Ivans® today announced the results for Q1 2024 Ivans Index™, the insurance industry’s premium renewal rate index. The first quarter results of 2024 showed premium renewal rate change for all major commercial lines of business except Workers’ Compensation are up year over year. Q1 2024 experienced an increase in average premium renewal rate change across all major commercial lines compared to Q4 2023. Premium renewal rate change by line of business for Q1 2024 highlights include:

• Commercial Auto: Q1 2024 average premium renewal rate averaged 9.09%, an increase compared to Q4 2023’s average premium renewal rate of 8.79%. The quarter began with the lowest rate change in January, averaging 7.04%, and experienced its highest rate in February, averaging 10.30%.
• BOP: BOP premium renewal rate increased in Q1 2024 with an average of 9.30% versus 9.12% in Q4 2023. The quarter reached its highest premium renewal rate change in February, averaging 9.72% and ended with its lowest rate of 8.84% in March.
• General Liability: First quarter 2024 premium renewal rate experienced a slight increase compared to Q4 2023, averaging 5.89% versus 5.83%. The quarter began with the lowest rate change in January, averaging 5.38%, and reached its highest rate in February, averaging 6.21%.
• Commercial Property: Average premium renewal rate change for Commercial Property experienced an increase during Q1 2024 at 10.52% versus 10.34% in Q4 2023. The quarter began with the lowest rate change in January, averaging 10.30%, and reached its highest rate in February, averaging 10.77%.
• Umbrella: Average premium renewal rate change for Umbrella experienced an increase during Q1 2024 at 6.81% versus 6.39% in Q4 2023. The quarter began with the lowest rate change in January, averaging 6.35%, and ended with its highest rate in March, averaging 7.10%.
• Workers’ Compensation: Workers’ Compensation premium renewal rate change averaged -0.88% in Q1 2024, down from Q4 2023 at -0.64%. The quarter reached its highest premium renewal rate change in February, averaging -0.40% and ended with its lowest rate of -1.57% in March.

“This quarter’s Ivans Index results show that the premium renewal rates continue to increase across all major commercial lines, signaling continued hard market conditions,” said Kathy Hrach, senior vice president of Product Management, Ivans. “The continued rate increases of the hard market is being closely tracked across the industry as renewals and remarketing become more and more important, and Ivans Index will continue to be a source of data on rate trends.” Released monthly, Ivans Index is a data-driven report of current conditions and trends for premium rate renewal change of the most placed commercial lines of business in the insurance industry. Analyzing more than 120 million data transactions, the Ivans Index premium renewal rate change measures the premium difference year over year for a single consistent policy. Inclusive of more than 38,000 agencies and 600 insurers and MGAs, the Ivans Index is reflective of the premium rate change trends being experienced by all agencies and insurers across the U.S. insurance market. Ivans Index is available to agencies and insurers as part of Market Insights at markets.ivansinsurance.com.  

