Nightmare in Texas: Deadly Flash Floods on the Fourth of July July 7th 2025

Today's Headline

Texas Flooding Toll Climbs; Two Dozen Still Missing From Camp Mystic | Weather.com

We are still learning more about the tragic situation in central Texas. Over 50 people are dead, and many more are still missing after historic rainfall caused deadly flash flooding on the Fourth of July.

Hundreds needed to be evacuated when the Guadalupe River shot up more than 26 feet in just 45 minutes, sending a dark wall of water over land in the early hours on Friday. Homes were destroyed, camp sites were wiped out, and vehicles washed away. Here’s the latest on this heart-wrenching story....................................

The catastrophic flooding came in the middle of the night, rushing into cabins and dragging mattresses off beds at Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp near Texas' Guadalupe River.

On Saturday, rescuers searched for more than two dozen children from the camp.

The early Friday morning flooding also washed away homes, RVs and vehicles in the Texas Hill Country, northwest of San Antonio. The death toll had climbed to at least 52 people late Saturday with an unknown number of people still unaccounted for.

As of Sunday morning, 43 people had died in the storm. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said in a news conference 28 were adults and 15 were children. Authorities said about 850 people had been rescued.

However, the flooding was not limited to one county. In Burnet County, at least 2 people are dead with 6 missing. And one person has reportedly died in Kendall County and Tom Green County each.

Allianz Commercial Unveils Climate Risk Assessment Platform | Insurance Innovation Reporter

CAReS models physical climate risks through 2080 and offers tailored consulting to help businesses manage exposures.

Allianz Commercial (New York) has launched its Climate Adaptation & Resilience Services (CAReS), a data-driven platform designed to help businesses evaluate the impact of climate-related risks on their assets and operations through 2080.

CAReS enables companies to identify potential high-risk areas and model how 12 climate perils, including tropical storms, floods, hail, wildfires, and extreme heat, could affect locations under different climate scenarios aligned with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The platform combines a self-service tool with tailored consulting services from Allianz Risk Consulting (ARC).

“The question is not if a company is affected by climate risks in the future, but when it will happen. No industry is immune to risks such as floods, droughts, storms, or fires,” comments Michele Williams, global head of ARC, Allianz Commercial.

“We all remember the severe consequences from events such as the LA wildfires or hurricanes in the U.S. Businesses are interrupted, and economic and insured losses are exploding into hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Therefore, it is so important to understand climate risks and your exposure to them. This is why we developed CAReS, so our clients have the option to address and mitigate their risks as well as to avoid surging insurance costs in the future.”

Zurich strengthens digital defence with BOXX Insurance deal

Zurich Insurance Group, a global multi-line insurer headquartered in Switzerland, has announced it will acquire BOXX Insurance Inc., a Toronto-based global cyber InsurTech known for its integrated cyber insurance and protection solutions.

As part of the move, BOXX will continue to operate as a standalone entity under Zurich Global Ventures.

The acquisition is expected to accelerate BOXX’s mission of building digital resilience, while helping Zurich enhance its digital customer engagement. Although the value of the deal was not disclosed, the transaction builds on a partnership between the two firms that began in 2021.

BOXX, founded in 2018, has developed a suite of cyber protection products including Cyberboxx® Business Edition, Cyberboxx® Home Edition, and Cyberboxx® Assist. The company serves nearly one million customers across five continents and recently expanded into the US, India, Europe, and Australia.

Zurich Global Ventures CEO Cara Morton said, “We have had a very successful collaboration with BOXX since 2021, and I am thrilled to strengthen our partnership by welcoming BOXX to Zurich Global Ventures. BOXX’s digital-first, service-led approach will help us further enhance customer engagement and provide integrated solutions that make people’s everyday life easier.”

BOXX Insurance CEO and co-founder Vishal Kundi said, “Becoming part of Zurich provides us with the resources and global reach to accelerate our mission. Combining the strengths of both organisations, will enable us to provide even more customers with the protection they need to navigate the digital world with confidence.”

“Digital usage is so ingrained in our daily lives,” Kundi added. “Our team of BOXXers are constantly exploring new and creative ways to further our mission of building digital resilience for individuals and businesses by integrating innovative cyber coverages and solutions to ensure our customers are protected online.”

Perella Weinberg Partners LP served as financial advisor to BOXX, with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP acting as legal counsel.

AI-Powered Legal Tech is Transforming Auto Accident Claims—and Investors Should Take Note

The legal tech sector is undergoing a quiet revolution, driven by AI's ability to automate once labor-intensive tasks in personal injury litigation. Nowhere is this more evident than in auto accident claims, where startups are using algorithms to streamline case valuation, client acquisition, and settlement negotiations.

Backed by robust funding rounds and patent filings, these firms are turning a traditionally fragmented industry into a high-margin, scalable business. For investors, this emerging niche offers compelling opportunities—provided they understand the underlying trends and risks.

Ask Aime: Is the legal tech sector poised for explosive growth with AI revolutionizing auto accident claims?

