Featured Articles Blog

0

Mercury Insurance Founder Joseph Dies at Age 104

Article 0 Comments George Joseph, who founded Mercury General Corp. nearly 65 years ago, has died at age 104, the company announced this week. Joseph served as chairman from the company’s founding and led Mercury as CEO for 45 years, ending his time at the helm in 2006. After stepping down as CEO, he remained the company’s as executive chairman. George Joseph During his time as CEO, Mercury grew from a small California insurer with six employees and 90 agents into a large writer of private passenger automobile insurance. The company completed a public offering in 1985, and expanded beyond California beginning in 1989. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996. The company’s written premiums broke the $3 billion mark in 2006. Joseph was recognized during his career for his contributions, including being named “Company Person of the Year” by the Professional Insurance Agents Association in 1987. Joseph was also known for his efforts to change Proposition 33, California’s insurance law, which many carriers have blamed for forcing them to use outdated catastrophe models and for keeping them from raising rates to better reflect the state’s growing wildfire risk. In 2010 and 2012, he backed two...

Applied Systems Launches New Vendor Certification Program 0

Applied Systems Launches New Vendor Certification Program

New program enables agencies and brokerages to extend their technology strategy with certified integrations in a faster, more secure way Chicago, IL (Aug. 12, 2026) – Applied Systems® is pleased to announce it has launched its Vendor Certification Program, a new third-party integration program that provides customers with a fast, trusted way to extend the value of their Applied solutions. The new program formalizes Applied’s decades-long commitment to an open, connected ecosystem, giving vendors a clear, single path to certification and giving mutual customers a faster, lower-cost way to activate the technology partners of their choice. Every certified vendor completes a thorough onboarding and certification process, ensuring each integration meets Applied’s standards for quality and reliability before it ever reaches an agency or brokerage. Activating a certified integration is easy, faster than a standard integration build, and doesn’t require any additional purchase from Applied. Certified vendors have access to the latest Applied Epic releases, ensuring integrations stay current, reliable, and ready to meet their most demanding challenges. Initial companies with certified integrations include Ascend, Adapt, Coverflow, Fulcrum, Inteveo EcoLink, Lightspeed, Outmarket, Quandri, RecordLinker, Sonant, and Xilo, with more expected to join in the months ahead. “Applied has long supported a vibrant...

New Majesco Research Exposes the Insurance Alignment Gap Between Insurers and Their Customers That Will Define a New Era of Growth 0

New Majesco Research Exposes the Insurance Alignment Gap Between Insurers and Their Customers That Will Define a New Era of Growth

Insurers that connect modernization, AI, and operational transformation to customer affordability, preparedness, and trust will define the next era of insurance growth Morristown, NJ (July 1, 2026) – Majesco, the insurance industry’s foremost innovator in AI-native and cloud-native software, is pleased to announce the release of its latest Thought Leadership research report, The Insurance Alignment Gap: Where Insurer Priorities and Customer Protection Needs Converge…and Diverge. The research found that while insurers are prioritizing operational efficiency, profitability, core modernization, AI, and a more intelligent operating model, customers are focused on affordability, financial vulnerability, preparedness, relevance, and trust. The findings underscore that insurers and customers are often looking at the same problems from opposite perspectives, making it increasingly important for insurers to translate internal transformation into customer-relevant value. “The insurance industry is at a pivotal moment where enterprise transformation and customer expectations and reality can no longer evolve on separate tracks,” said Denise Garth, Chief Strategy Officer at Majesco. “Insurers are modernizing to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and agility, while customers are looking for protection that feels affordable, understandable, and relevant to the risks they face every day. The result is a strategic alignment challenge, but also a powerful growth opportunity. Insurers most...

