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People Moves: Diessner Promoted to President of Kraus-Anderson Insurance; Alliant Adds Quitmeyer to Chicago Employee Benefits Group

Article 0 Comments Diessner Promoted to President of Kraus-Anderson Insurance Jonathan Diessner has been promoted to president of Kraus-Anderson Insurance, one of Minnesota’s largest privately held independent insurance agencies and a member of the Kraus-Anderson family of companies, providing construction, real estate, risk management and advisory services to clients and owners nationwide. Jonathan Diessner A third-generation leader in the family-owned enterprise, Diessner joined Kraus-Anderson in 2009 in property management with KA Realty before moving to the insurance agency in 2011 as a property & casualty producer. After building a book of business, he advanced into managerial leadership, serving as executive vice president in 2020 and succeeding his father, Dennis Diessner, as chief operating office in January 2024. Under his leadership, the agency has delivered consecutive record sales years, expanded its team through targeted strategic additions, and continued to strengthen long-standing client relationships, many spanning more than 40 years. Alliant Insurance Services Adds Quitmeyer to Chicago Employee Benefits Group Alliant Insurance Services has added Amanda Quitmeyer as assistant vice president within its employee benefits group. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Quitmeyer partners with organizations to design and deploy strategic solutions that support business goals, enhance employee well-being, and manage healthcare costs. Prior...

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Fire at Pennsylvania Hospital Forces Evacuation of Dozens of Patients

Article 0 Comments A fire tore through a northeastern Pennsylvania hospital, sending smoke billowing into the air as dozens of patients were evacuated and emergency medical crews were rushed in from across the region, authorities said. No one was reported injured by the Wednesday night blaze at the Lehigh Valley Hospital campus in Dickson City, which drew all available emergency medical services within a 50-mile (80-kilometer) radius, fire officials said. The facility remained closed Thursday while the damage was assessed, hospital spokesperson Shellie Wass said. Bystander video showed smoke rising over the hospital’s entrance as firefighters on ladders worked to contain the blaze. One video appeared to show patients, some on gurneys, being loaded into a line of ambulances for transport to other hospitals. The fire started on the roof of an older medical office building formerly known as Scranton Orthopedics and did not begin inside the attached main hospital building, officials said. More than 70 hospital patients were evacuated, most to other area hospitals. Geisinger hospitals received 13 of them, including 12 who were transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center and one to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Geisinger spokesperson Richard Mattei said. As of Thursday morning, five patients...

Why Insurance-Native AI Wins Over General Solutions 0

Why Insurance-Native AI Wins Over General Solutions

By Sanjay Malhotra, CEO, Brisc AI — As generative AI continues to transform industries, one thing has become clear: insurance is different. While ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can generate content and answer questions with impressive fluency, they weren’t built to automate insurance submissions, reconcile bordereaux files, or triage claims. The needs of carriers, MGAs, and reinsurers go beyond text generation. They require accuracy, compliance, auditability, and deep operational context. Generic AI introduces too much risk and too little return. The future of AI in insurance lies with insurance-native AI solutions designed to understand the language, logic, and nuance behind every policy, claim, and decision. Key Takeaways Insurance-native AI is purpose-built to handle the complexity, regulation, and workflows unique to insurance. Generic AI lacks context and often hallucinates, posing significant risk in compliance-driven environments. Vertical, agentic AI platforms deliver faster ROI, cleaner data, and more trustworthy outputs by acting within insurance context. What Is Insurance-Native AI? Insurance-native AI refers to artificial intelligence tools and agentic systems built specifically for the insurance industry. Unlike general-purpose AI trained on broad datasets, these systems are fine-tuned with insurance-specific context, using verified data, workflows, and domain rules to guide outputs. They operate within the real-world...

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LA Mayor Race Shaken by Wildfire Allegations

Article 0 Comments Billionaire Rick Caruso is sticking with his decision to stay out of the race for Los Angeles mayor, despite raising the prospect he would reconsider following a news report that Mayor Karen Bass asked to soften an after-action investigation into last year’s deadly wildfires. “Rick is incredibly moved by the outpouring of support but reached an earlier decision in a thoughtful process and it stands,” a spokesperson said in emailed message Thursday, a day after Caruso said he was considering entering the race. “He will not be a candidate for mayor.” Bass’s re-election bid has faced renewed scrutiny following the publication of a Los Angeles Times report that she asked the city’s then-interim fire chief to remove key findings from an after-action report on the fires. The mayor has denied doing so. The news has shaken up the mayoral campaign to lead the second-largest U.S. city. Related: EPA Outlines Trump Plan to Speed up Rebuilding of Homes Destroyed in LA Wildfires Tech entrepreneur Adam Miller filed Wednesday to run against Bass, the LA Times reported, while Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has publicly mulled entering the race as well. Candidates have until Feb. 7 to file...

Navacord and Acera Insurance Successfully Complete Transformational Deal 0

Navacord and Acera Insurance Successfully Complete Transformational Deal

Merging Two Leading Insurance Brokerages Creates Canadian Champion Toronto, ON (Feb. 3, 2025) – Navacord Corp. and Acera Insurance Services Ltd. are pleased to announce the successful completion of their previously announced merger. Effective February 2, the transaction formally closed following confirmation of all required regulatory, court and shareholder approvals. The completion of the transaction officially brings together two industry-leading Canadian insurance brokerages, forming one of the country’s largest privately held insurance, employee benefits and wealth advisory firms. This merger also reinforces the power of the employee ownership model that has built the foundation for both businesses, now positioning Navacord as one of the largest employee-owned brokerages in Canada, enabling a continued focus on clients, communities and employees. Combined, the organizations represent approximately $7.2 billion in insurance and employee benefits premium and $7.5 billion in retirement assets under management. Backed by more than 5,000 insurance and financial services professionals across more than 150 locations nationwide, we have united to deliver industry-leading expertise and measurable value for clients. “With the transaction now complete, our focus is on a thoughtful integration that advances our vision of a true Canadian champion, while preserving the strengths of both organizations in a way that best...

