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Motive Launches First-Of-Its-Kind First Responder Service for Commercial Vehicle Drivers To Get Life-Saving Assistance Faster 0

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Motive Launches First-Of-Its-Kind First Responder Service for Commercial Vehicle Drivers To Get Life-Saving Assistance Faster

New Motive data reveals roads are more dangerous during the holiday season, with Christmas showing 32% more accidents compared to the rest of December and the highest crash rate across all other holidays Nashville, TN (Oct. 16, 2024) – Motive, the AI-powered Integrated Operations Platform, is pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind first responder service for drivers of commercial vehicles that expedites emergency response in the event of a severe collision. The new First Responder feature was developed in partnership with RapidSOS and ensures drivers receive immediate help when a collision is detected by quickly dispatching emergency services, helping reduce fatalities and severe injuries, and setting a new standard for driver safety. When a severe collision occurs, getting emergency help can often be a matter of life or death. Survival rates increase by 13% for every minute that first responders arrive faster at the scene of a collision. First Responder ensures drivers receive the urgent care they need even faster, reducing the amount of time it takes for 911 to verify incidents and helping dispatchers deploy appropriate resources faster. “First Responder transforms the way we support drivers in a collision and will save lives,” says Shoaib Makani, co-founder and CEO of...

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Western Digital owes $315.7 million for infringing data security patent, US jury says

Article 0 Comments Data storage provider Western Digital must pay $315.7 million in damages for violating a patent owner’s rights in data security technology, a jury in California federal court said on Friday. The jury determined that several Western Digital self-encrypting hard drive products infringe a SPEX Technologies patent covering data encryption innovations, a SPEX attorney said in an email. San Jose, California-based SPEX sued Western Digital in 2016. SPEX said it bought the patent at issue from Spyrus, a cryptography company that developed the technology for encrypting sensitive communications. Spyrus co-founder Sue Pontius said she was grateful to the jury for the verdict. SPEX’s lead attorney, Marc Fenster, said the verdict was “a vindication of Sue Pontius and her perseverance.” A Western Digital spokesperson said the company disagrees with the verdict and plans to challenge it in post-trial motions and an appeal if necessary. The lawsuit said Western Digital data storage devices including its Ultrastar, My Book and My Passport products infringed the patent. Western Digital denied the allegations. In July, a different jury in the same Santa Ana, California, court said Western Digital owed more than $262 million to another company for infringing patents related to increasing hard...

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Bob Doll: ‘Buy High, Sell Higher’ in This Risky Market

“We might get one in 2025, but a year ago we said we might get one in 2024,” so either it’s way too early or “it ain’t going to happen. We’ll see,” he said. The unemployment rate is rising and payroll growth slowing, Doll noted, saying it’s possible that unemployment could hit 4.5% at year-end. “What the Fed has done, what the economy is doing, what consumers and businesses are doing will tell us” whether the slowdown is real and will lead to a soft perfect landing or a bumpier one, he said. Possible New Inflation Floor Doll also had predicted that the 2% to 3% inflation seen in the 2010s will become the 2% to 3% floor for the 2020s. “Our argument is the 2% Fed (inflation) target is going to be at least elusive. We’re not going to get there. Our longer-term view is inflation’s going to be closer to 3 (%) for this decade, having been closer to 2 the last decade, which is a big difference when you look at valuation for, obviously, stocks and bonds, among other things,” he said. Weaker Earnings? Crossmark is also doubtful about expectations for double-digit percentage earnings growth heading into...

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CVS Ousts CEO, Names Caremark Head as New Chief

But they came just as the Biden administration tightened payments to Medicare insurers and curbed tactics they used to boost revenue. The company also lost a huge contract to provide pharmacy benefits for insurer Centene Corp., which awarded the business to Cigna Group. The Caremark pharmacy benefits management business that Joyner led is under scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, which alleged CVS and its rivals drove up insulin prices. Congress is weighing new restrictions on PBM practices that could get a vote after the election. Joyner defended the business in front of a congressional panel earlier this year. Biggest Troubles The company’s biggest troubles are in the health benefits segment. CVS rapidly grew its Medicare Advantage rolls in 2024 with enticing benefits, but expenses for their care far outpaced projections and it’s poised to lose members next year. Runaway costs in the health benefits business prompted CVS to pull its forecast, already lowered multiple times this year. Almost two years ago, CVS told investors to expect adjusted earnings to be $9.75 to $9.95 a share in 2024. That company dropped that target over and over again, most recently to a range of $6.40 to $6.55 a share in August,...

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Reddit Users Say Boomers Are ‘Hoarding’ Wealth. The Reality Is More Complicated.

“Using the funds and the proper trust, trustee and beneficiary design, you can empower your children, while using the wealth to encourage growth and learning,” Derousseau said. “It’s not meant to be a gift, but instead to help them understand how the wealth was built, how they can build it as well, and encourage proper investment of the funds.” In this context, early gifting can help ensure that children can focus on higher potential purposes — especially if family members are struggling to care for children or pay debts. “Or maybe it’s building a process for lending through a trust, so investments can be made in businesses or careers that build the family as a whole,” Derousseau suggested. “This will serve your children now, but also help strengthen the family as a whole in years to come when the money is in your children’s hands.” As for the younger generation, Derousseau continued, it’s important to understand and respect what it means to be a good beneficiary. “It’s not simply coming to your parents, looking for handouts,” he said. “Instead, it’s proving that you can be a good steward of the financial future of the family as a whole. If it’s...