The U.S. cyber insurance line generated strong direct underwriting profits for the second straight year in 2023, but written premium volume has stalled amid renewed pricing pressure, Fitch Ratings says. A first look at data compiled from cyber insurance supplemental filings in statutory financial statements indicates that for standalone cyber coverage the direct incurred loss and defense and cost containment (DCC) expenses ratio held relatively steady at 44% in 2023 versus 43% in 2022. Despite two poor/performing years in 2020 and 2021, this ratio has averaged a highly profitable 48% over the nine years that cyber supplemental data is available. Favorable cyber underwriting results are partly due to prior large increases in premium rates. Insurers are also being more careful in cyber risk selection and the underwriting process. They are requiring that customers maintain proper cyber hygiene and risk management practices before agreeing to insure them. Additionally, insurers are tightening policy language to more strictly define terms, with more frequent insertion of sub-limits and exclusions. U.S. statutory direct written premiums for cyber coverage in standalone and package policies declined for the first time on record in 2023 by a modest 2%. This represents a sharp drop off from market growth of approximately 200% from YE20 to YE22. The reversal occurred even with continued growth in demand for coverage and carriers keen on expanding their cyber underwriting portfolios despite weaker pricing trends. Stand-alone cyber coverage, which represents 69% of all industry written premiums, declined by 3% in 2023 to $4.9 billion. Current segment underwriting profitability at current levels is unsustainable as cyber insurance pricing is likely to remain flat or down going forward. The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ Commercial Property/Casualty Market Survey reveals that pricing has substantially moderated following rapid rate increases throughout 2021 and 2022. Average cyber renewal premium rate increases were up less than 1% per the 4Q23 survey compared with 15% and 34% in 4Q22 and 4Q21, respectively. Global insurance broker Marsh reported that U.S. cyber renewal rates were down for the last three successive quarters, including a 4% decline in 4Q23, as new capacity continues to enter the market despite concerns regarding ransomware and cyber catastrophe exposure, particularly via the managing general agent channel. Statutory cyber financial data does not provide a full picture of segment profitability as direct results do not include all underwriting and adjusting expenses. Effects on premiums and losses from ceded reinsurance also are not considered, and cyber is typically a product for which primary carriers buy considerable reinsurance protection. Carriers will face ongoing challenges to maintain underwriting discipline as market competition intensifies and adapt to an evolving claims environment that is heavily influenced by technological change. Cyber loss risk is also heightened by expansion of regulatory and compliance requirements, including recent SEC cyber risk management disclosures for public companies, that increase potential for litigation risks and substantial fines and penalties for not properly disclosing data breaches. Catastrophe exposure from cyber risks is another significant source of uncertainty in terms of the nature, likelihood and cost of the most severe cyber event. Considerable resources are expended by carriers and risk modeling firms to measure risk aggregations and probable maximum losses from larger cyber events. However, these tools remain less advanced than natural catastrophe risk models that have been refined over the last 30 years.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Monday that the city had hired attorneys to pursue legal action against the operators of the cargo vessel that struck and toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, the same day the FBI confirmed it had opened a criminal probe. In a statement, Scott said the city had hired Philadelphia law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, which specializes in personal injury suits, and DiCello Levitt, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in civil and human rights litigation and commercial, environmental, and class-action lawsuits. Sara Gross, the city Office of Law’s chief of affirmative litigation, will also serve on the legal team. Six construction workers died in the March 26 incident, which temporarily shut much of the Port of Baltimore, idling 15,000 port workers and impacting nearby businesses. Authorities have since begun salvaging the ship, which remains stalled in the Patapsco River, weighed down by parts of the structure. Federal officials have pledged to finance the cleanup, and authorities expect the port to fully reopen by the end of May. The FBI also confirmed Monday that its agents had searched the ship, but it declined to comment further. Scott said the city’s purpose in hiring the firms was to “hold the wrongdoers responsible and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents.” The Singapore-flagged ship Dali was minutes into a monthlong journey to Sri Lanka when it collided with the bridge shortly before 1:30 a.m. March 26. Scott said the two firms would take “decisive action” against the Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited; its manager, Synergy Marine; and its charterer, Maersk, citing the former two firms’ April 1 petition to limit their legal liability. Maersk spokesperson Kevin Doell said the Danish shipping company was “closely following the situation” and cooperating with authorities, Grace Ocean, and Synergy “on all aspects of the incident, including the investigation and information regarding the cargo that was onboard the Dali.” He declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson representing Synergy and Grace Ocean, also declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations. “We are continuing to do everything in our power to support everyone impacted here and will continue to recognize the human impact this event has had,” Scott said in a news release. “Part of that work needs to be seeking recourse from those who may potentially be responsible, and with the ship’s owner filing a petition to limit its liability mere days after the incident, we need to act equally as quickly to protect the City’s interests.” Adam Levitt, of the firm DiCello Levitt, said they will bring “significant” economic and environmental loss claims on behalf of the city government and city residents in their roles in what is believed to be one of the largest-ever maritime disasters. “We need to hold these entities accountable for the emotional toll and the substantial financial losses that the City of Baltimore and its residents are facing,” Levitt said. The Office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is also soliciting outside legal counsel to pursue action against the Dali. Brown said Monday that his office will consider pursuing “multiple defendants” to help recoup costs for salvaging, recovery, and damages to the environmental and natural resources. “We’re seeing numbers from $500 million to over $1 billion to replace [the bridge],” he said. “Multiple individuals or entities contributed to that collision or allision between the ship and the bridge. As chief legal officer of the state, my responsibility is to file actions to protect the interests of the state, to recover for that damage.” He declined to say whether his office had been communicating with criminal investigators. “I suspect there will be even more investigations from different angles, looking at a variety of things,” he said. “Everything from who’s liable, whether it’s criminally or civilly, and how do we make things better? Safer? So something like this doesn’t happen again.”

