Author: completebodyneeds

AI tools bring comparative analysis and multi-market execution into retail agents’ existing workflows, helping XPT specialists serve more clients, faster and with greater precision and insight. Executive Summary What: Three AI tools – Underwriting: comparative data analysis and quoting; Binding: comparative rating with multi-market execution, and Brokerage: risk analysis, market finder and multi-market execution Why it matters: The tools absorb small and mid-sized enterprise (SME) processing on the wholesale side, putting up to 20 markets in front of accounts that used to receive the narrowest search. Early results: in P&C, bound business jumped as much as 19.5% month-over-month, and, year-over-year,…

A rider has died and several others injured after an accident involving a roller coaster at the Six Flags Over Georgia park, the Associated Press reported, citing the police in Cobb County. Videos posted online show passengers being evacuated from the ride, called Goliath. The website for the park says the ride drops guests 255 feet and reaches speeds of 85 miles per hour. News reports indicated one rider was killed after he fell from the coaster and landed on a haunted house. Six Flags officials said the company had closed nine rides at parks across the country and is…

The European Union is providing a new backstop to a war risk insurance program for the Ukrainian logistics sector, amid a rise in demand due to intensifying Russian attacks. With EU backing, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s guarantee facility, which is managed by Aon, will be expanded to €150 million ($167 million), up from the €110 million initially donated by France, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and Taiwan. The new funds will allow Ukrainian insurers — who acquire reinsurance from London-based insurer Amlin under the program — to offer more war risk coverage, including to new business lines such…

Bulgaria summoned Russia’s ambassador to Sofia after two ships were hit off the country’s coast, as concerns mount over the security of Black Sea shipping. The strikes on two cargo vessels on Oct. 13 add to a series of more frequent attacks on ships in the western part of the Black Sea, a vital route for Ukrainian grain exports that’s close to the territorial waters of NATO member states. While the Bulgarian government has previously refused to point at Russia due to lack of evidence, on Tuesday it requested talks with Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova on the grounds that the…

Banking regulators are stepping up efforts to contain growing AI risks, six people familiar with the matter said, with some pointing to the potential for cyberattacks on banks or rogue agents undermining global financial stability. The regulatory scrutiny, fresh details of which are reported here for the first time, reflects growing recognition that advances in frontier AI may require costly investments in cyber recovery, greater attention to dependencies on external technology providers and in some jurisdictions more formal regulatory guidance, sources said. Three top regulators in the United States, including the Federal Reserve, are quizzing banks about their use of…

Hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of French supermarkets to as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight, causing fires and spoiling food. The Paris prosecutor’s office said Oct. 12 a “large-scale” attack was “affecting connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France,” leading to food losses and fires. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has instructed France’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate, a person in his office said. France was coordinating with European counterparts because other countries could also be affected, the person said, adding that authorities were assessing whether other French companies…

Workers’ compensation insurer The MEMIC Group said it will distribute a $17 million dividend for more than 17,000 Maine policyholders. This annual dividend is calculated based on MEMIC’s financial performance, claims experience, and its policyholders’ record in maintaining safe workplaces during the 2023 calendar year. The $17 million distribution is more than 10% of eligible premiums paid by policyholders that year and will be distributed next month. Last year, the dividend was $19 million. “At a time of rising costs, helping policyholders operate more safely and efficiently matters more than ever,” stated said Michael Bourque, president and CEO, in announcing…

Driving into Bradford, Barbara Laxon tells people to look out for the flare coming from the oil refinery running along the town. At 74, Laxon spends much of her free time taking people on tours to show the traces of the oil and gas industry in her town — from an oil jack located in the parking lot of a McDonald’s to hidden wellbores near a local elementary school. After exploring town, Laxon leads people into Allegheny National Forest to find abandoned oil wells. Parking on the side of the highway, she guides visitors carefully through swampy woods, warning them…

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited a Pennsylvania excavation contractor for safety violations after a 20-year old Maryland worker was killed in a trench collapse. OSHA opened an investigation into Jonas David Wagoner and his J.D. Wagoner Excavating on April 2, 2026, and found workers were installing a storm sewer system 12 feet below ground level in a trench that was not adequately protected from soil collapse. When a portion of the trench’s wall failed, the unrestrained soil engulfed one worker. The agency issued a willful violation for failure to protect workers from cave-ins and two…

As climate change increases the threat of destructive wildfires, traditional mortgage lenders are making it harder or more expensive to secure a home loan in fire-prone parts of California. Online lenders are behaving differently. Fintech lenders — companies that originate mortgages primarily online – account for roughly 17% of the U.S. mortgage market. The new research finds they were more likely than traditional lenders to approve mortgages in areas with high wildfire risk and charged relatively lower interest rates there. The findings come from a study published Friday in the Journal of Planning Education and Research. Related: Southern California Edison…