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Allstate Can Proceed with Recovery in Texas RICO Case: Fifth Circuit

Article 0 Comments Allstate can move forward in its recovery of $4.7 million it paid to settle fraudulent medical claims with a Houston, Texas medical facility, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled. The federal appellate court reversed a lower court’s ruling that Allstate’s RICO claims failed because the insurer didn’t sufficiently allege that it relied on fraudulent bills when settling the claims. Rather, the Fifth Circuit said that Allstate adequately showed it was the victim of a RICO scheme involving more than 600 claimants. Beginning in 2018, Dr. Akash Bhagat and defendants enteredinto agreements with personal injury attorneys to refer clients to Memorial Heights Emergency Center under letters of protection guaranteeing payment from future insurance settlements, court proceedings say. Defendants charged car accident patients at emergency billing codes, rates nearly triple those normally charged. Visits to Memorial Heights soon doubled, with some patients driving more than 90 miles and bypassing other medical centers to reach the “inconspicuous facility in a modest shopping center far away from any major thoroughfares.” Patients received expensive diagnostic tests, including CT scans, only to be discharged without further treatment, court proceedings say. Memorial Heights would then forward bills to the...

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Trump Officials Vow to Keep All US Coal Plants Running

Article 1 Comment Trump administration officials vowed to keep US coal power plants operating, casting it as an imperative to meet surging electricity demand and drive a revival of the nation’s industrial base. “The goal is 100% open,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “That’s the standard we’re operating against.” Burgum’s comment came during the first meeting of Trump’s newly reconstituted National Coal Council, an advisory panel that Joe Biden let lapse during his presidency. President Donald Trump, by contrast, has sought to engineer a coal resurgence in his second term, including byrequiring some power plants to keep burning the fuel. The bullish Trump administration predictions for America’s coal — and the power plants that rely on it — contrast with a more skeptical view from analysts who point to generation from natural gas and renewables. The message comes as the Trump administration addresses concerns about rising electricity prices and consumer costs, an issue that weighs heavily on Republicans’ bid to keep control of the House and Senate in November’s elections. Focusing on the existing coal fleet works better as a short-term strategy, according to Andy Blumenfeld, director of data analytics at McCloskey by Opis. While they’re generating power now, many...

NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL and Accenture Launch Universal Wallet Infrastructure, Powering the Trusted Future of a Data-Led, AI-Driven Digital Society 0

NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL and Accenture Launch Universal Wallet Infrastructure, Powering the Trusted Future of a Data-Led, AI-Driven Digital Society

Collaboration provides enterprise-grade platforms to accelerate AI-powered innovation across industries Tokyo, Japan (Jan. 6, 2026) – NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL and Accenture are teaming up to develop and scale the Universal Wallet Infrastructure (UWI), a groundbreaking platform designed to deliver enterprise-grade digital trust services. The jointly developed infrastructure empowers organizations to issue, verify, and manage credentials and tokens across digital identity, money, assets, and documents—ensuring seamless interoperability across enterprises, governments, industries, and geographies. This advances innovation, safeguards user consent, and opens new revenue streams while meeting regulatory standards. As the global economy becomes more digital and AI-powered, individuals are demanding greater transparency, control, and trust in how their data is used, while organizations are being challenged to capitalize on the potential of data and AI to minimize risk, introduce efficiencies, and increase resilience. Organizations need to reassess current data architectures and explore decentralized approaches that unshackle them from central systems to significantly increase the utility of data. UWI addresses these challenges by bridging today’s fragmented, siloed systems with decentralized technologies for secure, trusted, real-time data exchange and seamless coordination among partners, while enabling AI at the edge to deliver real-time, personalized services. By giving users control over their information, UWI fosters...

IG Wealth Management 2026 Market Outlook: Policy Tailwinds, AI Investments and Wealth Effect Will Shape Growth 0

IG Wealth Management 2026 Market Outlook: Policy Tailwinds, AI Investments and Wealth Effect Will Shape Growth

Monetary easing and fiscal stimulus to strengthen economic growth in Canada and the U.S. AI investment and development projected to drive innovation, productivity across economies Continued wealth effect to fuel markets and household spending Winnipeg, MB (Dec. 31, 2025) – According to IG Wealth Management’s 2026 Market Outlook, Canadian investors that continue to exercise discipline and patience amid market uncertainty, while prioritizing fundamental-driven investment management, will find themselves on the right path in 2026. “Investors can expect the global economy to continue on a positive trajectory in 2026 as we move past the rolling recessionary environment of 2023 and tariff uncertainty over the last year,” said Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist, IG Wealth Management. “Recession risk remains low into 2026, while our macro indicators related to financial conditions support a constructive outlook for the year ahead. The markets have largely stabilized following volatility from early 2025, and investors that stayed the course should feel confident about the durability of the current market cycle.” In its Outlook, IG’s Investment Strategy Team believes the following themes will support the broader economy, alongside equity and fixed income markets in 2026: Monetary Easing and Fiscal Stimulus to Drive Economic Growth Rate cuts are expected to...