Green Cabbage Launches Finance & Insurance Market Data Spend Cube 0

Green Cabbage Launches Finance & Insurance Market Data Spend Cube

New Spend Cube Enables Global Companies to Negotiate Smarter Deals with F&I Suppliers Pittsburgh, PA (Aug. 11, 2026) – Green Cabbage, the leading procurement intelligence partner for 2,600+ organizations across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, is pleased to announce the launch of its F&I (Finance & Insurance) Market Data Spend Cube. The F&I Spend Cube arms finance, procurement, and legal teams with independent market intelligence to identify spending patterns, eliminate overpayment, and unlock negotiation leverage across three critical spend categories: Market Data & Information Aggregators, Insurance & Financial Services Technology, and Financial Services Operations & Analytics. “This is what speed and client value looks like,” says Eric Cunningham, CEO of Green Cabbage. “Our clients asked for this, and it went directly into product in weeks, not quarters. This is a massive opportunity for CFOs. Finance & Insurance is one of the largest, most opaque spend categories on their balance sheet, and most have zero visibility into whether they’re getting market rates. The F&I Market Data Spend Cube represents Green Cabbage moving at the pace our clients expect: fast, focused, and ready to help finance and procurement teams unlock real value and negotiate from a position of market strength.” The...

DogPack and Healthy Paws Partner to Bring Pet Insurance into the DogPack Platform 0

DogPack and Healthy Paws Partner to Bring Pet Insurance into the DogPack Platform

New integration brings seamless access to pet insurance directly into the DogPack platform, helping pet owners protect their dogs with ease Montreal, QC (Aug. 11, 2026) – DogPack, the leading global platform connecting dog owners through discovery, social content, and marketplace experiences, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership that introduces their United States market to Healthy Paws, a Chubb company, and a leading provider of accident and illness pet insurance coverage for dogs and cats. Through this collaboration, DogPack users will now have seamless access to pet insurance options directly within the app, helping pet owners protect their dogs with simple, transparent coverage. DogPack continues to expand beyond discovery, community, and travel into essential services for pet owners. With this collaboration, USA based users can explore insurance options in a way that feels natural, personalized, and aligned with their everyday experience on the platform. Based on their dog’s profile, users can view relevant coverage options and move through the process with a streamlined path to enrollment. “We’ve always been focused on building a platform that truly supports dog owners,” said Jonathan Punski, CEO of DogPack. “This partnership allows us to take that one step further. Our users don’t just...

0

Some Gary, Indiana Residents Still Without Power Weeks After Storms

Article 0 Comments Things became all-too familiar for Kimya Williams after storms rumbled through Gary, Indiana, earlier this month leaving big chunks of the mostly-Black city in the dark for two weeks. The power outage reminded the 50-year-old of what she experienced in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina knocked out electricity to many. Williams’ home was one of more than 38,300 homes and businesses in Gary to lose power from the Aug. 11 storms. She initially tried to stick it out and stay put, but the darkness got the best of her and Williams’ left for Indianapolis to stay with her children. “It was too triggering. It was too dark,” Williams told The Associated Press Monday. On Monday, one of the poorest and blackest cities in America still had no power. The day before, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton called the pace of restoration “unacceptable.” “We’re at day 12 and 12 days is too long for families to be without power, 12 days is too long for parents to worry about their children and for businesses to lose revenue,” Melton said in an update to the community. Northern Indiana Public Service Co., the area’s electricity provider, said Monday that...

LMIC Launches ISI AI for Submission Ingestion, Achieving 98%+ Accuracy 0

LMIC Launches ISI AI for Submission Ingestion, Achieving 98%+ Accuracy

Toronto, ON (Aug. 25, 2026) –  ISI is pleased to announce that Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company (LMIC) has successfully integrated ISI AI into its submission processing workflow. LMIC is using ISI AI to support the extraction, structuring, and review of application data across professional liability submissions. With the ISI AI Submission Agent now in production, LMIC’s underwriting team can access more complete, organized submission information earlier in the review process. Since going live, ISI AI now creates 67% of LMIC’s new business quotes with a 98%+ extraction accuracy rate prior to human involvement. This performance provides the foundation and reinforces the trust needed to expand AI’s role across LMIC’s day-to-day underwriting operations. “Launching AI into our day-to-day insurance workflows is an important step in continuing to meet our members’ needs,” said Andrew Chick, CEO at LMIC. “The accuracy and efficiency of ISI AI gives our team 15 to 20 minutes back per new business submission. This allows our underwriters to focus more time on risk evaluation, and the service experience our broker partners and members expect.” “LMIC’s go-live shows how insurers can move AI from concept to practical production use in underwriting,” said Doug Caccese, CEO at ISI. “For insurance...

