News
'Potentially Historic Blizzard' Ongoing For Northeast | Weather.com
Blizzard conditions are ongoing for New York City and Boston. Expect winds gusting to at least 70 mph, major coastal flooding and widespread power outages. The Weather Prediction Center warns of "major disruption to daily life." Here's our latest forecast.
A major coastal storm is bringing blizzard conditions, heavy snow, damaging winds, power outages and coastal flooding from the mid-Atlantic to New England through Monday.
For the very latest on this bomb cyclone, check out our forecast here
Financial Results
Zurich Insurance Group: 2025 results
Zurich Insurance Group closed the 2025 financial year with a net profit of 6.798 billion USD, representing a 17% year-on-year increase. Operating result rose 14% to 8.856 billion USD.
Gross written premiums in the non-life (P&C) segment grew by 8% compared to the end of 2024, reaching 50.422 billion USD. P&C insurance revenue also increased by 8% to 50.422 billion USD.
The P&C combined ratio improved by 1.6 points to 92.6%
As at 31 December 2025, shareholders’ equity stood at 28.515 billion USD, while the group’s solvency ratio reached 259%.
Zurich Insurance is proposing a dividend of 30 CHF (38.9 USD) per share for the 2025 financial year.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited: Financial Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 - Fairfax Financial
"2025 was the best year in our history with net earnings of $4.8 billion or $213.78 per diluted share, reflecting record underwriting profit and interest and dividends
All of our major insurance and reinsurance segments achieved combined ratios below 100% for a consolidated combined ratio of 93.0% and record underwriting profit of $1.8 billion, on an undiscounted basis.
Highlights for fiscal year 2025 (with comparisons to fiscal year 2024 except as otherwise noted) include the following:
Net premiums written by the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance operations increased by 3.9% to a record $26.3 billion from $25.3 billion
The consolidated undiscounted combined ratio of the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance operations was 93.0%, producing record underwriting profit of $1,816.6 million, compared to an undiscounted combined ratio of 92.7% and underwriting profit of $1,791.4 million in 2024. T
Research
North American carriers warned of “structural” claims cost shift in Gallagher Bassett study
Claims complexity, social inflation and AI‑driven fraud are influencing reinsurance strategies across the US and Canadian market
North American insurers are confronting a structural, not cyclical, shift in claims costs as social inflation, medical inflation, catastrophe losses, economic volatility and rapid AI adoption converge, according to Gallagher Bassett’s 2026 Carrier Perspective: Claims Insights report.
The study, based on responses from 250 carrier and MGA leaders in North America, the UK and Australia, found North American carriers feeling the effects more acutely than many peers, particularly on claims complexity, liability severity and workforce pressure.
Claims complexity, social inflation and medical costs
Nearly two‑thirds (64%) of North American carriers reported rising claims complexity over the past 12 months, broadly in line with global responses. The impact is most pronounced in general liability, property and auto, where loss severity and litigation exposure have accelerated.
Legal and social trends are a central driver. Almost half of North American respondents (49%) cited social inflation and litigation pressures as major contributors to escalating claim severity. The report points to multimillion‑dollar verdicts, aggressive attorney advertising, anti‑corporate sentiment and the growing role of third‑party litigation funding (TPLF) as factors lengthening litigation timelines and pushing up settlement values.
Medical inflation remains the single biggest cost driver. Fifty‑six percent of North American carriers identified it as the key contributor to rising claims‑related costs. Drawing on Workers Compensation Research Institute data, the report notes that medical expenses now account for more than 60% of workers’ compensation costs in the US, with aging workers and increased attention to mental health adding to complexity and duration.
Auto insurance switching hits all-time high
US auto insurance shopping and new business growth closed out 2025 at record levels, as consumers remained highly active in the fourth quarter. That is according to the latest LexisNexis® US Insurance Demand Meter.
Quarterly year-over-year shopping growth registered a “Hot” reading of 6.9% in Q4 2025, up slightly from 6.4% in the third quarter, while new policy growth rebounded sharply to 7.1%, moving back into “Hot” territory after posting 2.8% in Q3. The final quarter reversed a year-long trend of moderating growth and capped a record-breaking year for auto policy activity.