The costs of rising insurance is not sparing rental properties, and landlords say they too are struggling with the hikes and demands by insurers. "We don’t know what the insurance for this year because they’re waiting on the outcome with the new roof," Randy Paigo, who owns five rental properties in Palm Beach County, said. Randy Paigo owns five rental properties in Palm Beach County and has to pass on increased costs, including insurance, to tenants. “I just put a brand-new roof on the one I have in Boynton Beach and that roof never had any problems." The rising costs, he said, have led him to raise rents around $150 a month but he said doesn't want to drive away tenants. Paigo said he's tried shopping around, but out of three quotes the cheapest was still $1,300 more than his Citizens policy. Insurance agent Lee Wiglesworth at Wiglesworth-Rindom Insurance in Stuart said he hears from homeowners who think it's a better option to sell their homes and start renting. "What I advise them is there is no hiding from those because those landlords from where they will rent is going to be getting these insurance bills," he said. "Those buildings are getting the things from their companies. They’re getting requests to replace the roof."    

The Midwest Division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities and enriching lives, will honor Jodie Kaufman Davis, Executive Vice President of H.W. Kaufman Group, with its prestigious Trailblazer Award for philanthropic excellence and industry leadership at the 13^th annual Blazing the Trail Benefit on May 2 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago. The 2024 IICF Blazing the Trail Gala will convene insurance leaders from Chicago and throughout the Midwest, along with representatives of local nonprofits, to celebrate the philanthropic achievements of the industry and raise funds for regional nonprofit partners serving those in need. “I am honored to receive the Midwest Trailblazer award from IICF, an organization that shares our company’s commitment to meaningfully impact the communities where we do business,” said Jodie Kaufman Davis. “Events such as Blazing the Trail, along with the broader IICF’s 30^th Anniversary campaign, enable industry professionals to come together, while dedicating time and resources to those in need.” IICF is honoring Kaufman Davis as the 2024 Midwest Trailblazer for championing company culture along with her leadership in advancing inclusion initiatives across Kaufman’s global team. In addition to her numerous leadership responsibilities in the US, Canada and worldwide, she serves as the executive sponsor for Kaufman’s employee resource groups (ERGs). The self-governing ERGs tap into the unique expertise and perspectives of Kaufman associates to tackle complex business challenges. In 2020, Kaufman Davis was named to the Insurance Business Global 100 and also received the Business Insurance Women to Watch Award the year prior. Outside the workplace, she is an active Board Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) Motor City Chapter, a Director on the Insurance Supper Club (ISC) Group Global Advisory Board and serves on the IICF International Board of Governors. Kaufman Davis is also currently serving as Chair of the IICF 30^th Anniversary Committee and leading this industrywide campaign to fight childhood hunger. Proceeds from the 2024 Midwest Division Blazing the Trail Gala will fund the IICF Midwest Community Grants Program, which awards grants to regional nonprofits focused on education, safety and health. Since its founding in 2011, IICF’s Midwestern Division has granted more than $5 million to hundreds of nonprofits. IICF is proud to count nearly 150 insurance industry leaders across the Midwestern states as board members contributing to local communities as part of the IICF Midwest Division and Associate Boards based in Chicago, as well as through the IICF Ohio and Heartland (Kansas and St. Louis) Chapter Boards. “This year’s theme of ‘empowering brighter futures, together’ so clearly describes our impact in the community, and what we’re aiming to achieve through our annual Blazing the Trail Gala by bringing the industry together in celebration of philanthropy,” said Jeff Kroeger, Chair of the IICF Midwest Division Board of Directors and President, Insureon. “Last year we raised $540,000 to help our neighbors in need, and through IICF Community Grants and our volunteer work in the community, we are helping local children, families and individuals begin to envision a brighter future.” The 2024 Blazing the Trail Gala is made possible by:

• Presenting Sponsor: Burns & Wilcox
• Platinum Sponsors: Aon, CNA and CRC Group
• Gold Sponsors: Amwins, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, The Hartford and Zurich and additional generous sponsors.

