News
Arson arrest made over largest of Washington state's wildfires
There are three wildfires in the Spokane area that have forced 60,000 to be evacuated from their homes.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson over the largest of the wildfires that have forced more than 60,000 people to evacuate from the city of Spokane in Washington state.
Three major fires have been burning around the north-western state's second-most-populous city since the weekend, with firefighters still working to contain the flames.
Aaron Farinacci, 37, was allegedly seen kneeling near grass at the site of the fire and later found to have matches and a lighter, the Spokane County Sheriff said. More than 700 buildings in the area have been destroyed, and thousands of acres of land have been burned near Spokane, a city of some 230,000 people about 280 miles (450 km) east of Seattle.
Insurers urge Washington residents to start wildfire claims early
As firefighters continue to battle the Spokane Complex Fire, insurers are urging impacted Washington residents to begin the claims process as soon as it is safe, emphasizing that policyholders may have access to financial assistance for housing, property damage and other covered losses.
The fire has burned approximately 8,000 acres, damaged or destroyed more than 600 homes and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. In response, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) said insurance companies are prepared to help homeowners, renters and business owners navigate recovery, assess damage and begin rebuilding.
"Our hearts are with everyone affected by these devastating wildfires," Karen Collins, APCIA vice president of property and environmental, said in a prepared statement. "Insurance companies are committed to helping policyholders through every stage of recovery, from addressing immediate needs to supporting long-term rebuilding efforts."
Climate/Resilience/Sustainability
Europe's wildfire season exposes climate insurance gap | Reuters
Domestic insurers are expected to absorb most of the losses from Europe's worst wildfire season in recent history, but the blazes are also raising a bigger question: who will pay as climate-driven disasters become more frequent and destructive?
Authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people in France as unprecedented wildfires burn across the country. Fires have also swept through Spain and Greece, fuelling concerns about rising insurance costs and widening gaps in protection against climate-related risks.
France's total losses could reach €10 billion to €15 billion ($11.5 billion to $17.3 billion), with insured losses running into several billion euros, according to credit ratings agency Morningstar DBRS.
While manageable for the industry, analysts say the fires could offer a glimpse of the challenges ahead if blazes increasingly threaten densely populated areas. "This might be a real threat to the industry if you have a wildfire out of control, reaching a medium-sized city like Bordeaux," said Marcos Alvarez, managing director at Morningstar DBRS. "That is a completely different scale of losses."
AI in Insurance
The AI Bailout Could Be Baked Into the AI Bubble - The American Prospect
Instead of passing through bankruptcy, insolvent life insurers have all their liabilities—in particular the policyholder claims—paid for by state guaranty funds.
A hedge fund worth $45 billion at its height sold nearly its entire stock portfolio to Citadel Securities last week. As recently as a month ago, the fund was up 439 percent on the year, according to an investor letter from its founder, 24-year-old former OpenAI employee Leopold Aschenbrenner. But its portfolio, aggressively invested in companies tied to the artificial intelligence industry, dropped 67 percent in July.
Hilariously, the fund was called Situational Awareness.
Last week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw its second correction of the year, named for a drop of at least 10 percent from its peak. SpaceX has lost the equivalent of the entire value of Tesla since its post-IPO high in June, and it’s still dropping. For whatever reason—the rise of cheaper and more flexible Chinese AI models, the recognition that U.S. AI companies simply aren’t generating enough revenue to justify skyrocketing capital expenditures, the general economic drag from Trump’s tariffs and wars, or the increasingly operatic financial maneuvers to keep the wheels moving—the shine is way off the AI rose for investors.
The problem is that the industry is bound so tightly with the stock market that a change in feeling from AI investors could be all it takes to generate a market-wide crash, as we’re seeing to some degree. In other words, if AI is propping up the economy, who is propping up AI?
Investigation to Confirmation: How Branch decides what AI gets to touch in claims, and what it doesn’t
LinkedIn post: Charlie Wendland, Chief Claims Officer, Branch Insurance
[Ed.note: Recommended Reading. Charlie Wendland is a forward-thinking leader who has been part of the Branch Insurance success story since the very early days with the company. This post is an insightful look at how Charlie is advancing AI technology and innovation]
Every vendor in this industry wants to sell you an AI platform. Most of them are solving a problem you don't have yet, in a way that assumes you'll trust an output you can't audit. We've turned down more of these than we've adopted, not because the technology doesn't work, but because "it works" isn't the bar.
A few weeks ago, Branch received NAMIC's 13th Annual Award in Innovation for our AI claims assistant, cAItlin. The recognition is nice. What I actually want to talk about is the philosophy behind it because that's the part that's repeatable, and the part most of the industry gets backwards.
Start with a measurable problem, not a capability.
We don't ask "what can this model do?" We ask "what's the specific, quantifiable failure in our process today?" cAItlin exists because first notice of loss intake was slow and inconsistent, and we could measure exactly how much. That discipline is also why we walked away from a well-regarded AI trial on the claims-handling side earlier this year; the incremental benefit didn't clear the bar, and the risk of adjusters leaning on outputs that hadn’t earned our trust wasn't worth it. Turning down AI is as much a part of the philosophy as deploying it.
Plymouth Rock Launches ChatGPT for Home Insurance Quotes
Homeowners can now obtain insurance quotes from Plymouth Rock Home Assurance through a "natural" conversation with ChatGPT, the artificial intelligenceHomeowners can now obtain insurance quotes from Plymouth Rock Home Assurance through a “natural” conversation with ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI.
