Author: completebodyneeds

State Farm said it plans to increase the size of its claims workforce throughout 2027 by about 10%, or about 3,000 employees. In a Sept. 25 announcement, the mutual insurer said it is investing in training, developing, and recruiting to add to its 30,000 claims staff across the country. The company says hiring is already underway. In total, Bloomington, Illinois-based State Farm said it will hire about 5,500 for claims through 2027, taking into account attrition, customer demand, growth. The insurer said it handles nearly 11 million claims each year, enough to average more than one per day for each…

A Georgia Court of Appeals decision will stand, absolving five insurers of liability coverage and putting an end to long-running litigation stemming from revelations of child sexual abuse at boarding school. The Supreme Court of Georgia this month declined to review the lower appeals court’s March decision that reversed a $345 million judgment against five insurance carriers in the Darlington School case. The deadline for asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider expired this week, effectively ending the legal battles that began almost 10 years ago. “So, the Court of Appeals opinion stands unchanged and is binding precedent in Georgia,”…

Florida’s Brightline has filed for bankruptcy protection after years of lower-than-expected revenue left it unable to repay billions it borrowed to finance the Miami-to-Orlando private railroad. Brightline Holdings LLC and certain other parent entities filed for Chapter 11 on Thursday in New Jersey, listing assets and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion in the petition. The filing excludes Brightline’s operating company, allowing it to continue running trains during the restructuring process. The Fortress Investment Group-backed company has been skipping interest payments and huddling with creditors for much of the year, looking to garner support across various groups for…

Ken Griffin is running into opposition to his plans to build a personal heliport in Miami Beach, in a rare instance of pushback to the financier’s South Florida development spree. The leaders of eight luxury condominiums lining Biscayne Bay are urging local officials to reject Griffin’s plan to land his helicopter at a marina he is building for his yachts near the city’s port. The Miami Beach land-use committee recommended the project to the city planning board at a public hearing Thursday, but it still will need to be approved by the city’s governing commission later this year. In an…

Total net income for U.S. property/casualty mutual insurers doubled compared to 2024 to about $42.6 billion in 2025 as underwriting income surged to about $14.8 billion from a loss of $7.2 billion in 2024. According to a recent A.M. Best report on the segment, the rise in net income was also driven by a modest 2% decline in loss and loss adjustment expenses despite underwriting expenses increasing 5.8% in 2025 compared to the year prior. “Mutuals began filing for significant rate increases, restructuring discounts and raising deductibles in years preceding 2025, and the effects of these underwriting actions have bolstered…

Torrential rainfall in south Florida was enough to swamp cars and overflow sewage drains, but damage may have been limited by local governments’ renewed efforts to clear debris and improve drainage. The Miami Herald and other news outlets reported that North Miami Beach and parts of Broward County—no strangers to flooding issues—saw 10 inches of rain in recent days. Fort Lauderdale and Homestead were hit hard in the deluge. One motorist called 911 Monday as water rose into the vehicle. The flooding may have been lessened in some spots that saw heavy flooding three years ago. Fort Lauderdale deployed four…

Across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, insurance carriers are advising agents not to bind any new business, cities and states have activated their emergency response systems and urged residents to stay indoors, crews for energy providers like National Grid are on standby to respond to power outages cause by felled trees and high winds, municipalities are clearing storm drains, contractors are securing construction sites and equipment, state regulators have launched portals to assist property owners who may need to file insurance claims, and the U.S. Coast Guard and port authorities are urging all mariners to remain in port or secure their…

Hurricane Nolo is threatening Hawaii, a state already raked by multiple natural disasters since March that have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Nolo’s top winds reached 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour as it churned about 450 miles south-southeast of Honolulu, according to a US National Hurricane Center advisory. It is forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane, with winds reaching 120 mph, as it approaches Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday. Related: Hurricane Watch Posted on Hawaii’s Big Island as Nolo Approaches The Big Island is under a hurricane watch, while flood and tropical storm watches are…

An Alabama jury will hear the state’s claims that TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance made the platform addictive to young users and misled consumers about its safety, in the first case against the company to reach trial in the sweeping litigation over social media’s impact on teen wellbeing. The trial, which is scheduled to kick off Monday in Montgomery state court and expected to last two to three weeks, could provide a rare look inside TikTok, which has settled prior cases selected for trial and sought to keep details of its operations from public view. Alabama’s lawsuit was…

Crypto exchange Bitget reported an estimated $351.6 million in unauthorized transfers from some of its wallets and temporarily suspended withdrawals. “User funds are safe,” Chief Executive Gracy Chen said in a post on X early Friday in Singapore. “The full amount of this loss falls within the coverage of Bitget’s User Protection Fund, which currently holds over $464 million.” [SECURITY NOTICE] Bitget Hot Wallet Incident — September 24, 2026 At 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, Bitget’s security systems detected unauthorized transfers from some of our hot wallets. Our security team activated emergency response protocols immediately. What we have… —…