For more information regarding IICF’s Midwest Blazing the Trail Gala and to reserve a table, please visit the IICF website or contact IICF Midwest Executive Director Kelly Hartweg at (773) 991-2149 or khartweg@iicf.org. About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) is a unique nonprofit that unites the collective strengths of the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives through grants, volunteer service and leadership. Established in 1994, IICF is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of serving as the philanthropic voice and foundation of the insurance industry throughout 2024, having contributed $48 million in community grants along with over 337,000 volunteer hours by more than 125,000 industry professionals. IICF reinvests locally where funds are raised for maximum community impact, serving hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations across the US and UK. IICF is a registered nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Learn more at www.iicf.org or follow us on social media at: LinkedIn and Instagram  

Streaming giant Roku has confirmed a second security incident in as many months, with hackers this time able to compromise more than half a million Roku user accounts. In a statement Friday, the company said about 576,000 user accounts were accessed using a technique known as credential stuffing, where malicious hackers use usernames and passwords stolen from other data breaches and reuse the logins on other sites. Roku said in fewer than 400 account breaches, the malicious hackers made fraudulent purchases of Roku hardware and streaming subscriptions using the payment data stored in those users’ accounts. Roku said it refunded customers affected by the account intrusions. The company, which has 80 million customers, said the malicious hackers “were not able to access sensitive user information or full credit card information.” Roku said it discovered the second incident while it was notifying some 15,000 Roku users that their accounts were compromised in an earlier credential stuffing attack. Following the security incidents, Roku said it rolled out two-factor authentication to users. Two-factor authentication prevents credential stuffing attacks by adding an additional layer of security to online accounts. By prompting a user to enter a time-sensitive code along with their username and password, malicious hackers cannot break into a user’s account with just a stolen password.    

Ahead of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, FloodFlash, the first insurance technology company to offer sensor-enabled parametric flood insurance, is launching a product to support business interruption (BI) coverage in the United States.

“Flooding causes billions of dollars in losses across the US every year yet only 20% of those losses are covered by insurance - and a massive part of that uninsured loss comes from business interruption. The BI options on the market are too few and offered too rarely. ”

With a widely predicted hyperactive hurricane season, many experts anticipate huge losses from property damage and BI that could devastate businesses and communities for months on end. Flood BI has been created because many businesses and public entities are unable to get BI cover. It isn't included under National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies and private carriers rarely offer standalone BI. FloodFlash hopes to support the many organisations at risk of flooding, not just in the Gulf and Eastern seaboard, but across the US. FloodFlash US Commercial Director Rich Coyle said: “Flooding causes billions of dollars in losses across the US every year yet only 20% of those losses are covered by insurance - and a massive part of that uninsured loss comes from business interruption. The BI options on the market are too few and offered too rarely. “We couldn’t be more excited to launch Flood BI. It takes the same principles of the FloodFlash product and applies them for a truly under-served section of the market. To the thousands of businesses at risk of flooding that rely on their premises to provide goods, hospitality, healthcare and more, we can now say Flood BI is here to help.” Key product features: - no limitations on how clients spend their parametric claim payment, Flood BI can cover any and all aspects of BI including non-damage BI and denial of access. - The rapid-payment claims in keeping with the core FloodFlash offering mean that claimants receive the full value of their policy within weeks of flooding. - FloodFlash provides expert support throughout the process, helping on everything from BI limit calculation to sensor placement and policy triggers. - Limits: up to $5m per location ($2m in Florida). Up to $10m available subject to underwriter approval. - Blanket limit of $10m available for multi-location submissions - Sectors include: hotels and hospitality, sport and leisure, retail, healthcare and assisted living, real estate, manufacturing, municipality, education. - Policy trigger: pre-agreed depth measured by FloodFlash sensor(s). About FloodFlash FloodFlash is a multi-award-winning insurance technology company at the forefront of the parametric insurance movement. Launched in 2019, their rapid-payout flood product provides coverage to businesses and public bodies that struggle to secure flood terms anywhere else. They use the latest in data modelling and IoT technology to provide fast and flexible cover that pays claims in record times. FloodFlash is a registered coverholder at Lloyd’s of London and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.  

