Author: completebodyneeds

Reaction to allegations that North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey sent suggestive texts to a staff member over several years has been muted. Causey declined to comment to Insurance Journal a day after the Raleigh News & Observer reported that a former Department of Insurance regional office director, April Taylor, had revealed the texts. “We are unable to discuss the article since it relates to a personnel matter of a former employee,” DOI’s deputy director of communications, Barry Smith, said in an email. Causey, 75, told the News & Observer that he did not recall sending inappropriate texts and denied…

Meta Platforms on May 21 settled the first case set for trial seeking to make social media companies cover the costs that school districts say they have incurred to combat a mental health crisis allegedly fueled by platforms. The agreement fully resolves a lawsuit brought by Breathitt County School District in eastern Kentucky, following earlier settlements by co-defendants Alphabet’s YouTube, Snap and TikTok. The case had been scheduled for a June 15 trial in federal court in Oakland, California. Breathitt is among roughly 1,200 school districts pursuing similar claims. Its case was selected as a bellwether, or test case, for…

Airbus and Air France were found guilty on Thursday of corporate manslaughter by a Paris appeals court over the 2009 Rio-Paris plane crash that killed 228 passengers and crew, three years after being acquitted in a lower court. “Justice has absolutely been done,” Daniele Lamy, president of the AF447 victims’ association, who lost her son in the accident, said outside the courtroom. Relatives of some of those who died when the Airbus A330 vanished in darkness and plunged into the Atlantic during a storm listened to the verdict in silence after a 17-year legal battle over responsibility for France’s worst…

Canopius Group, the London-based specialty and property/casualty re/insurer, announced the launch of a spoilage product, a cyber-triggered spoilage cover designed to protect businesses when a cyber incident renders their perishable stock unsellable. When cyber incidents impact the systems that manage temperature, quality controls or environmental storage conditions, the impact can go far beyond operational downtime – it can determine whether products remain safe, compliant and fit for sale. Canopius said the UK Prudential Regulation Authority’s latest Dynamic General Insurance Stress Test reinforces the growing relevance of this risk. Its cyber scenario specifically includes the spoilage of perishable stock, underscoring the…

Howden, the global insurance broking group, launched its new U.S. Aviation Practice, led by Julio Jimenez, aviation practice leader. Jimenez is a seasoned leader whose ability to build and inspire teams is matched by his experience and expertise across the aviation sector. He most recently served as a partner, vice president and risk management consultant at USI Insurance Services. The new practice delivers comprehensive risk management services and insurance placement across a broad range of clients in the aviation ecosystem, including commercial airlines, fixed-base operators (FBOs), charter operators, aircraft and parts manufacturers, military contractors, public entities, and aerospace companies. Liberty…

For the first time since the third quarter 2017, respondents to a recent quarterly survey said average premiums decreased across all account sizes. During the first three months of 2026, The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB)’s market survey found premiums decreased an average of 1.2% across all accounts. Large account premiums fell an average of 2.7% while medium account premiums fell 1.9%. Small account premiums increased 1.1%, a 60% decrease from Q4 2025’s rise of 2.8%. Results for Q1 continue a trend. Overall results for Q4 2025 included an average increases in premiums for all account sizes rose…

In Granbury, Texas, city council meetings begin with a prayer. But at a session back in January, one local invoked the Almighty in a way that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. “I want to pray in Jesus’ name that the land annexed will not become a data center,” said Matt Long, a member of the development commission in surrounding Hood County. Despite his plea, and a chorus of complaints from his neighbors, the council voted just four months later to rezone 2,100 acres of land for a potential data center known as Project Patriot. The rebellion stands…

Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. “Iran and Oman must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner,” the Iranian ambassador to France, Mohammad Amin-Nejad, said in an interview with Bloomberg in Paris on Wednesday. “This will entail costs, and it goes without saying that those who wish to benefit from this traffic must also pay their share,” he said in Farsi, through an interpreter, adding that…

AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” (Good) of Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance Company (MVMIC) based in Burke, South Dakota. The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect MVMIC’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The revision of the outlooks to stable from negative reflects Missouri Valley’s improved operating performance metrics following multiple corrective actions implemented by management. This led to the company reporting…

This small city in rural northeastern South Dakota has established itself as an energy hub for the entire Great Plains region, and that reputation has received a big boost by landing what will be among the world’s largest energy storage projects. In a groundbreaking project, South Dakota-based POET has partnered with Antora Energy of California to launch a thermal energy storage system adjacent to POET’s ethanol plant in Big Stone City. The 5 gigawatt-hour thermal energy storage facility will absorb excess, low-cost energy from wind turbines that might otherwise be lost due to capacity limits on the existing power grid…