Older consumers continued to lead the surge. Policyholders aged 66 and older recorded 11% year-over-year shopping growth in Q4, the highest among all age cohorts, extending a trend that has persisted since early 2023. The annual shop rate also climbed to a new high: 47.1% of policies in force had been shopped at least once in the previous 12 months, up 1.9 percentage points from Q4 2024 and 5.9 points from Q4 2023.
Legal System Abuse/Social Inflation
Top insurance litigation 'hellholes' in 2026
The Triple-I recently stepped up its public-education campaign around legal system abuse and its impact on consumer prices nationwide.
The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) defines "legal system abuse" as the exploitation of the civil justice system in ways that increase costs and undermine fairness — often by expanding liability beyond legislative intent or encouraging excessive litigation. Tort reform, or state-level laws regulating litigation, is becoming a more pronounced strategy for battling legal system abuse.
"This isn't just about prices rising in the economy; it's about the cost of our legal system escalating beyond sustainable levels," Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan said in a recent interview with the grassroots news site MyChesCo.com. "Recognizing and addressing legal system abuse is essential to managing costs and protecting consumers."
Kevelighan will be keynote speaker at the 2026 Complex Claims & Litigation Forum, happening March 9-11 in Las Vegas. Follow this link to learn more about the event, register and make plans to attend.
As part of its ongoing campaign to spotlight legal system abuse, its impact on insurance and affordability in general, the Triple-I pointed to notorious Judicial Hellholes® in the U.S., or places known for plaintiff-friendly laws and high jury awards. These places have become so well known to trail attorneys that they've spawned a trend known as "litigation tourism" or "forum shopping," a practice in which plaintiffs file lawsuits in a jurisdiction that has little or no connection to the underlying dispute, because that court is perceived to be more favorable to their case.
AI in Insurance
The Future of HR Is AI
To begin, I will be provocative. To all my CPO and CHRO colleagues, I suggest that, in the not-too-distant future, we will need to change our job titles from Chief People Officer/Chief Human Resources Officer to something closer to Chief People-AI Officer.
Executive Summary
How organizations adopt AI through their people strategies will determine whether AI becomes a growth accelerator—or a source of disengagement and distrust, observes Jennifer Palmieri, Chief People Officer of Westfield, who opens this article with the idea that CPOs and CHROs need to append "AI Officer" to their titles.FULL ARTICLE
If we don’t, we risk being sidelined in the most consequential transformation of our careers—and becoming irrelevant as strategic business partners. The best CPOs/CHROs will need to be a combination of AI strategist, hybrid workforce planner, culture champion, reskilling advocate and employee counselor.
2026: The Year AI Goes Operational in Insurance | Insurance Thought Leadership
Insurers are moving from AI pilots to production deployment, embedding technology into underwriting, claims, and customer service operations.
2026 marks a pivotal moment for the insurance industry. After years of pilots and early implementations, insurers are entering the era of real AI performance.
In 2025, insurers built the foundation for responsible adoption through governance, proofs of concept, and hands-on experience in regulated workflows. These efforts prepared the industry to scale with structure, clarity, and confidence.
At Roots, this shift is already visible. In 2025, internal data showed a 68% increase in AI inquiries and more than 40% growth in deployed AI agents, signaling a clear move from experimentation to execution.
In 2026, AI becomes a trusted operational capability. Insurers that succeed will combine governance, cross-functional collaboration, and workforce enablement to deliver measurable results.
This is not about learning AI. It is about leading with it.
Diane Brassard serves as head of education and advocacy at Roots.
State News
New California Legislation Would Give Consumers New Paths to Keep Home Insurance Coverage, Says Consumer Watchdog | Morningstar
New legislation, SB 1301 by Senator Ben Allen, was introduced today to help homeowners and renters avoid nonrenewal and keep their home insurance. The bill is cosponsored by Consumer Watchdog and the Eaton Fire Survivors Network to strengthen transparency and create a path to maintain coverage for fire survivors and consumers across the state.
