Author: completebodyneeds

AM Best has revised the outlook to stable from negative for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICR of “bbb+” (Good) of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company (Brotherhood) (Fort Wayne, IN). The outlook of the FSR is stable. The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Brotherhood’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The revision of the Long-Term ICR outlook to stable from negative reflects improved balance sheet strength fundamentals in recent…

Wisconsin residents affected by the April storms that brought severe flooding and tornadoes to the state can apply for FEMA aid. Affected individuals in Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Marathon, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Racine, Rock, Sauk, Vernon, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca and Winnebago counties and the Oneida Nation are eligible for financial assistance. FEMA grants can be used for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the disaster. A severe weather outbreak occurred on April 17-18, bringing heavy rainfall and several…

New York City is taking the unprecedented step of publicly identifying buildings on the Upper East Side where cooling towers test positive for the bacteria causing Legionnaires’ disease. Buildings with positive initial tests are also being ordered to immediately drain, clean and disinfect their cooling towers to reduce the risk of further exposure. The steps mark an escalation of efforts to contain the spread of the disease that has already infected 28 people overall and hospitalized 21 since it was first detected on July 2. No deaths have been reported. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said the city’s immediate priority is…

Ciara Billie was about to step into the shower of her newly built townhome on the Hollywood Seminole Reservation in South Florida when her ceiling began to crumble and an air-conditioning vent crashed down on her toilet. For months, Billie said she had experienced problems with her home. The roof had to be repaired. The floors were buckling. And then there was the mold. It started on the laundry-room ceiling and popped up around vents in the bedrooms and bathrooms, Billie said, and crept up the exterior walls and onto the windowsills. “I feel like the mold just ran us…

U.S. claim volume fell 8.9% from last year, with total claims dipping 13.1% below the five-year average, despite several large catastrophe events, said a new report. Changes in policy language and policy provisions are a big factor in suppressing the volume, according to authors of Verisk’s property report on the first quarter. “We’re really starting to see increased usage across the board of those ACV (actual cash value)-only loss provisions and loss settlements and endorsements than we have in the past,” said Susan Fleming, vice president of business intelligence and insights at Verisk. Verisk is seeing more carriers using the…

Insurance agency ALKEME Insurance said it acquired eight agencies across the U.S. over the second quarter 2026 to enhance its property/casualty offerings in growing markets. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. The newly acquired firms include: LG Insurance (Long Branch, New Jersey) – A P/C agency specializing in the high-value residential market for personal lines and the hospitality and construction sectors for commercial lines. Blue Lion Insurance (Chandler, Arizona) – With operations in Arizona and Washington, serves personal and business lines clients with a focus on contractors and hard-to-place surplus lines. Top Floor Insurance (Atlanta, Georgia) – Focused exclusively…

With wildfires burning across many Western states, wildland firefighters gathered to pay tribute to three of their own who died after they were trapped by flames a week ago. Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson were remembered on Sunday as courageous public servants who left a lasting impact on the communities where they worked. “They showed up to make order out of chaos day after day with purpose, dedication and heart,” U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said during a memorial service in Grand Junction, Colorado, near where the firefighters died while battling flames on the Colorado-Utah border.…

Strong winds and dry thunderstorms are raising the risk of fast-moving wildfires across much of the U.S. West, where forecasters warned conditions will favor new ignitions and rapid fire spread through Thursday. An elevated fire-weather outlook, Level 1 on the Storm Prediction Center’s three-tier scale, is in effect from California’s Sierra Nevada to western Colorado. Red flag warnings have also been issued for parts of Washington, Idaho and Utah. Thunderstorms are expected from Idaho south into northern Arizona and New Mexico, according to Nick Nauslar, a fire science and operations officer at the Storm Prediction Center. Some of these will…

Following several quarters of record order books, a skilled-labor shortage is testing the limits of growth for the craft-labor providers who build data centers across the US. While some executives have downplayed the strain, others acknowledge that a lack of electricians, pipe fitters and site supervisors is forcing them to turn away work or poach crews from smaller contractors to keep projects staffed. Forward‑looking earnings estimates underscore the bottleneck. Revenue growth for major craft‑labor suppliers including Sterling Infrastructure Inc., MasTec Inc., Quanta Services Inc., Emcor Group Inc. and Comfort Systems USA Inc. is generally expected to moderate after a blockbuster…

The Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) is seeking a consultant to conduct a study and present options to improve the liability insurance market for nonprofit organizations operating in the state. A report issued in January by a working group of legislators, brokers, insurers, regulators, and nonprofit leaders found that the nonprofit human services sector is experiencing rising costs and reduced availability of liability and other property/casualty insurance coverage. In addition to recommending strengthening nonprofits’ risk management practices, the working group offered several other recommendations for consideration. These include exploring a state-run captive or pooling mechanism to operate alongside the commercial insurance…