The insurer claims it creates a “faster, simpler, and more accessible way to shop for coverage.” It eliminates the need to navigate multiple websites and complete multiple forms.
The chatbot is now available across all states where Plymouth Rock operates, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and New Hampshire.
How AGI's new AI-driven platform changes the game for advisors
American Growth Insurance (AGI) recently announced its launch as an AI-enabled insurance brokerage growth platform.
Atlanta-based American Growth Insurance recently announced its launch as an AI-enabled insurance brokerage growth platform with almost $70 million in committed equity funding.
Backed by Rockbridge Growth Equity, a partnership-oriented middle market private equity firm, and Atomic, a venture capital studio, AGI is a retail brokerage in the specialty market serving commercial and personal lines clients.
Brian Morgan, CEO of AGI, said the company aims to “enable greatness by unlocking its partners’ full potential through modern technology and traditional client relationships.”
The platform is specifically engineered for insurance firms that are committed to pursuing long-term growth by pairing AI, collaboration, cultural alignment, and enhanced client service.
The meaning of an “AI-native” brokerage
AGI describes itself as an "AI-native" brokerage rather than a brokerage that simply uses AI. This means AI is foundational to the technology platform the company designed to run its business.
“It’s not a shiny new object we bolted on and are trying to integrate with other systems, which is the challenge many other brokerages are facing,” Morgan said.
Announcements
Root targets US growth with latest telematics launch
Root, the Ohio-based InsurTech, has expanded its behaviour-based motor insurance offering into New Jersey, taking its presence to 37 US states and extending coverage to more than 80% of the country’s population.
The launch is part of Root’s wider strategy to reach all contiguous US states by 2027. The company said New Jersey represents more than 6.6 million eligible drivers, with premiums calculated primarily using driving behaviour captured through smartphone-based telematics technology.
Root’s model uses data points including braking patterns, cornering, phone distraction and overall driving behaviour to assess individual risk. Customers complete an initial test drive period through the Root app, during which smartphone sensors collect driving data that is analysed by the company’s risk models before pricing is determined.
Commentary/Opinion
The “data portability” question and risk behind insurance technology deals
As insurers rely on AI and TP data, ownership rights are becoming a strategic risk hidden inside technology contracts
Insurance technology deals are often evaluated around speed, functionality and implementation risk. The quieter question is what the carrier actually owns after the technology starts working. If a platform improves underwriting, claims, property inspection or risk monitoring, but the underlying data remains trapped inside a vendor relationship, the insurer may be renting one of the most valuable assets it thinks it is building.
That issue is becoming more important as insurers rely on external data, AI tools and subscription-based platforms for core business functions. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has formed a Third-Party Data and Models working group to develop a framework for regulators evaluating third-party AI data and models, and its AI systems evaluation tool is being piloted by 12 states in 2026. Legal dealmaking is moving the same way: AI-specific contract provisions increasingly address ownership, inputs, governance, third-party services and performance claims.
For Rob Galbraith, CEO of Forestview Insights, the risk is practical before it is theoretical. At a prior carrier, his team was evaluating aerial imagery providers to obtain property images and repeated snapshots over time.
“We’re trying to get good quality aerial imagery of properties and then be able to get those repeated snapshots over time and see if we detect any changes,” Galbraith said, citing examples such as new structures on a property or roof deterioration.
Fraud
Recreational Vehicle Thefts Declined in 2025, but Most Remain Unrecovered
Recreational vehicle thefts declined significantly in 2025, but owners still face a substantial risk of never recovering their stolen property as recovery rates decline, according to a new analysis released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the leading, established non-profit dedicated to identifying insurance fraud.
About 59,000 recreational vehicles, including motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and watercraft were reported stolen to law enforcement in 2025. Last year's theft numbers, totaling 58,957, represent a 20% decrease from 2024.
Despite the overall decline, approximately 63% of recreational vehicles stolen in 2025 remain unrecovered. Like traditional passenger vehicles, recovery chances for motorcycles, ATVs, watercraft and snowmobiles are increased by how quickly the theft is discovered and reported. More than half of recreational vehicle recoveries occur within two weeks of being reported stolen.
"Recreational vehicles are often valuable, easily portable, and stored in locations that make them attractive targets for thieves," said David J. Glawe, President and CEO of NICB. "Although the continued decrease in thefts is encouraging, the fact that nearly two-thirds of stolen recreational vehicles remain unrecovered demonstrates why owners must take proactive steps to protect their property and report a theft as soon as possible."
Do you own America's most stolen car? What your insurance won't cover.
Vehicle thefts are declining in the U.S., yet there's still one vehicle stolen, on average, every 48 seconds, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Depending on the car and the location, the odds can be even greater. Popular vehicles in big cities are most vulnerable. And driving one of the most stolen vehicles listed below increases the risk even more.
However, the personal violation a victim feels when their vehicle is stolen can be compounded by the stress of realizing that their insurance policy falls short in covering the financial loss.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau compiles an annual list of the most stolen vehicles in America. In 2025, those vehicles and the number of thefts reported were:
- Hyundai Elantra (21,732)
- Honda Accord (17,797)
- Hyundai Sonata (17,687) CONTINUES
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