News
Hanukkah 2025: From the menorah to history, everything to know about the Jewish holiday
This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14, 2025 and ends with nightfall on Monday, December 22, 2025.
Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight nights, usually in November or December. This year, it begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14, 2025 and ends with nightfall on Monday, December 22, 2025.
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev, a month in the Hebrew calendar that usually falls within November or December. Also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication, the holiday celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean revolt against the Syrian-Greek army. The holiday takes place for eight nights and days, commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple.
What is the history behind Hanukkah?
Record 122 Million Travelers Expected in U.S. During Year-End Holidays - CollisionWeek
Over 109 million to travel by auto during holiday season.
A record 122.4 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home during the year-end holiday period, with lower gas prices and increased driving risk combining to create what analysts say will be one of the busiest and most dangerous travel seasons on record.
AAA’s forecast projects a 2.2% increase over last year’s record 119.7 million travelers during the 13-day period from Dec. 20 through Jan. 1.
Of those travelers, 109.5 million will drive, a 2% increase over 2024, accounting for 89% of all holiday travel. The remaining 8.03 million will fly, marking the first time domestic air travelers have exceeded 8 million during the year-end period, while 4.9 million will travel by bus, train or cruise.
“Year-end travel is a mix of family road trips, friend getaways, and tropical vacations,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. “Holiday celebrations look different for everyone, but a common thread is the desire to travel, whether it’s returning to your hometown or exploring new destinations.”
Workers' Comp Market Reaches Critical Juncture as California's Combined Ratio Hits 127%
The U.S. workers’ compensation market is experiencing a structural transformation after nearly 10 years of declining rates, driven by escalating medical costs, cumulative trauma litigation and growing concerns about reserve adequacy, according to the 2026 US Workers’ Compensation Market Outlook from Risk Placement Services.
California’s workers’ compensation market is a harbinger of nationwide shifts, with fundamental changes that reverberate far beyond the state’s borders, according to the RPS report.
Representing nearly a quarter of the national workers’ compensation market, California reached a combined ratio of 127% in 2024—the highest in more than two decades—prompting the Insurance Commissioner to approve an 8.7% rate increase in 2025, marking the state’s first hike in a decade.
“Escalating medical costs, increased frequency and severity of claims, especially complex ones like cumulative trauma, and higher litigation expenses have reached a critical point,” explains Patrick Edwards, area senior vice president and Workers’ Compensation Practice Leader at RPS.
The soft market conditions that persisted for years created a false sense of security among clients and brokers, who relegated workers’ compensation to the background while property and casualty rates soared, according to RPS.
Now, carriers are reassessing portfolios with newfound urgency. Across California, policy renewals are experiencing net rate increases as high as 27% year-over-year, even for accounts with minimal loss history.
Crossfire in insurtech: Comulate strikes back at Applied System’s trade secrets suit
Applied Systems and Comulate are now locked in cross litigation in Delaware, with Comulate filing a verified complaint in the Court of Chancery seeking immediate relief to halt what it describes as Applied’s campaign to eliminate competition in the insurance technology market.
The move follows Applied’s November lawsuit accusing Comulate of misusing trade secrets and intellectual property tied to the Applied Epic agency management system.
Comulate’s complaint frames the new action as a direct response to Applied’s suit, which the startup contends is “frivolous litigation” and part of a broader scheme to remove a rival from the market. The company says it is asking the court for relief to protect its customers, its own operations, its employees and what it calls the broader insurance technology ecosystem.
The San Francisco-based firm says it was founded to build “visionary and transformative software,” not to focus on courtroom disputes. Comulate maintains that it sought other ways to resolve the conflict but that those efforts were unsuccessful, prompting its decision to pursue relief in Chancery Court.
According to the complaint, Comulate alleges that Applied and its representatives engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts as Comulate expanded its technology for insurance brokers.
2025/2026: REVIEWS & OUTLOOK
Forecasters Say La Niña to Fade Early Next Year, Neutral Pacific Conditions Likely
La Niña is expected to linger for another month or two before likely giving way to neutral Pacific conditions between January and March 2026, carrying a 68% probability, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday.
“Even after equatorial Pacific SSTs (Sea Surface Temperatures) transition to ENSO-neutral, La Nina may still have some lingering influence through the early Northern Hemisphere spring 2026,” the CPC added in its monthly update.