The owners of homes that will almost certainly suffer a total loss within the next 20 to 30 years should prepare to pay insurance premiums on par with a mortgage, according to Farmers Chief Executive Officer Raul Vargas. In certain areas the concentration of risk is huge, Vargas told California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara at the inaugural Global Sustainable Insurance Summit Program on April 10. Premiums should reflect it. And he endorsed shifting additional risk to homeowners, saying it makes coverage more affordable and incentivizes them to install devices and maintain properties to help prevent or reduce a loss. “It is the right thing,” said Vargas. “Radically reduce the risk or take modest exposure because the price allows you to do so,” he said. Farmers Insurance Group is the fifth-largest homeowners multiperil writer in the United States with a 6.2% market share, based on direct premiums, according to BestLink. The CEO said he has been traveling around the country— he noted a recent trip to Minnesota— and believes homeowners are much more willing today to assume more risk in exchange for more palatable premiums. “Insurers like us should be part of that conversation,” said Vargas. They need to be willing to have “the uncomfortable conversations, the ones that are difficult and tough but allow you to be better and learn new ways” to operate and move forward. Vargas spoke in response to queries from Lara about how insurers can meet the moment amidst unprecedented pressures. Lara mentioned his department’s efforts to overhaul “20th century regulation” in effect for “21st century problems.” He noted declining affordability and availability. “People are scared and concerned . . . scared of being dropped,” said Lara, also advocating increased communication.

Vargas threw support behind the use of data to help predict property losses from natural disasters, which is a change Lara has introduced in California, and said policyholders will mitigate risk, given the right incentives. “You need the sophistication of the data today for the right risk for the future,” he said. Insurers who are confident they’re pricing risk accurately regain confidence in a market, he told Lara. Zurich Insurance Group appointed Vargas as CEO of wholly owned subsidiary Farmers Group Inc., and as a member of the Zurich Group executive committee, 18 months ago. He took over early last year, in the midst of what he called a time of great disruption in the industry. ”It’s so important to have clarity about what changes are needed,” said Vargas. He started the list with the need to become “much more agile” and to find more ways to collaborate. “This industry is in the business of time” and can’t afford to waste it waiting to take action, said Vargas. The CEO wants to increase trust with and by regulators, business partners and distributors. And said curiosity is a key component of change. “Don’t think you have all the answers,” he said. “Be humble about trying to learn,” even from competitors, said Vargas.

At the same time, don’t forget to focus on results, he added. Farmers, California’s second-largest homeowners writer, started limiting new business in the state last year, citing “record-breaking” inflation, higher reconstruction costs and the impact of severe weather events. But it’s still open for business in the state, said Vargas, because the CDI is collaborating with stakeholders like Farmers.

Lara said the industry “can’t price ourselves out of this crisis . . .We as regulators need to make sure our markets are strong.” Reduce some friction in the system, suggested Vargas, notably legal abuse, a term he said he prefers over social inflation. Every time a carrier overpays a claim it “affects the entire system,” the CEO said. Underwriting entities of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. currently have a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and A (Excellent). The five largest homeowners multiperil writers in California in 2022, based on direct premiums written, were: State Farm Group, with a 20.58% market share; Farmers Insurance Group, 14.46%; CSAA Insurance Group, 6.66%; Liberty Mutual Insurance Cos., 6.43%; and Allstate Insurance Group, 6.36%; according to BestLink.    

Legal pressure is mounting on a property-management software company facing allegations that it illegally fixes apartment rent prices at buildings across the U.S.

State and district attorneys general in Arizona and Washington, D.C., are suing RealPage, and more than a dozen of its landlord customers. North Carolina’s attorney general is also investigating whether the company’s technology breaks antitrust laws.

The Justice Department in November said a civil lawsuit in Tennessee alleging that RealPage illegally fixes rents should go forward. Justice officials have been considering their own civil enforcement action and opened a criminal investigation into the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

The department is investigating whether RealPage is facilitating price-fixing, these people said.

