurance industry. Several years of disciplined underwriting, including increased rates, adjusted limit deployment, and careful tweaking of policy language, coupled with a tamping of COVID-19 restrictions is resulting in this renewed sense of optimism. Carriers are…

A 3-year-old girl required 180 stitches to her face and spent days in the hospital after being tragically attacked by a dog April 2 at a home day care in Hemet, California. The attack is one of multiple incidents involving home day care facilities to make headlines in recent weeks. On April 22, police responded to a hospital in Stafford,…

A virtual “try-on” tool for sunglasses offered by Louis Vuitton collected customers’ facial scan data without their consent, violating the Illinois Biometric Privacy Protection Act, a new lawsuit against the luxury brand alleges. The proposed class-action suit, filed April 8, claims the LVMH corporation’s North America unit took biometric data from online shoppers when they used their webcams to try…

Two Kinder chocolate products sold in the U.S. are being recalled after salmonella typhimurium was detected at the Belgian facility where they were made. While no salmonella cases have been identified in the U.S., the facility is linked to a salmonella outbreak in Europe that has sickened at least 142 individuals, most of whom are young children. Ferrero’s voluntary recall,…

In communities across the U.S., home prices are soaring so high in some areas that priced-out residents are moving to regions with a lower cost of living, Fox Business recently reported. Average rent prices are also up, with the most significant increases — each over 25% in the past year — seen in cities such as Miami, Tampa and Phoenix,…

After two years of cancellations and uncertainty, crowds are expected to be back in full force for St. Patrick\'s Day 2022 in many areas of the U.S. and Canada. Large groups gathered in the streets and in bars for parades last weekend in cities like San Francisco, California, Chicago, Illinois, and Newport, Rhode Island. Establishments are preparing for big crowds…

A historic labor shortage is continuing to challenge long-term care facilities, where workers are dealing with high levels of burnout, reduced one-on-one time with patients and other strains, a recent NPR report detailed. The conditions are “brutal,” the president of the largest nonprofit senior housing provider in the U.S. told NPR, and researchers are warning that the situation could have…

Heavy snow, built-up ice and fluctuating temperatures have caused headaches and hardships for homeowners and business owners across the U.S. and Canada this winter. In Texas earlier this month, winter storms led to the collapse of a Waco woman’s living room ceiling at the house she was renting and downed multiple trees in Austin, including one that broke through a…

Cryptocurrency’s shift into the mainstream was validated on Super Bowl Sunday, when fans watching the Feb. 13 event were so engaged with a commercial by the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase that the company’s website temporarily crashed. Coinbase aired a 60-second ad featuring a bouncing QR code that, upon being scanned, brought fans to a promotional site offering $15 in free…

Cleanup and investigation efforts are underway at the site of the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after the bridge collapsed on Jan. 28. A city bus and several other vehicles were on the bridge when it came crashing down, injuring 10 individuals in a terrifying ordeal that left motorists fearing for their lives. The 447-foot bridge, which was built…