Winter Storm Warning: What Homeowners Should Do to Protect Their Property 0

Winter Storm Warning: What Homeowners Should Do to Protect Their Property

Insurance experts outline practical steps homeowners can take today to stay safe and avoid unnecessary losses Toronto, ON (Jan. 23, 2026) – With most of Canada currently under Environment Canada’s yellow and orange weather alerts for cold and snow, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is sharing tips to help Canadians protect their property. “Winter storms and extreme freezing temperatures can cause extensive damage to homes, businesses and vehicles,” said Rob de Pruis, National Director, Consumer and Industry Relations, IBC. “While we can’t stop a winter storm or the potential aftermath, there are steps we can take to help mitigate the risks and better protect our property – and now is the time to act.” IBC’s Top 10 Winter Storm Tips Take steps to help prevent pipes from freezing; consider pipe insulation, especially for pipes near outside walls, basements and crawl spaces. Prevent drafts, seal cracks and openings around windows and doors and know where the water shut off valves are located. Create an emergency preparedness plan for your family and assemble disaster safety kits for your home, car and office. Prepare for power outages. Have flashlights and portable lighting ready. When using candles, always be mindful of fire hazards. Charge...

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McGowan Allied Specialty Insurance Announces Sales Territory Realignment

Article 0 Comments McGowan Allied Specialty Insurance announced a strategic realignment of sales territories within its in-house team designed to enhance services, improve regional coverage, and ensure a more tailored experience for clients across the country. The Ohio-based company said that by reallocating territories among its sales producers, it is strengthening its ability to “respond efficiently to client needs while maintaining deep knowledge of regional markets.” The newly assigned territories are now in effect, the company said. MASI provides entertainment and amusement insurance solutions for amusement parks, waterparks and family entertainment centers.. Topics Excess Surplus New Markets Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Excess Surplus? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

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People Moves: XPT Specialty Hires Goedeke as Underwriter/Broker

Article 0 Comments Kyle Goedeke XPT Specialty, headquartered in Plano, Texas, hired Kyle Goedeke as an underwriter/broker. Goedeke has nearly a decade of experience across wholesale brokerage, underwriting, and excess and surplus (E&S) line placements. In his role at XPT Specialty, Goedeke will underwrite and place a wide range of commercial P&C binding business, with a focus on owners, landlords & tenants (OL&T), hospitality, and habitational risks. He will work closely with retail agents to structure and place coverage for complex property and liability exposures. Topics Agencies Excess Surplus Underwriting Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Agencies? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

United Heritage Insurance Company goes live on Equisoft’s cloud-based policy administration system 0

United Heritage Insurance Company goes live on Equisoft’s cloud-based policy administration system

The implementation of Equisoft/manage and digital insurance tools for annuity products addresses United Heritage’s need to modernize their policy administration infrastructure to remain competitive and accelerate product launches in the evolving financial services market Philadelphia, PA (Feb. 4, 2026) – Equisoft, a leading global digital solutions provider to the financial services industry, is pleased to announce that United Heritage Life Insurance Company has successfully gone live with their annuity products on Equisoft/manage, a modern SaaS policy administration system for life insurance and annuities. United Heritage selected Equisoft’s comprehensive end-to-end solutions to support their Life and Annuities business, implementing Equisoft/manage for policy administration, along with Equisoft/apply (eApp) and AppCapture for digital application processing. The transformation also included migration of their agents to Equisoft/manage, creating a unified digital experience across the entire insurance value chain from application through claims processing. “We chose Equisoft because of their domain expertise in insurance technology and their approach to solution delivery,” said Todd Gill, President and Chief Executive Officer at United Heritage. Johanna Hale, Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation and Risk Officer further added, “Our legacy policy administration system was limiting our ability to effectively scale and quickly bring new products to market. Equisoft has been...

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Governor ‘Not Convinced’ California Wants to Take Over PG&E

Article 0 Comments California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he doesn’t see the state having the appetite to take over PG&E Corp., which has come under criticism recently for blackouts that hit San Francisco. “I’m not convinced” the state wants to get into the utility business, Newsom said during an event in San Francisco hosted by Bloomberg News. Related: Edison Sues LA County Over Fire Deaths for Delayed Alerts Newsom previously weighed a possible takeover of PG&E during negotiations over the company’s restructuring after it filed for bankruptcy in 2019 due to billions of dollars of wildfire liability claims. More recently, some elected officials in San Francisco have renewed calls to take over PG&E’s wires and poles in the city after power outages darkened neighborhoods over the holidays. Separately, gubernatorial candidate and billionaire Tom Steyer has called for the state’s utility monopolies to be broken up after they’ve sharply raised rates. Gavin Newsom, governor of California, during an interview in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. Newsom assailed the White House border czar, saying he’s the wrong person to deescalate tensions in Minneapolis spurred by the president’s immigration crackdown. Newsom noted that the state already has the ability...