RealPage’s algorithmic pricing system analyzes huge troves of information about the apartment rental market. It then recommends to landlords how much to increase rent for each lease renewal, or what to ask for newly vacated apartments.

At issue is whether the use of this pricing system amounts to an illegal rent-setting cartel among landlords, artificially boosting the rents paid by apartment tenants over many years.

RealPage denies any wrongdoing.

The legal heat on RealPage and apartment building owners is part of a government effort to police business practices it deems anticompetitive and that result in higher prices for consumers.

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have brought antitrust charges against tech companies such as Amazon and Google, while pursuing price-fixing cases in more obscure corners of the American economy, such as poultry processing and vehicle exporting.

But President Biden has made rental building owners a particular focus. “We’re cracking down on big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents,” he said last month during his State of the Union address.

In the U.S. Senate, meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) introduced the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act in January.

Any rulings against RealPage could have legal ramifications for other business sectors, such as online retail, where companies also use algorithms to make pricing decisions.

Wider business implications

“The amount that this could impact consumers, you’re looking at billions of dollars potentially,” said Maurice Stucke, a former federal antitrust prosecutor and a law professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes alleges that, in Phoenix and Tucson, RealPage pooled nonpublic pricing data from competing building owners, then fed the data into an algorithm that told landlords to push rents higher than they might have otherwise. RealPage then discouraged landlords from deviating from the algorithm’s suggested rents, according to the attorney general’s filing.

“There is no competitive rental market in Arizona anymore, ” Mayes said in an interview. “Because RealPage sets the price.”

In a statement, a RealPage spokeswoman said its pricing systems were designed to be compliant with federal laws.

Any nonpublic rent data, RealPage said, isn’t tied to any particular firm and plays a secondary role in determining rents. The company said its algorithms sometimes recommend lowering rents.

“A severe shortage of supply in the rental market has led to rising housing costs,” the spokeswoman said, “not the use of revenue management software.”

Texas-based RealPage was founded in 1998. It acquired the YieldStar pricing platform from publicly traded landlord Camden Property Trust in 2002. Private-equity firm Thoma Bravo purchased RealPage in 2021 for nearly $10 billion.

RealPage’s legal troubles began with more than two dozen class-action lawsuits brought by renters from Seattle to New Jersey. Other tenants have since sued a competing software firm, Yardi Systems, making similar allegations, which Yardi also denies. The lawsuits seek monetary damages for renters.

Federal charges could prove disastrous not only for RealPage but also for the many landlords and property managers who use its technology. That includes some of the largest real-estate companies on Wall Street.

Publicly traded apartment owners, such as Equity Residential and UDR, are among the companies named in the complaint brought by the Washington, D.C., attorney general. Equity, UDR and other landlords have denied participating in a rent-setting cartel.

It is unclear which landlords the Justice Department might be targeting in its investigation. RealPage said its software is used to price about 4.5 million rental apartments nationwide.

Landlords pulling the plug?

RealPage’s assurances that its technology complies with federal laws might not ease the fears of property owners open to litigation. Some apartment developers are now weighing the new risks of using the technology at recently constructed buildings, said Parker Miller, an antitrust attorney representing corporate clients at the Alston & Bird law firm.

“We are certainly advising clients to be prepared for a world without RealPage-style revenue management,” he said.

In a class-action lawsuit brought by tenants in Tennessee, three real-estate companies recently made preliminary settlement agreements, though the terms aren’t yet public. Another large property firm, publicly traded AvalonBay Communities, was dropped from the lawsuit because its contract with RealPage had prohibited the use of nonpublic pricing data. In Colorado, a state bill would ban landlords from using certain algorithmic pricing systems to set rents. Drew Hamrick, general counsel for the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, a landlord group, says he could see a compromise in which software companies would make the same information they use to set rents available to prospective tenants.

“You’ve got a situation where the housing provider has more sophisticated information about real-time pricing than does the consumer,” Hamrick said. “Disproportionate information is not good for a free market.”

