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People Moves: NI Holdings, Inc. Appoints Launer Interim CEO

Article 0 Comments NI Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, named Cindy L. Launer as interim CEO. Michael J. Alexander has stepped down from his role as president and CEO and as a board member of the company. Launer has served as an independent non-executive director on NI Holdings’ board since November 2019 and brings 18 years of experience in the insurance industry. Most recently, Launer served as chief operating officer of AIG’s commercial insurance business before retiring in 2018. She will remain on the board of directors while serving as the interim chief executive officer. 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 important insurance news,in your inbox every business day. Get the insurance industry’s trusted newsletter

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88-Year-Old Missouri Victim in Boar’s Head Deli Meat Outbreak Underscores Risk

Article 0 Comments A lifelong lover of liverwurst, Sue Fleming relished the smoked sausage her husband brought home every few weeks from the grocery store deli. Patrick Fleming always made sure to buy Boar’s Head braunschweiger, the type she liked best, even though it could be costlier than other brands. “My whole family loves braunschweiger,” Sue Fleming said. “On bread with lettuce, a little mayo, a slice of pickle.” But the 88-year-old from High Ridge, Missouri, is rethinking her favorite snack after she fell ill as part of a deadly listeria food linked to a nationwide recall of 7 million pounds of Boar’s Head deli meats. The retired psychotherapist and author said she spent nine days in a hospital and 11 in a rehabilitation center last month because of what doctors confirmed was a listeria infection. She and her husband are suing Boar’s Head and Schnuck Markets Inc., which sold the deli meat, according to court documents filed July 26 in a Missouri court. As of early August, 43 people had gotten sick and three of them died — one in New Jersey, one in Illinois and one in Virginia. “We wanted no one else to be harmed,” Fleming said...

FastTrack Announces Patent Pending Status for Claim Decision Readiness (CDR) Technology 0

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FastTrack Announces Patent Pending Status for Claim Decision Readiness (CDR) Technology

Bedminster, NJ (Aug. 13, 2024) – FastTrack, a leader in technological innovation for the life and disability insurance vertical since 2012, is excited to announce that its latest Claim Decision Readiness Technology has been granted patent pending status by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This significant milestone underscores the unique capabilities of FastTrack’s latest invention, poised to disrupt the life and disability insurance claims processing workflow landscape. The patent pending technology, Claim Decision Readiness (CDR), represents a culmination of more than a decade of research, development, and ingenuity. This innovative solution promises to revolutionize the life and disability insurance vertical, offering unprecedented benefits and capabilities to insurance carriers processing life and disability claims from a workflow perspective. Key highlights of Claims Decision Readiness technology include: Unmatched Performance: Claim Decision Readiness sets new standards for performance, reducing claims administrative processing times by 40%. Enhanced Efficiency: By streamlining processes and optimizing workflows, Claim Decision Readiness significantly boosts productivity and efficiency, enabling life and disability carriers to achieve more with less. Advanced Features: Claim Decision Readiness incorporates cutting-edge technology such as Robotic Processing Automation and Machine Learning, setting it apart from existing solutions in the market. Scalability and Adaptability: Whether...

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Long-Term Care Costs Emerge as a Top Issue for Older Americans

U.S. residents ages 50 and older may be starting to worry more about the cost of long-term care than about the cost of acute health care or health insurance. Dr. John Ayanian and other University of Michigan researchers raise that possibility in a new research letter, published behind a paywall on the American Medical Association’s JAMA website, which summarizes the results of a recent survey of 3,626 older adults. When the survey team asked participants whether they were very worried about certain health-related concerns, the “cost of home care, assisted living, nursing home care” ranked first: 56.3% of the survey participants said they were very worried about that issue. Here are the “very worried” levels for five other health-related concerns: Cost of acute medical care: 56.2% Cost of prescription medications: 54.3% Financial scams and fraud: 52.8% Cost of health insurance and Medicare: 52.1% Access to quality home care, assisted living, or nursing home care: 38.1% Ayanian and his colleagues said they conducted the survey to understand which health-related concerns might have the most relevance to the 2024 elections. “To engage older voters, candidates for president and Congress should prioritize communicating their plans for controlling health care costs,” the researchers conclude....

Battery Electric Vehicle Collision Claims Continue to Rise Despite Sales Slowdown 0

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Battery Electric Vehicle Collision Claims Continue to Rise Despite Sales Slowdown

Claims frequency for repairable battery electric vehicles has jumped 45% in the U.S. and 39% in Canada year-over-year while increasing more gradually for hybrids San Diego, CA (Aug. 15, 2024) – Mitchell, an Enlyte company and leading technology and information provider for the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, has  published its Q2 2024 Plugged-In: EV Collision Insights report. This edition features the latest U.S. and Canadian claims data on battery electric vehicles (BEVs), mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—highlighting how differences in their complexity and construction are affecting claim costs and repair operations. “Although BEV sales have slowed in 2024, sales of mild and plug-in hybrid automobiles remain strong,” said Ryan Mandell, Mitchell’s director of claims performance. “Like BEVs, these vehicles can be costlier to repair after a collision when compared to their internal combustion engine, or ICE, counterparts. However, with both an ICE and small electric battery, mild hybrids are remarkably similar to gasoline-only powered automobiles when it comes to claims severity.” In Q2 2024, average claims severity for repairable MHEVs was $4,726 in the U.S. and $5,302 in Canada. For vehicles with an ICE, it was $4,806 in the U.S....