The AI Edge in Auto Accident Claims

Auto accident litigation has long been plagued by inefficiencies. Attorneys spend countless hours parsing medical records, negotiating with insurers, and calculating damages. Enter AI-driven platforms like Supio and EvenUp, which are automating these processes.

Supio, a Seattle-based startup, raised $60 million in a 2024 Series B funding round to expand its AI tools for personal injury cases, including auto accidents. Its platform analyzes medical bills, witness statements, and historical verdict data to predict case outcomes and draft demand letters. In one high-profile case, Supio helped TorHoerman Law secure a $495 million verdict against Abbott Labs for injuries linked to defective infant formula—a case that involved complex medical documentation akin to auto accident claims.

EvenUp, another leader in this space, uses AI to generate demand packages for plaintiffs, increasing settlements by up to 30% while reducing attorney time by 15 hours per case. The startup's 2025 Series D round of $135 million (valuing it at over $1 billion) underscores investor confidence in its ability to disrupt auto insurance negotiations.

Patents and Partnerships: Building Defensible Moats

For startups to thrive, they must secure patents that meet the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) stringent criteria for “specific technological improvements.” This has led to a surge in filings for AI tools tailored to legal workflows:

Neural networks optimized for parsing medical records (critical for slip-and-fall or auto accident injuries)
Bias-reduction algorithms to ensure fair outcomes in damage calculations
NLP tools analyzing unstructured data like witness depositions

CaseMine, for instance, holds 12 U.S. patents for predictive analytics and domain-specific NLP, while Juristat partners with 200+ law firms to automate 80% of case preparation, enabling attorneys to take on three times as many cases.

These innovations are also attracting institutional partnerships. IBM's collaboration with Dahlberg Injury Law, which reduced client acquisition costs by 30% using predictive analytics, illustrates how tech giants are betting on legal automation.

AI in Insurance

Insurers ramp up AI adoption — cautiously | CIO Dive

AXA and Allianz are bellwethers in an industry that’s investing heavily in tools and talent to scale the technology, according to benchmarking firm Evident.

Insurers are following the lead of big banks on the path to generative AI adoption, investing in talent, training, research and supporting technologies to move beyond pilots to broader business transformation.

In the race to scale the technology, some firms have already begun to separate themselves from the pack, according to an industrywide survey by Evident.

The benchmarking firm, which has been tracking AI adoption in the financial sector since 2023, analyzed 30 of the largest property, casualty and life insurers in North America and Europe for its inaugural insurance industry AI index. AXA, Allianz, USAA, Intact Financial and Manulife were the industry leaders, based on 76 metrics related to AI talent acquisition and development, research activity, documented use cases and contributions to responsible AI activity, according to the report published June 18.

Claims handlers welcoming automation despite job security fears | Insurance Times

'Successful automation will empower claims handlers, not replace them,' says deputy chief executive

‘Successful automation will empower claims handlers, not replace them,’ says deputy chief executive

Claims handlers are heavily in favour of automating the frustrating or menial aspects of their job, according to a new survey from insurance technology provider RDT.

Explore more artificial intelligence related stories here, or discover other news stories here

The insurance automation claims handlers poll, released today (30 June 2025), revealed that 74% of claims handlers expect that automation will allow them to focus on more complex decision-making tasks, while 66% said the technology would most likely assist with data entry and documentation.

Despite the potential areas of improvement, some 44% of respondents were concerned with a potential over-reliance on the technology and 40% were worried they may lose control over key decisions.

In addition, 32% of surveyees reported fearing for their job security as a result of technological advancements.

COMLETE ARTICLE

Commentary/Opinion

5 Strategies Reshaping Insurance in 2025 | Insurance Thought Leadership

The global insurance industry stands at a crossroads in 2025. Economic instability, climate disruption, evolving customer expectations, and fast-paced technology shifts have created a market defined by uncertainty and opportunity. For insurers, the question is no longer just about growth—but about resilience, relevance, and reinvention.

In this landscape, winning is not about being the biggest—it's about being agile, innovative, and customer-obsessed.

Here are five forward-thinking strategies that can help insurers not only survive but thrive in 2025 and beyond.

1. BUILD RESILIENCE WITH REAL-TIME RISK INTELLIGENCE

The traditional approach to underwriting and risk assessment—largely historical and static—no longer cuts it in a hyper-dynamic environment. From climate events to cyber threats, risks are changing faster than insurers can traditionally model.

The winning strategy:

Leverage real-time data and AI-driven analytics to assess and price risk dynamically. Insurers must invest in IoT integrations, geospatial intelligence, and machine learning to evaluate risks as they evolve. For instance, property insurers can use satellite imagery and sensor data to adjust policies instantly during extreme weather.

This level of adaptability not only enhances profitability but also builds customer trust—especially when insurers proactively manage risk instead of just reacting to it.MORE

Abhishek Peter is an assistant manager at Fecund Software Services.

EDITORIAL: Insurance adjusters may be left out of settlements

Florida's messy insurance situation could get messier for policyholders.