       

A $225 million lawsuit has been filed against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company over damage caused during the 2021 Dixie Fire. The wildfire was the second-largest in the history of California, burning 963,309 acres, or more than 1,505 square miles, in several counties after igniting July 13 north of Cresta Dam. Shortly after the fire ignited, PG&E reported to the CPUC that its equipment might have been involved in starting the fire. In 2022, Cal Fire confirmed that the fire started after a tree hit PG&E equipment. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday and listed seven different business entities and trusts as plaintiffs that owned property in Plumas and Tehama counties when the Dixie Fire burned. Here are the names of the plaintiffs listed:

• Collins Pine Company (CPC); based in Oregon
• CC&H Lands, LLC; based in Oregon
• CCT Lands, LLC; based in Delaware
• Rock Creek Lands, LLC; based in Delaware
• E.S. Collins California Trust; administered under Oregon laws
• TWC Corporation; based in Oregon and owned by CPC
• Wespath Forests LLC, based in Illinois

All of them own portions of the Collins Almanor Forest, and are seeking payment from PG&E for damages to property, timber and mill businesses caused by the fire. “The day before the fire, these trees were part of a thriving, sustainably-managed commercial forest; the day after the fire, those trees were virtually worthless – amounting to only what could be salvaged of the burned logs,” said Edward Duckers, a counsel for the plaintiffs affiliated with Stoel Rives LLP. “Further, the unique environmental value of this forest is permanently lost and can never be replaced, all due to PG&E’s negligence.” The complaint filed against PG&E accuses the company of negligence, public nuisance, private nuisance, trespassing and failure to comply with the Public Utilities Act. It also alleges PG&E should have been aware of fire risk hazards caused by its operations due to the company's involvement in previous wildfires in Northern California prior to the Dixie Fire. The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial regarding seven causes of action.    

North Carolina carriers want to hike average mobile home fire rates 82.9% and mobile home casualty rates 49.9% over three years, according to the North Carolina Department of Insurance. If approved, the first rate increases would take effect on Nov. 1. The independent North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurers, seeks a 24.9% mobile home fire and a 15.9% mobile home casualty average rate hike for 2024. The bureau wants 21.2% then 20.9% average rate increases for mobile home fire for the next two years and 13.9% then 13.5% hikes for mobile home casualty, all to take effect on a Nov. 1. The department is taking comment through April 30 on the request. Unlike standard homeowners policies, both mobile home programs cover flood losses. Of the two mobile homes programs, fire covers a broader range of perils. “‘We are in the process of reviewing the filing, according to state law," Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said,

His department said the requested increases could affect about 148,000 policyholders. This year Causey came out as a hard "no" on a property insurers' request for an average statewide homeowners insurance rate hike of 42.2%, saying he hadn’t seen evidence justifying it. That proposal drew more than 24,000 emailed and hundreds of mailed comments and significant opposition at a public comment forum. His decision set the process for an administrative hearing on the homeowners request in motion, targeting Oct. 7. It will be held unless the DOI and the bureau are able to negotiate a settlement, which would save litigation expenses. The top five writers of homeowners multiperil insurance in 2022 in North Carolina, based on direct premiums written, were: State Farm Group, with 16.09% market share; North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Group, 12.27%; USAA Group, 9.7%; Nationwide Property & Casualty Group, 7.52%; and Allstate Insurance Group, 6.49%, according to BestLink.  

USAA is reportedly cutting over 200 positions as part of continued restructuring. This comes after the insurer, one of San Antonio's largest employers, laid off nearly 1000 people in 2023 after reporting nearly 1.3 billion dollars in losses over 2022. “USAA continues to make necessary adjustments to run a healthy business and provide members with exceptional service and competitive prices,” said Rodger Wildermuth, Director of Public Relations for USAA. “After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to eliminate approximately 220 roles.” Despite these firings, USAA has emphasized its commitment to changing to meet the needs of consumers, highlighting that they have hired thousands of positions in the past year. “USAA continues to hire, including approximately 2,900 jobs filled so far this year, but this reprioritization is necessary due to changing business needs,” said Wildermuth. “Employees are treated with care and compassion and provided with assistance to find new roles inside and outside of the organization.” USAA has not clarified which departments, if any, are specifically affected. How many of these positions were local or national has also not been verified.