The property/casualty industry is undergoing significant challenges with increased claim severity in liability and physical damage claims. These increases are outpacing inflation and rate adequacy. According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2009 the average private passenger auto bodily injury claim was $13,891. In 2014, that average grew to $16,640 – an increase of almost 20 percent. The private passenger auto collision loss ratio has risen from 67.7 percent in 2010 to 78.3 percent in 2015 – a 16 percent increase. The loss ratio can be adversely impacted by claim handling, underwriting and rate inadequacy with claim leakage as a primary cause of loss ratio deterioration. Continue reading
Rising Rate of Marijuana Use, with Some Evidence of Harmful Effects
Maxwell and Mendelson provide an update on recent state laws regarding marijuana and analyze available data on how those laws are affecting rates of marijuana use, attitudes toward marijuana, and other key issues. A few states have legalized possession/use of small amounts of marijuana, while several others have “decriminalized” marijuana. Most states now permit some types of “medical marijuana” use. Continue reading
Nearly one in five vehicles on U.S. roads is in need of repair of a safety issue serious enough to be involved in a federal government recall, according to used-car history provider Carfax. Continue reading
OSHA requires workplace injuries to be tracked using special forms. One of the forms is called the OSHA 300A Summary. This form represents the total number of injuries and illnesses reported for the year. Continue reading
Las Vegas is a place where visitors and residents have almost everything at their fingertips, all hours of the day and night. Over the years many things have changed, but the hospitality industry has always been a constant in Las Vegas. Looking back, hospitality also played a huge role in my career. I have had the pleasure of working with several entertainment companies and nightclubs to ensure proper insurance coverage was in place for these facilities. Continue reading
More U.S. companies could be classified as “joint employers” of workers employed by a staffing agency or contractor and held liable for labor violations tied to those staff, the U.S. Labor Department said in guidance published Wednesday.
Joint employment has emerged as a major issue in franchising, contracting, temporary staffing and other arrangements in which companies use workers but do not directly employ them. Continue reading
Companies rarely advocate for the destruction of their products, but given that some of Amazon’s hoverboards are spontaneously combusting (and destroying themselves), all bets are off. Now, after already pulling the product from both United States and United Kingdom sites earlier this week, Amazon is telling customers to throw away unsafe hoverboards. Continue reading
When it comes to product liability, as discussed last month, there are a number of parties that can be involved in the event of a claim. Product Liability claims arise when a product sold to a consumer causes injury and is considered defective or unreasonably dangerous. The very basic understanding of product liability rests in definition and the law. Continue reading
