Author: completebodyneeds

The state of Virginia is tightening permitting, commercial and environmental controls on data centers as political backlash grows against the server warehouses and the technology developed within them, Governor Abigail Spanberger said on Friday. Virginia, which has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, unveiled plans that include banning non-disclosure agreements and imposing clean energy mandates on the projects. The move follows a spate of recent similar steps taken by governors in New York, Texas and Pennsylvania to crack down on the rapid expansion of data centers, which are increasingly being developed to train and roll out artificial…

Prior to the last decade, it was common practice for insurance agents to suggest limits to insureds based largely on their company’s annual revenue. In today’s litigation and construction environment, however, revenue alone is no longer a reliable indicator of potential loss severity. For example, a contractor generating only a few million dollars in annual revenue may believe $5 million in total liability limits is sufficient. Yet, a single catastrophic loss, severe auto accident, or construction defect claim can quickly exceed those limits and threaten the financial viability of the business. Small trade contractors face many of the same risk…

A California agency’s lawsuit accusing Tesla of allowing rampant race discrimination at its flagship assembly plant is set to go to trial on Monday, one of a series of similar lawsuits being faced by the electric vehicle maker. Lawyers for Tesla and the California Civil Rights Department will square off in Oakland before state Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon, who has scheduled the trial to run until October 30. In the lawsuit filed in 2022, the California Civil Rights Department claims Black workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California plant were subjected to pervasive harassment by other employees, including racial slurs and…

The Trump administration is considering whether to update interagency antitrust guidance on cybersecurity to address a new wave of threats posed by artificial intelligence, according to Associate US Attorney General Stanley Woodward. At an event in New York on Sept. 17, Woodward said that existing guidelines spell out the extent to which companies can coordinate on hacking risks without running afoul of rules prohibiting anticompetitive behavior. While Silicon Valley leaders have called in recent days for an exemption from antitrust scrutiny to allow them to work together on safety, Woodward said that so far no one has contacted his office…

Banks under pressure from European regulators to manage extreme weather risks are bumping up against client data-privacy barriers that are complicating efforts to guard against losses. In countries at the epicenter of Europe’s latest heat waves, banks are now privately voicing their frustrations. That’s as regulators declare their intention to step up scrutiny of the sector’s exposure to wildfires, droughts and floods, with credit risk and pricing models in particular focus. To meet regulators’ demands, banks say they’d need access to more granular data on clients’ insurance coverage as well as data on the physical condition of properties insured. For…

New York is upgrading its statewide system that helps communities better understand and predict flooding so that they can reduce the associated risks. FloodSafe NY is a partnership between the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to develop a first-in-the-nation statewide hydrologic monitoring network. FloodSafe NY aims to give flood-prone community access to the water data needed to identify flooding patterns and hydrologic trends. The Hochul Administration says the improved technology will help communities save lives and reduce damage from future flooding events by anticipating flood risks earlier and making smarter infrastructure decisions. The…

The race to provide more sophisticated intelligence to both agency members and carrier partners is hotter than ever among the nation’s top agency partnerships. Many partnerships are delivering better options including a path for agency members to sell their own agencies to other network members or to the network organization directly with the help of private equity investments. Nearly all are developing technology platforms that will make the agency-network-carrier relations more effective in the future. Some are even eyeing the managing general agency (MGA) space for expansion. Insurance Journal spoke to a few agency network leaders for this special report,…

Insurance organizations invest significant effort in major marketing moments. A new program launches, an industry conference approaches, or the company decides to host a webinar or publish a new report. In response, the marketing machine kicks into gear: emails are written, graphics are designed, social posts are scheduled, and everyone works to get the initiative out. Then it happens. The campaign launches, the event ends, the webinar wraps up, and the marketing quietly disappears. On to the next thing. Sadly, this “one-and-done” approach is common. In this industry, marketing competes with renewals, submissions, client needs, regulatory changes, and endless other…

There’s no question AI-enabled technology tools are helping agencies become more efficient. From chatbots to advanced data analytics and coverage comparisons, AI is making huge advances in efficiency for the insurance industry. “It’s sort of funny. If you asked me …

A federal judge has agreed with the owner and manager of the Dali cargo ship responsible for the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that the bulk of the remaining claims against them for economic damage are invalid. On August 25, U.S. District Senior Judge James K. Bredar dismissed most of the economic damage claims by the city and county of Baltimore and eight consolidated claims by private entities including insurers. Citing a 1927 Supreme Court opinion (Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint), Bredar found that the public and private entities that have sued are precluded from…