SB 1301 would require property insurance companies to give six months notice before nonrenewing a policy, clearly disclose the reasons for nonrenewal and any information used to make that decision, and give consumers time to make repairs that would qualify them to keep their coverage. The bill would also prevent insurance companies from nonrenewing a home, condo or renters policy simply because a consumer inquired about a claim, filed a claim that wasn't paid, or had a paid claim for an issue that is resolved.
"Insurance companies have rules about what homes they cover but families losing coverage never get a chance to meet them. Too many Californians have lost their insurance coverage without explanation, because of bad information or simply because they filed a claim. SB 1301 gives consumers information they can act on to keep their policy, and a right to use their insurance without losing it," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Commercial InsurTech Qumis raises $4.3m to scale AI platform
Qumis, a commercial InsurTech specialising in attorney-trained artificial intelligence for insurance coverage intelligence, has announced a $4.3m injection of seed capital as it looks to accelerate growth in a rapidly evolving insurance technology market.
The company bagged the capital in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by MTech Capital, with participation from new strategic backer American Family Ventures alongside all existing investors. Following the close of the round, Qumis’ total funding now stands at $6.75m.
Founded to address long-standing inefficiencies in commercial insurance coverage analysis, Qumis positions itself differently from much of the current wave of insurance-focused AI investment.
While many InsurTech platforms concentrate on workflow automation or document processing, Qumis has built an AI system trained by attorneys that blends deep coverage expertise with market intelligence.
The aim is to provide brokers, underwriters and claims professionals with insights that would traditionally require both external legal counsel and dedicated data operations teams.
Webinars/Podcasts/Interviews
The Road Map for Embedded Insurance: INTERVIEW WITH YURI POLETTO:
Embedded insurance is not only cutting costs but expanding the market for life, homeowners, auto, cyber and gig economy insurers.
With over 25 years of operational and advisory insurance experience, Yuri Poletto leads the Open and Embedded Insurance Observatory and co-leads the Cyber Insurance Frontier, member-led, executive communities focused on the evolution of insurance distribution, ecosystems, and cyber risk within regulated markets.
Paul Carroll, editor-in-chief, Insurance Thought Leadership
Both initiatives convene senior leaders from across the global value chain - including insurers, brokers, tech providers, and non-insurance brands - to shape forward-looking strategies. These communities host executive plenary sessions, workshops, strategic roundtables, and research initiatives across Europe, North America, and Asia, helping market leaders navigate complexity with better-informed strategic decisions.
People
Tim NeCastro to retire as president and CEO of Erie Insurance
Erie Insurance (Nasdaq: ERIE) today announced that Tim NeCastro will retire as president and chief executive officer on Dec. 31, 2026, concluding a 30-year career with the company, including 10 years as CEO.
NeCastro, who was named CEO in 2016, led the company through a period of significant growth. During his tenure, Erie Insurance grew to nearly $13 billion in premium and more than 7 million policies in force while maintaining strong financial performance and its long-standing commitment to service.
"Tim has led the organization with extraordinary kindness and humility," said Tom Hagen, chairman of the board. "He has been a consistent model for The ERIE's values — always putting people and service first. This is more than just a leadership transition — it marks the closing of a defining chapter in our company's story."
NeCastro joined Erie Insurance in 1996 and held senior leadership roles in internal audit, finance, product and policy services, and regional field operations. In 2014, he led the company's expansion into Kentucky, marking Erie Insurance's entry into its 12th state.
As CEO, NeCastro guided the organization through several significant milestones, including celebrating the company's 100th anniversary in 2025. His leadership emphasized care for employees, agents and customers while reinforcing ERIE's values and promise of service.
An Erie native, NeCastro has also been active in community and economic development efforts in the company's hometown. He is the founding board president of the Erie Downtown Development Corp., which has supported investment and revitalization in downtown Erie. He has also served in leadership and advisory roles with civic, philanthropic and industry organizations at the local, state and national levels.