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Best Agencies to Work For: Submit Now.

Article 0 Comments Is your agency a Best Place to Work? Then it’s time to nominate your agency for Insurance Journal’s “Best Agency to Work For” award. To nominate your agency, you must be a current employee of the agency you are nominating. A MINIMUM number of agency employees, depending on the agency’s size, must nominate the agency for it to be eligible for the 2024 “Best Agency to Work For” award. So don’t forget to tell your fellow employees to participate in this year’s nomination process. Agencies small and large have a chance to win so nominate your agency today. ALL INDIVIDUAL REPLIES WILL REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL. All winners will be profiled in an upcoming issue of Insurance Journal. To nominate your agency for the Best Agencies to Work For in 2024, simply fill out the survey, here. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 6. For more information, contact Andrea Wells at awells@insurancejournal.com or 800-897-9965 ext. 152. Topics Agencies 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...

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SEC Slams LPL, Raymond James, 24 Others With $393M in Off-Channel Messaging Fines

What You Need to Know The latest salvo in the regulator’s crackdown on unauthorized texting and messaging app use has hit RIAs, BDs and dually registered firms. The SEC has levied more than $3 billion in fines in its off-channel communications sweep. Firms that self-reported received smaller penalties. More than two dozen financial firms have agreed to pay a combined $392.75 million in civil penalties to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges over “widespread and longstanding failures” to maintain records related to off-channel communications, the SEC announced Wednesday. The commission announced charges against 26 broker-dealers, RIAs and dually registered broker-dealers, which admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders, acknowledged their conduct violated federal securities laws and agreed to pay the civil penalties. The probe focused on firms’ failure to keep records on communications sent through texting and unathorized messaging apps. The firms have started implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address the violations, the SEC said. Three firms self-reported their violations and therefore will pay significantly lower civil penalties than they would have otherwise. The following firms have agreed to pay penalties: Ameriprise Financial Services LLC, $50 million Edward D. Jones & Co. L.P., $50 million LPL Financial LLC,...

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North Dakota to Vote on Recreational Marijuana Legalization in November Election

Article 0 Comments BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota has qualified for the November election, the state’s top election official said Monday. That sets up another vote on the issue in the conservative state after voters and lawmakers rejected previous efforts in recent years. North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe said nearly 19,000 signatures were accepted after his office’s review, several thousand more than was needed to earn placement on the ballot. The group that sponsored the measure, New Economic Frontier, had submitted more than 22,000 signatures in early July. Measure leader Steve Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former Bismarck mayor, said law enforcement resources would be better directed at opioids and fentanyl than marijuana. The initiative also is an effort to head off any out-of-state measure that might have unmanageable results, he said. The 20-page statutory measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older to use at their homes and, if permitted, on others’ private property. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing regulations, prohibited uses — such as in public or in vehicles — and would allow home cultivation of plants. The measure would set...

QuickFacts Raises $2M to Accelerate Software Expansion Across North America 0

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QuickFacts Raises $2M to Accelerate Software Expansion Across North America

Pineapple Financial Inc. Partners with Walnut Insurance to Add Additional Revenue Stream Tapping into $85 Billion P&C Insurance Market Halifax, NS (Aug. 14, 2024) – QuickFacts, an insurtech startup dedicated to enhancing efficiency in the insurance industry, is pleased to announce the successful closure of an oversubscribed $2 million funding round. This investment positions QuickFacts for a successful launch in Quebec and the U.S. market, following its recent expansion across the Canadian Western provinces. This financing round was led by Sandpiper Ventures, a fund focused on women building ground-breaking technology companies. The investor group also includes Killick Capital, a private investment firm based in St. John’s and headed by Mark Dobbin; Paul Hill, Canadian technology executive and angel investor; InsurTech NY, a NYC-based fund investing in new products, distribution solutions, and technologies to evolve the insurance industry; Neil Mitchell, former Managing Director at Marsh Canada; Phil Gibson, previous Managing Director for Aviva, and senior executive at Allstate and Travelers US; Don Jacobi, the previous owner of Jacobi Brien Insurance; East Valley Ventures and other angel investors. This blend of Venture Capital and Angel investors offers outstanding support throughout all of QuickFacts’ business functions, aiding the company in reaching significant milestones....

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Fed’s Bostic Says More Data Needed, Rate Cut Likely by Year-End

Bostic now joins a handful of other Fed policymakers who have pushed back in varying degrees against the notion they should react more aggressively. Investors who are on edge will turn their attention next week to the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Though the conference agenda has not been made public, Chair Jerome Powell is widely expected to speak and could provide more guidance on what to expect when the central bank’s rate-setting panel meets in mid-September. The latest data on prices, meanwhile, showed continued progress on lowering inflation. US producer prices rose in July by less than forecast, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday. July numbers on consumer inflation are due Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the consumer price index rose 3% in the 12 months through July. Last month policymakers kept interest rates unchanged at a more than two-decade high, yet signaled they were closer to lowering borrowing costs. Powell said a rate cut could be appropriate as soon as the central bank’s September meeting. Credit: Shutterstock Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.