Around the P&C insurance industry: September 23, 2020

CFC announced upgrade to its cyber incident response mobile app, which now provides proactive and targeted cybersecurity alerts for CFC cyber insurance policyholders and immediate access to cyber security risk mitigation experts. Leveraging the company’s proprietary data enrichment platform and threat intelligence feeds along with insights from active cyber insurance claims, CFC’s incident response app notifies policyholders of critical, time-sensitive threats and vulnerabilities in real-time, helping customers protect themselves from incidents before they happen and prevent potential losses.

USI Affinity and American Bar Association announced partnership with Crum & Forster to offer a cyber liability insurance program for law firms nationwide. As the broker for the ABA Insurance Program, which provides insurance and financial solutions for ABA members and their firms, USI Affinity now offers access to this new cyber liability program designed exclusively for the law firm community. USI Affinity and Crum & Forster have created a premier, market-leading team, with world-class expertise and resources to help protect and insure small and large law firms. USI Affinity will provide cyber liability insurance solutions to law firms in all 50 U.S. states.

Great American Insurance Group’s Alternative Markets Division announced its national program, offered in conjunction with VGM Insurance Services. The program focuses on coverages for golf and country clubs across the United States.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies added Professional Liability for Lawyers in Alabama and New Mexico, for Accountants in Arizona and Illinois, and for Architects and Engineers in Missouri. In all, the company has introduced products from their suite of Professional Liability coverages in eight states this year with plans for a dozen more by year end.

Beazley reported that middle-market organizations have been especially hard hit by online social engineering attacks during the pandemic. Of all the social engineering attacks reported to Beazley Breach Response (BBR) Services globally in Q2, 60% of organizations targeted were in the middle market up from 46% in Q1.

Zurich North America launched an Occupational Accident & Employers Work Injury Liability Insurance Policy for “non-subscribers” to the workers’ compensation system in Texas. Zurich collaborated with CPro Associates, whose principals developed the first occupational injury coverage for Texas employers who opt out of the workers’ compensation system, referred to as “non-subscribers.”

Zurich Insurance Group launched its Climate Change Resilience Services to help businesses better prepare for current and future risks associated with climate change. The Climate Change Resilience Services allows customers to tap Zurich’s market-leading risk engineering expertise in the interplay of natural hazards and climate change, and strengthen their resilience through physical and operational measures as well as insurance products.

Associated Agencies, Inc. acquired Bensman Risk Management, Inc. and Bensman Associates, Ltd. a Bannockburn, Ill.-based insurance, risk management and strategic planning firm led by CEO Bob Bensman.

Agentero partnered with Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s Agents Council for Technology.

Pie Insurance, an InsurTech that offers workers’ compensation insurance to small businesses, unveiled automated bind requests within its partner portal. The added functionality also allows Pie’s partner agents to view more relevant information on the status of their small business client submissions throughout the issuance process.

I-CAR^® announced the creation of an online ADAS resource library to provide the industry with a centralized information hub in support of the rapid growth of Advanced Driver Assisted Systems and its accelerated impact on the collision repair process. The new ADAS resource library features:

• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Industry News
• I-CAR courses focused on ADAS
• Additional resources such as I-CAR’s Collision Reporter magazine and Repairability Technical Support™ Portal

National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Board of Directors presented Charles M. Chamness with the Chairman’s Award for his dedication and leadership to NAMIC during the last 25 years. The award was presented at the organization’s 125th Annual Convention, which was held virtually this year. Chamness began his tenure with the association in 1995 as vice president of public affairs before being named president/CEO in 2003, when he began positioning NAMIC as the largest U.S. property/casualty insurance industry trade association, focusing on leadership in advocacy, public policy, public affairs, and member services.

Related: Around the P&C insurance industry: September 16, 2020