2025 Reflections & 2026 Outlook for Insurance | Insurance Thought Leadership
For insurers, 2025 marked a reset in core systems strategy. After a decade spent patching legacy and modern-legacy platforms, layering point solutions, and stitching together data across disconnected architectures, insurers are now shifting toward rebuilding the core operational backbone required for resilience, agility, and sustainable growth. This is not a cosmetic upgrade; it's a structural re-architecture. The industry signal is now evident: competitive advantage will hinge on the agility, intelligence, and adaptability of an insurer's core platform.
This shift reflects a clear market reality: after years of incremental fixes and deferred modernization, insurers are being forced back to fundamentals. Achieving long-term, risk-adjusted profitability in a volatile environment while meeting rising customer expectations now depends on strengthening the foundations — systems, data, and operating structures — before meaningful innovation can take hold.
Insurers are entering 2026 with one clear mandate: Strengthen the core to unlock scalable, AI-enabled growth. GenAI and agentic AI have transformed expectations across underwriting, claims, and service, but legacy architectures cannot support the data fluidity, governance, and orchestration required. Modernization is no longer a technology upgrade; it is a business model reset.
Below are the key trends and imperatives that I believe will define the insurance sector in 2026:
- LEGACY SYSTEMS
Across all lines of business, insurers recognized that 'legacy' and 'modern-legacy' systems — platforms and systems built in the last 10–15 years, but architected on monolithic design principles — are already outdated and have become a structural barrier to progress.CONTINUES
Sara Perez is executive vice president at EIS
AI in Insurance
Chubb hopes ‘radical automation goals’ will lead to 20% staff cut
According to a recent investor presentation, Chubb plans to scale back its workforce by as much as 20% over the next few years as it implements more AI processes. With this, the insurer joins the growing ranks of companies scaling back their human teams in favor of automating certain insurance processes.
The presentation states that digital transformation will impact around 70% of the organization over the next three years, including Chubb’s sales and marketing, underwriting administration and support functions, claims and finance departments.
It’s vision for the next three to four years, Chubb says, includes around a 20% employee headcount reduction, as well as what it calls “radical automation goals,” which includes:
- 85% of major underwriting and claims processes automated;
- 85% of global GWP operating as digital business or significantly digitally enabled; and
- Data, AI and process automation will be the driving force to achieve growth at low marginal cost.
Chubb’s report claims this shift will lead to better, more informed underwriting and claims decisions, create a competitive advantage with curated proprietary data, allow for real-time intelligence and help the insurer attract and retain the “highest quality, ambitious talent,” which it believes will optimize outcomes and help it remain a market leader while growing profits.
According to Chubb’s website, the company currently employs around 43,000 people worldwide, which means these cuts would affect approximately 8,600 workers.
Embedded Insurance
Embedded Insurance Approaches Tipping Point
InsurTechs, Seamless Integrations, Auto and the “New Consumer” Drive It
Almost exactly one year ago we published our thought leadership article Embedded Insurance: Major Disruptor Can Bridge Huge Coverage Gap
In it, we pointed out embedded insurance isn’t new and the wide ranging, ‘at point of sale’ opportunity is significant. Purchasing life insurance at the airport before flight departure was a perfect example of “version 1.0” of embedded’. We also shared a Forrester forecast that “the embedded insurance market is expected to grow from $156.06 billion of gross written premiums in 2024 to more than $700 billion by 2029, a CAGR of 35%”.
It now appears that its growth is even greater than expected. The embedded insurance market is now projected to grow even more, with forecasts indicating it could reach $1.1 trillion in global gross written premiums (GWP) by 2033, representing about 15% of the total GWP
“Embedded insurance is becoming a growth engine for global financial services, a trajectory which reflects a customer- and technology-driven reshaping of how protection is bought, sold, and experienced” according to the latest Open and Embedded Insurance Observatory Report.
The report points out that the opportunity does not belong to banks and fintechs alone. Competition from adjacent industries is intensifying. Regulatory attention is beginning to focus on these models which will require flexibility. Legacy IT systems are still a limitation for many incumbents, while data privacy and trust remain mission critical.
A continuously evolving segment is auto insurance, added at point-of-sale together with a car purchase or lease. Although not a new concept, real-time insurance quotes are new and ease of adding or switching easily fits along-side financing and other add-on offers – all right at the dealership before driving off the lot. Numerous and growing insurer/car brand alliances whether with or without driving data sharing have popped up throughout the automotive industry. Such household purchases are major life change moments, with an opportunity to switch insurers, hence the constant attention.
