Author: completebodyneeds

A month after President Donald Trump announced — and then abandoned — a plan to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the US military is trying less public ways of protecting vessels in the vital waterway. Rather than announcing an open challenge against Iran, the US is quietly coordinating with shippers willing to take a different approach. Evidence gleaned from US Central Command statements, shipping data and people with knowledge of the transits suggest ships are turning off transponders and sticking close to the Omani coast on the strait’s south to avoid Iranian mines, with the US military…

The value of uninsured natural-catastrophe losses rose more than 7% globally last year to $424 billion, with North America the most exposed region, according to a fresh analysis. While insurance coverage has broadly kept pace with rising catastrophe exposure, the protection gap — in absolute terms — has gone up as the value of exposed assets has grown, the Swiss Re Institute said on Wednesday. The cost of natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and wildfires has continued to rise in recent years, as a combination of climate change, urbanization and inflation mean disasters are getting more costly when they hit.…

Buckner is opening its eighth office location, this one in St. George, Utah. Jameson Carr will help lead Buckner’s expansion efforts in Southern Utah. Salt Lake City-based Buckner is a regional brokerage with more than $50 million in reported annual revenue and offices throughout Utah, Idaho and Colorado. The firm provides insurance, employee benefits, bonds and risk management services to businesses and individuals throughout the western U.S. Was this article valuable? Yes No 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

More than 97,000 Connecticut residents will receive letters in the mail starting this week informing them that some or all of their medical debt has been erased. Governor Ned Lamont’s administration launched the program in partnership with the national nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt to give relief to qualifying residents who are having difficulties paying outstanding medical bills. This fourth round of the initiative is eliminating nearly $315 million in medical debt. In total, more than 252,000 Connecticut residents have had more than $513 million in medical debt cancelled since the initiative began in 2024. Under the initiative, Undue Medical…

Brokerage Acrisure has filed a federal lawsuit, accusing a former employee of using employees and intellectual property to peal away at least 50 clients to a company he started—named after one Acrisure acquired in 2016. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based global broker said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan that Adam DeVone is “actively infringing upon” Acrisure trademarks and is “breaching voluntarily assumed contractual obligations to Acrisure.” In October 2016, Acrisure bought Benefits Exchange Alliance Inc. from founder and chairman DeVone and other owners. The acquisition included all trademark rights and brandings, including…

The Fortegra Group said its acquisition by South Korea’s DB Insurance Co. has been completed. Jacksonville, Florida-based Fortegra will operate independently and keep its existing leadership team as well as distribution relationships. “Agents, distribution partners, and customers will continue to experience the service excellence that has defined the Fortegra experience,” the specialty insurer said in a statement. Fortegra scrapped its planned initial public offering last year, citing market conditions. The $1.65 billion acquisition by DB Insurance is the biggest US acquisition by a non-life insurer from the country. “Every company eventually changes ownership. That is the nature of business. The…

A proposed settlement between Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission to end the agency’s Twitter Inc. stake lawsuit came after almost a year of negotiations, attorneys for the agency said Monday after a judge raised concerns about the deal. “The $1.5 million civil penalty aligns with the seven-figure penalty that the SEC’s counsel of record insisted upon since negotiations began in earnest and it reflects a concession by defendants, who advocated in settlement discussions for a much smaller penalty,” SEC attorneys wrote in a court filing. They added it also accounts for the “litigation risk and significant public…

Seven U.S. states led by New York sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for canceling a major offshore wind lease off the coast of New York in exchange for a pledge by its owner to invest instead in fossil fuel projects. The lawsuit in the Washington, D.C., federal court challenges a March 23 decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to cancel a lease by a subsidiary of France’s TotalEnergies, “reimburse” $795 million to the company, and extract a pledge from the company not to develop new offshore wind projects in the United States. Total also agreed to spend…

HUB announced the appointment of Kyle Bloemers as national chief cross-sell officer. The newly created role is part of HUB’s broader strategy to help deliver greater value to clients, drive new business generation and accelerate organic growth. Bloemers will spearhead HUB’s enterprise-wide cross-sell strategy to help middle market and upper middle market clients access HUB’s full suite of solutions across commercial lines, employee benefits, private client and retirement & private wealth. He will activate HUB’s regional cross-sell leaders across the firm’s 34 geographic regions in North America to implement the national strategy in every market HUB serves. Bloemers brings more…

WTW Buys Redefind to Boost Access to Crypto, Digital Asset Insurance Insurance broker WTW announced it has acquisition of Redefind, an end-to-end web-based platform, designed to facilitate access to insurance products for crypto and digital assets. WTW said this investment reflects its long-term strategy to expand into next-generation protection solutions for clients exposed to digital finance, crypto ecosystems and tokenized asset environments. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The proposition launches as a non-custodial, cost-of-recovery insurance solution, intended to support digital asset owners in the event of theft or loss. Coverage is designed to support expenses associated with…