0

Google Expands Gemini Enterprise AI Platform for Law Firms, Lawyers

Article 0 Comments Alphabet’s Google on Tuesday expanded its Gemini Enterprise artificial intelligence platform with new tools for lawyers and law firms, accelerating a race among technology companies to meet legal sector demand for AI. The company said its Gemini Enterprise for Legal would help law firms use AI to manage routine and complex work to allow lawyers to focus on higher-value services, while keeping their data secure and confidential. The new plug-in for Gemini Enterprise includes integration with legal software and data platforms and a stable of AI agents that Google said can handle specialized legal and administrative functions without significant human oversight. Alphabet launched Gemini Enterprise for business customers in October, in a bid to attract more corporate clients with its AI offerings. Google Cloud has become one of Alphabet’s fastest-growing businesses. In addition to legal, Google on Tuesday said it was unveiling industry tools for the financial services sector and would later roll out other industry-specific offerings. Rival AI companies including Anthropic have also expanded their enterprise offerings in recent months, including in the legal sector. A 2026 report on the legal industry’s adoption of AI from Deloitte found that law firms are investing heavily in the...

FM Announces Acquisition of FortressFire 0

FM Announces Acquisition of FortressFire

Transaction brings together FortressFire’s physics-based wildfire risk modeling platform and FM’s leading engineering and research capabilities Johnston, RI (Aug. 10, 2026) – Commercial property insurer FM is pleased to announce the acquisition of FortressFire, a leading provider of wildfire intelligence that combines machine learning and physics-based modeling. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Through a data-driven, science-backed approach to wildfire risk modeling, FortressFire helps protect homes, businesses and communities from wildfire loss. Operating as an independent, wholly owned division of FM, FortressFire’s platform enables insurers and property owners to better understand and manage wildfire risk down to an individual property level. Its wildfire intelligence solutions include aerial wildfire reports, monitoring, analytics, ground inspections and mitigation assessments to provide actionable, structure-specific insights and mitigation recommendations. “FortressFire shares FM’s core belief in the power of data-driven, location-based risk mitigation and protection measures to help clients better understand and manage wildfire exposure,” said Malcolm Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of FM. “The FortressFire team brings powerful tools to assess and mitigate wildfire risk, and we are excited to welcome them to the FM family.” “For years we’ve argued that the best risk management is ignition prevention—and that the path to...

Westland Insurance acquires Interior Savings Insurance 0

Westland Insurance acquires Interior Savings Insurance

Acquisition brings together two proudly BC-based organizations and expands Westland’s presence across the Southern Interior Surrey, BC (Aug. 6, 2026) – Westland Insurance, one of Canada’s largest insurance brokerages, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Interior Savings Insurance Services Inc. (ISI), part of Beem Credit Union, effective August 1. This acquisition reflects Westland’s strategic focus on expanding its presence in BC and deepening the organization’s capabilities in personal and commercial insurance solutions, while bringing greater value to clients within their local communities. Based in BC, with 13 locations across the Thompson, Okanagan, and Similkameen regions, Interior Savings Insurance has been serving clients for over 80 years, building a strong reputation for personalized and trusted advice, tailored coverage, and long-standing client and community relationships. The firm offers a full suite of personal and commercial insurance solutions, including coverage for home, auto, travel, and business. The acquisition is strategically compelling for Westland because it broadens the company’s BC presence in communities where local knowledge and relationships matter and further solidifies Westland’s leadership in risk management solutions in these areas. Interior Savings Insurance also brings durable client relationships, a diversified insurance portfolio, and a community first perspective that closely align with...