Citizens Public Insurance Corp. (the state-run insurer of last resort for Florida homeowners who can't find private coverage) has announced it will no longer include public adjusters in payout checks to policyholders.

Public adjusters, like attorneys, represent homeowners as they work with insurance companies on claims, including those after hurricanes and tropical storms.

Citizens was created in 2002 after a number of private insurers pulled out of the Florida market due to high claims costs from hurricanes.

"Our policy requires us to pay the insured unless someone other than the insured, such as a guardian or other loss payer, is legally entitled to the claims payment," the letter reads, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.

Public adjusters will have to get paid from policyholders rather than having their fees included in insurance payouts from Citizens.

Other private insurance companies could follow suit.

That worries the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.

The industry group contends the payment changes could result in fewer adjusters working in Florida, leaving fewer advocates for homeowners as they deal with insurance companies.

4 Things You Should Do If Your Carrier Has Been Hacked - IA Magazine

Erie Insurance and Philadelphia Insurance Companies are both grappling with extended system outages following cybersecurity incidents that began earlier this month.

Erie reported “steady progress” in restoring operations after detecting unusual activity on June 7, while Philadelphia Insurance has been offline since June 9 after a similar discovery.

Both insurers say teams are working around the clock alongside cybersecurity experts, but full restoration will take time. The outages have disrupted phone, email and online services.

In the wake of these attacks, John Hultquist, chief analyst at Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, warned that the insurance industry should brace for attacks by Scattered Spider, the hacker group linked to the recent assault on the U.S. and U.K. retail sector.

“Google Threat Intelligence Group is now aware of multiple intrusions in the U.S. which bear all the hallmarks of Scattered Spider activity. We are now seeing incidents in the insurance industry,” Hultquist told The Register tech website.

Hultquist added that, given Scattered Spider’s history of “focusing on a sector at a time,” the industry should be on “high alert,” particularly for “social engineering schemes, which target their help desk and call centers.”

Outdated Infrastructure Delays Insurance Claims | Insurance Thought Leadership

Research shows that, despite front-end digitization, outdated claims payment infrastructure undermines insurers' efficiency and customers' trust.

Despite years of progress in digitizing the front end of insurance claims, the back-end infrastructure that supports these payments remains outdated and fragmented.

Our latest research, based on insights from over 200 senior insurance professionals in the U.S. and U.K., uncovered a clear pattern: The financial infrastructure that supports claims fund management remains fragmented. This disconnect not only delays payments but also creates operational risks and undermines trust.

The numbers tell the story. Nearly 80% of respondents cited internal process complexity as a key barrier to faster payments. 66% reported struggling to access readily available funds, a challenge that climbs to 74% in the U.S., where decentralized funding structures and manual approval flows persist. Only 1% of insurers said collaboration between claims and finance teams is "highly effective," underscoring how siloed operations remain.

All these responses represent a strategic challenge for insurers striving to stay competitive in a fast-evolving market.

Curt Hess is the U.S. executive president at Vitesse.

Canada

How auto fraud reporting is changing in Ontario

New rule aims to improve data related to auto insurers’ fraud management

A rule authorizing and enabling insurers to report data to Ontario’s Fraud Reporting Service (FRS), with the aim of improving data related to auto insurers’ fraud management work, was approved Jun. 3 by Ontario’s Finance Minister.

The rule will take effect when the related changes to the Insurance Act are proclaimed into force by the government.

Along with the rule change, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) issued guidance that “affects all insurers that are licensed to carry on automobile insurance business in Ontario.” The guidance says program objectives include quantifying the prevalence of auto insurance fraud, setting a fraud detection baseline and identifying fraud trends within the auto insurance industry.

Aviva Completes $5 Billion Acquisition of Direct Line to Become Largest Auto and Home Insurer in the UK

Combined group will have nearly 20% of UK auto insurance market, operate 47 collision repair centers.

Aviva announced yesterday the completion of its £3.7 billion ($5.03 billion) acquisition of Direct Line Group (DLG) to become the United Kingdom’s largest auto and home insurance company.

Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aviva plc said, “The completion of the acquisition of Direct Line brings together some of the country’s best-known and admired insurance brands and brilliant people to better serve the needs of now 20 million UK customers. The transaction builds on the excellent progress we’ve made at Aviva over the last five years, accelerates our capital-light growth strategy, and puts us in a very good position to deliver strong returns for shareholders. That is why this deal made such sense for us and we are excited at the further opportunities this creates for Aviva’s growth.”

Both Aviva and DLG operate collision repair centers to serve their insurance customers. DLG Auto Services operate through 23 collision repair centers in the UK that perform 90,000 repairs a year.

Aviva operates Solus, its UK network of 24 repair facilities that are supported by an approved nationwide network of independent repairers managed by strategic partners, Vizion, and more than 50 motor engineers who support customers when using their own repairer. Solus first opened in north London in 1997 repairing cars exclusively for customers of the then Norwich Union insurance brand.