Stephen Applebaum & Alan Demers, InsurTech Consulting
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Markets/Coverages: QBE Automotive Protection Partners With Repair Ventures
QBE Automotive Protection, in partnership with Repair Ventures, has launched a new product for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide customers with enhanced vehicle protection in the event of a total loss.
Vehicle replacement insurance offers drivers a brand-new equivalent vehicle following a total loss – regardless of the age or market value of the original car. The product is available following the purchase of a brand-new vehicle.
Financial Results
US P&C industry reports $35bn nine-month underwriting gain: AM Best - Reinsurance News
According to a report from the credit rating agency AM Best, the US property and casualty (P&C) industry posted a net underwriting gain of $35 billion for the first nine months of 2025, a substantial increase from the $3.7 billion gain recorded in the same period of 2024.
The results are outlined in AM Best’s Special Report, First Look: Nine-Month 2025 US Property/Casualty Financial Results, which draws on nine-month interim statutory statements submitted by December 1 and covers an estimated 98% of the industry’s total net premiums written.
AM Best reported that the third quarter of 2025 saw relatively low catastrophe losses, which supported a 7% increase in net premiums earned, while incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses remained close to levels seen in the previous year.
The industry’s combined ratio improved by four percentage points to 94.0, with catastrophe losses estimated at 8.0 percentage points, down from 8.7 percentage points during the first nine months of 2024.
A 5.9% increase in net investment income further strengthened underwriting performance, lifting pretax operating income by 52% to $102.4 billion. AM Best reported that an 80% drop in net realized capital gains, primarily driven by a $60.5 billion combined decline at three Berkshire Hathaway companies, resulted in net income falling 23% to $100.9 billion.
Copart Q1 2026: Revenue Flat, but Gross Profit and Net Income Rise on Key Auction Metrics
Dallas-based Copart Inc. (Nasdaq: CPRT) said first-quarter 2026 revenue grew by less than 1% to $1.16 billion year over year due to common collision repair headwinds, such as an ever-growing rate of “total loss” declaration and consumers cutting insurance coverage.
However, gross profit and net income grew — up 4.9% to $537 million and 11.5% to $404 million, respectively — on strong pricing resulting from an “open all night” global market and increased buyer competition.
Earnings per share also grew 10.8% to 41 cents in Q1, which ended Oct. 31. Copart reported results and held its earnings call Nov. 20.
During the call, CEO Jeffrey Liaw said global trends and the auction house’s execution delivered results.
“Higher pure sale rates, expanding international demand, greater bidder participation, stronger pre-auction engagement, and rising gross returns collectively attest to our principal competitive advantage … [in] the global marketplace,” he said, adding that these are “the hard-won results of our aggressive investments in storage capacity, technology, and people.”
Total loss frequency for the first nine months of 2025 was 22.6%, up almost a full percentage point YOY, Liaw said, citing . But Copart’s average selling prices are at an all-time high, up globally almost 7% in the quarter. U.S. insurance average selling prices grew by more than 8%, beating an industry index and triple the rate of Copart competitors.
Liaw said more frequent total losses also means “an increasing portion of the cars that we sell on behalf of the insurance industry are actually cars that will be repaired and drivable again, both in the U.S. and overseas.”
Kin achieves 30% YoY Q3 revenue growth, 48% baseline operating margin
Home insurance and financing provider doubles YoY operating income while minimizing operating expenses.
“We continue to push more volume through our technology platform, which is generating more operating leverage,” said Kin Founder and CEO Sean Harper. “Our baseline margins were 48%, the highest they’ve ever been in Q3, which is a lower-volume quarter for us. That underlying profitability enabled us to invest $26.5 million in new growth while still generating positive operating income. Our operating income more than doubled, which is a faster pace of growth than last quarter.”
“The insurance market softened this year. There are fewer shoppers and more competition for those shoppers, which reduced the efficiency of our growth relative to this quarter last year,” said Kin CFO Jerry Fadden. “However, the $26.5 million we invested in acquiring new customers generated $15.8 million in new annual recurring revenue (ARR). With our roughly 90% net retention rate, these customer cohorts turn profitable at their first renewal, 12 months later. The lifetime value of each customer (LTV) is still a significant multiple over the cost to acquire that customer (CAC).”