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Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame Honors 5 Inductees

Article 0 Comments The Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame honored five inductees and awarded seven scholarships to insurance students at its annual banquet in Conway on Oct. 17. The banquet was held on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas. The 2024 inductees into the Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame are: Sonia Bell, LUTC, Retired owner, Sonia Bell Agency, Conway Charles C. “Buddy” Campbell, (1923 – 2003), Retired Executive Vice President, Rebsamen Insurance, Little Rock Jim House, CHC, CLU, Retired President and CEO, USABLE Life, Searcy Roland W. Julian, CIC, CLU, ChFC,President, Rogers Insurance Agency, Rogers Terry Youngblood, President, Youngblood Insurance Agency, Inc. – a division of Crosspointe Insurance Advisors, LLC, Texarkana The Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame was created in 2015 to honor industry professionals who have made lasting contributions to advance the role of insurance in society. The Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame awards scholarships to UCA students who in Insurance and Risk Management and maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or above. This year’s scholarship recipients are Gabriella Adkins, Mason Smith, Cole Vangsnes, Samuel Roper, Peyton “Kai” Davis, William Van Asche and Emma Daughtrey. Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can...

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Farm Labor Contractor to Pay Damages Over Pregnancy Discrimination Charge

Article 0 Comments Family Fresh Harvesting, LLC, a farm labor contractor which provides temporary H-2A visas to agricultural workers at nurseries in Michigan and farms in Georgia, entered into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve a pregnancy discrimination charge, the federal agency announced. In the charge, a pregnant female H-2A employee alleged that Family Fresh fired her and sent her on a bus back to Mexico after she requested unpaid time off to attend medical appointments for her pregnancy. The termination violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination. As part of the conciliation agreement, Family Fresh will provide monetary damages to the former employee. In addition, the company will provide training on Title VII, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to all its employees, including human resources, management and supervisory personnel at the beginning of each work season. The company will also send electronic notice in English and Spanish to all its employees regarding its commitment to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees and hire employees irrespective of their sex or pregnancy. Source: OSHA Topics Agribusiness Contractors Was this article valuable?...

VOOM Launches Electric Bike Insurance Offering 0

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VOOM Launches Electric Bike Insurance Offering

With VOOM’s new expanded innovative motorcycle insurance offering, e-bike and other bicycle owners will pay get a flexible and comprehensive insurance coverage Palo Alto, CA (Oct. 14, 2024) – VOOM Insurance, the leading InsurTech company for the future of mobility, is pleased to announce that it has launched its insurance offering for Electric Bikes. The product is underwritten by Markel Group. This new product builds on VOOM’s successful track record in usage-based insurance for motorcycles and rideshare drivers, extending their innovative approach to the rapidly growing e-bike market. The bicycle insurance product is designed to offer flexible and affordable coverage, extending protection beyond what’s typically available under traditional homeowners or renters insurance policies. It covers a wide range of bicycles, including electric bikes, mountain bikes, hybrid/cruisers, racing bikes, road/track bicycles, and more. Key features of the new e-bike insurance include Liability protection, Physical damage coverage, Medical payments and Theft protection. “Since inception, VOOM’s mission is to provide the best of breed insurance products for the future of mobility, we are excited to expand our suite of products to include coverage for e-bikes,” said Tomer Kashi, CEO and Co-Founder of VOOM. “Our recent expansion into e-bike insurance was driven by feedback...

Crawford & Company Introduces Turvi: A New SaaS Technology Provider For P&C Claims 0

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Crawford & Company Introduces Turvi: A New SaaS Technology Provider For P&C Claims

Claims Technology Veteran Ken Tolson to Serve as CEO of the New Company Atlanta, GA (Oct. 14, 2024) – Crawford & Company®, a leading global provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions to the insurance industry, is pleased to announced the launch of TurviSM, a new insurtech company offering market-ready SaaS solutions built to create a more efficient and accurate, P&C claims ecosystem. Turvi’s SaaS products leverage AI and automation capabilities to accelerate the claim processing workflow, expedite the estimating process, simplify the claim coverage review process and improve the customer experience. Initially developed in-house at Crawford & Company for the benefit of clients leveraging the company’s claims services, the Turvi suite of products will now be accessible to the entire claims industry. The newly formed company will be led by Chief Executive Officer, Ken Tolson, who has more than three decades of experience with Crawford in varying capacities. A known claims industry expert with a proven track record of leading technology innovation across the organization, Tolson brings a passion for the future of insurance that makes him uniquely qualified to lead the new venture. Tolson feels strongly that industry collaboration and market understanding is what is missing from the...

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UK Working to Challenge Russian Shadow Oil Tanker Insurance

Article 0 Comments The UK said three government bodies are working together to challenge Russian shadow fleet oil tankers if it perceives they have dubious insurance. An announcement from the country’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office didn’t specify how such interventions would occur, or how insistent the UK would be. However, it said the Department for Transport, the Joint Maritime Security Centre and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are working together to challenge ships over what cover they have. In the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, Moscow established a shadow fleet of vessels in order to keep its supplies moving. That prompted worries that the ships are operating outside of international regulatory and safety standards, including uncertain insurance, with the international watchdog that oversees shipping voicing concern about dark fleet activities late last year. The UK also designated 18 oil tankers and four liquefied national gas carriers Thursday, the FCDO said in a statement. That represents its largest set of sanctions on ships hauling fossil fuels for Moscow to date. Thursday’s measures bring the total number of ships designated by the UK to 43, the FCDO said. Of the steady stream of ships sanctioned by the US, European Union...