Source: Business Insurance

August 13, 2019 Facebook could face billions in fines from the European Union for privacy violations, Digital Trends reports citing the Wall Street Journal. The EU is nearing the end of its investigation into some of the cases it opened against Facebook under the General Data Protection Regulation. Under the GDPR, fines for violations can be up to 4% of a company’s worldwide revenue for the preceding year.

Source: Business Insurance

August 13, 2019 Protests at Hong Kong International Airport disrupted operations on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, forcing authorities to cancel nearly all flights from airports, South China Morning Post reported. According to the Travel Industry Council nearly travel 100 groups, comprising thousands of passengers, having their trips cancelled or delayed in and out of Hong Kong.

Source: Business Insurance

Claire Wilkinson August 01, 2019

Owners, managers and operators of habitational real estate properties such as apartment buildings are facing sharply increasing rates, shrinking capacity and higher deductibles as property insurers look to correct course after mounting weather-related losses compounded an already distressed risk. Years of low prices and rising losses from wind, hail and tornadoes are finally coming to a head, and the disruption is making it harder to complete insurance programs, experts say. Multifamily properties can be problematic for insurers due to their 24-hour exposure, experts say. Market capacity for multifamily accounts may have declined by as much as 50%, said Eric Schake, Dallas-based real estate and hospitality leader, corporate risk and broking, Willis Towers Watson PLC. The situation has become a “perfect storm” for owners of apartment complexes, most of which are wood-frame construction, said Barry Whitton, managing director, Burns & Wilcox Brokerage, based in Atlanta. From a combustibility standpoint, frame habitational risks require a higher rate and smaller limit, said Mark Reisig, New York-based executive vice president and chief underwriting officer, property at WKFC Underwriting Managers, part of Ryan Specialty Group LLC. “These risks tend to be unprotected without sprinklers and close to the next building nearby,” Mr. Reisig said. Convective storm losses and fires, many of which are tenant-caused, are driving loss ratios in habitational, said Paul Smith, vice president at AmWINS Brokerage of Georgia LLC in Atlanta. Even non-catastrophe exposed apartment complexes are seeing rate increases, Mr. Smith said.

Source: Business Insurance

Gloria Gonzalez August 01, 2019 With measles cases increasing more than tenfold in the past three years, employers face a conundrum when dealing with infectious disease outbreaks creeping into the workplace. Employees sick with a contagious disease may create a health and safety hazard by coming to work, but most employers can only encourage workers to have vaccinations rather than mandate them. Workplace interactions could also give rise to workers compensation claims if employees can prove they contracted an infectious disease at work, experts say. Measles is one of the most contagious of all infectious diseases — up to nine out of 10 susceptible persons with close contact to an infected individual will develop measles, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles incidents have surged in 2019. Current outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought measles back from other countries such as Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring, according to the CDC. The disease can quickly spread in the workplace if employees have not been vaccinated, experts say.

Source: Business Insurance

Judy Greenwald August 01, 2019 Although non-U.S. insurers are seeking arbitration provisions in their policies more frequently, policyholders may still be able to negotiate for better terms, say observers. Michael F. Sharkey, a partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Washington, said “There are insurance companies that take a hard line and say they’re not going to budge,” but he has had some success negotiating the issue and making it optional on the policyholder’s part. Policyholders should bring it up with their brokers early in the process when they are shopping the coverage, he said. “Typically, the best time for policyholders to address this issue is when negotiating a policy, and so it’s something insurance brokers and lawyers who are advising policyholders should be aware of, and focus on, because once your arbitration provision is in your contract, it’s not easy to get that set aside,” said K. James Sullivan, a policyholder attorney with Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP in Cleveland. “We vet each and every single arbiter,” said Mark E. Miller of Miller Friel PLLC in Washington. “We check into their background, we understand where they came from, what type of experience they have, and we look into everything about them before we suggest them as a possible arbitrator,” he said, adding his firm has achieved good results with such an approach. Peter A. Halprin, a partner with Pasich LLP in New York, said he prefers “a clear choice of law,” such as New York’s, that would apply to an insurance policy’s interpretation. In addition, “You want to make sure you’ve got fair procedural rules, which means allowing both sides to present the evidence necessary to the case” without rushed time limits, Mr. Halprin said.

Source: Business Insurance

August 02, 2019 The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers said that typhoon Mangkhut’s insurance tab has increased to more than $3 billion Hong Kong ($390 million), Asia Insurance Review reported. Clement Hau, the federation’s chairman, said that property-related damage accounted for nearly 74%, or HKD 2.3 billion, of total claims from the typhoon which struck in September 2018.

Source: Business Insurance

August 02, 2019 U.K.’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch said that a Russian cargo ship that grounded off Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth in December 2018 was not insured, which has hindered salvage efforts, BBC reported. The agency said that the 16,000-ton Kuzma Minin ran aground during a storm and salvage firms were unwilling to help due to payment concerns.

Source: Business Insurance

August 02, 2019 The World Bank Group’s pandemic bonds are under scrutiny after failing to make payouts despite an Ebola outbreak killing more than 1,800 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reuters reported. Under the program, payouts are triggered once a virus outbreak crosses an international border and claims at least 20 lives in each of at least two countries, but it has killed just two people in neighboring Uganda.

Source: Business Insurance

August 02, 2019 Portugal’s competition regulator has fined four insurers nearly $60 million for running a cartel between 2014 and 2017, Reuters reported. The regulator said that Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group A.G. and Portugal-based Lusitania Companhia de Seguros S. A. among other insurers coordinated on prices for large corporate client workplace accident, health and auto insurance policies.

Source: Business Insurance

Thomson Reuters July 31, 2019 (Reuters) — Swiss Re Ltd.’s first-half net profit fell 5.3% as claims relating to the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the subsequent grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, plus natural catastrophes, took their toll. The world’s second-largest reinsurer highlighted claims from last year’s Typhoon Jebi in Asia, storm losses in Australia, and claims from the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March. There were also claims relating to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet that followed the Ethiopian Airlines crash.