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The Return Period for An LA Wildfire-Scale Event May Be Shorter Than You Think

Article 0 Comments There has been no shortage of analyses and reporting released for the one-year anniversary of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which destroyed more than 16,000 properties and have generated more than $22 billion in claims so far. A one-year report on the L.A. wildfires from Morningstar DBS Research called the fires “a significant stress event” for California’s property/casualty insurance sector. An Associated Press investigation showed that fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in L.A. County. The California Department of Insurance reported the number of claims at 42,000-plus and counting from the fires. Alarmingly, a report out this week asserts that the return period for wildfires of such scale and severity could be shorter than may be commonly believed due to a changing climate and building practices that have put increasingly more homes in and around the wildland-urban interface. The impact of the L.A. fires helped kickstart a series of reforms from the state’s insurance regulator and lawmakers, including changes to California insurance law to enable carriers to use more sophisticated catastrophe models and get rate hike requests reviewed more quickly while requiring those that get rates to write homeowners insurance in riskier areas of...

Samsung Electronics Collaborates With Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) To Introduce Smart Home Savings in the US 0

Samsung Electronics Collaborates With Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) To Introduce Smart Home Savings in the US

Home appliances connected to SmartThings app enable lower insurance premiums through simple assessment process at no additional cost Las Vegas, NV (Jan. 5, 2026) – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce Smart Home Savings, a new service developed with Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), Munich Re’s powerhouse for technology-driven risk management services and a leading provider of equipment and appliance insurance. The service can help U.S. consumers lower home insurance premiums by recognizing the protective capabilities of existing Samsung home appliances connected to the SmartThings platform.[1] By opting into Smart Home Savings through the SmartThings app, customers let participating insurance carriers know about the protective features of their connected appliances. Homes with appliances that can detect early risk indicators like small water leaks may be recognized as having a stronger safety profile. With the information about which connected appliances consumers have on SmartThings, insurers are aware that a household is equipped with smart appliances capable of identifying issues and notifying its users, and they can apply premium reducing policy credits resulting in lower premiums. This approach not only reduces costs for families, but also demonstrates how technology has the potential to reshape home insurance. Proven Success With Plans for...

Definity Financial Corporation Completes Previously Announced Travelers Transaction 0

Definity Financial Corporation Completes Previously Announced Travelers Transaction

Waterloo, ON (Jan 2, 2026) – Definity Financial Corporation is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of the personal insurance business and the majority of the commercial insurance business (excluding the surety business) of the Canadian operations of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (the “Transaction”). “Today marks a new era for Definity as we complete this milestone acquisition,” said Rowan Saunders, President & CEO, Definity. “We extend a warm welcome to our new colleagues and remain deeply committed to delivering a positive experience for our customers and valued broker partners. Together, we will continue building a Canadian champion.” RBC Capital Markets acted as financial advisor and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP served as legal advisor to Definity in the Transaction. About Travelers Travelers (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has more than 30,000 employees and generated revenues of more than US$46 billion in 2024. For more information about Travelers, visit www.travelers.com. About Travelers Canada Travelers Insurance Company of Canada, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company are the Canadian licensed insurers known...

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Verizon Users Report Service Outage Affecting Thousands

Article 0 Comments Verizon Communications Inc. is suffering a widespread service outage, with thousands of users reporting lack of cell service on Wednesday afternoon. Verizon, the largest US wireless provider, said it was aware of the issue and trying to resolve the problem. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly,” Verizon spokesperson Rich Young said in a statement. “We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience,” The internet outage site Downdetector reported 176,865 complaints from users in places from Florida to New Jersey as of 1:04 p.m. in New York. AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. were also experiencing a much smaller number of network issues, according to Downdetector. When one large carrier has issues, other carriers can sometimes see a drop in service as a residual affect — for example, when inter-carrier calls cannot be completed. Copyright 2026 Bloomberg. 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. The most...

Latest BC floods a reminder that governments must invest more in resilience 0

Latest BC floods a reminder that governments must invest more in resilience

Vancouver, BC (Dec. 31, 2025) – Severe weather that caused flooding in southern British Columbia (BC) last month led to evacuations, power outages, and damaged homes and farms, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of thousands of British Columbians. Tragically, it has also led to loss of life. Aaron Sutherland, Vice-President, Pacific and Western, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), issued the following statement: “Severe weather and flooding in the Fraser Valley and southwestern BC have once again disrupted the lives of residents and business owners across the region. Coming just four years after the devastating 2021 floods, this most recent flood damage is a painful reminder of the need to build our resilience and better protect communities from the new weather reality we face. “It will be several weeks before we know the total insured losses from this recent flooding. For those who have insurance coverage for floods, insurers are working hard through the claims process to help homeowners, tenants and business owners restore their properties and get back on their feet. “While Canada’s insurers offer flood insurance to 93% of BC homeowners, it remains unavailable for those at highest risk – including many of the properties that have experienced damage...

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Oklahoma Homeowners Can Apply for Up to $10K Grants for Fortified Roofs

Article 1 Comment Oklahoma homeowners can now apply for grants of up to $10,000 to upgrade to storm-resistant Fortified roofs. The Oklahoma Insurance Department opened statewide applications for its Strengthen Oklahoma Homes (SOH) Grant Program on Monday, Jan. 12. The statewide expansion follows a pilot phase. According to OID, pilot program participants are saving an average of $750 per year on insurance premiums. Insurance companies offer premium discounts to policyholders with Fortified roofs. “Oklahoma is one of the most storm-prone states in the country, and strengthening homes is one of the most effective ways to reduce damage and control insurance costs,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready. “This program is working, and now we’re bringing it to homeowners statewide. The opportunity is here, and homeowners who act now can protect their homes and their budgets for years to come.” Grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis as funding allows. To qualify, homeowners must have a homestead exemption on file with their county assessor. Source: OID Topics Homeowners Oklahoma 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...