Michael Giusti

As the calendar shifts to fall, the long shadows of both the pandemic and inflation are falling on the insurance industry, all while the property and casualty market in one of the biggest states in the country is facing turmoil.
Still, even as some large questions loom, insurance opportunities abound while the leaves begin to turn colors and promises of cool fronts tease summer-weary consumers.
Inflation
Inflation and supply chain chal...

People may debate whether or not this pandemic could have been foreseen, but in most areas of the insurance industry, they saw it coming 18 years ago. That is because, following the SARS epidemic in 2002, nearly every line of insurance coverage began writing in clauses that excluded pandemics and infectious disease causes, protecting many insurers from having to pay out claims in a time like this.

That doesn’t mean the insurance indust...

Legal marijuana and cannabis sales have only been around for a few years, making them one of the newest businesses around. Meanwhile, insurance as an industry tends to be very conservative, hesitant to take on new risks until the long-term outlook is clear.
Even still, with 18 states legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use, and 38 legalizing it for medical use, there is a business need for insurance. Cannabis-related sales are predicted to exceed $30 billion in 2022, meaning there is ...

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, DPR Construction was facing a challenge many contractors were experiencing. A rash of infections had popped up at a San Diego jobsite that threatened their ability to stay on schedule.
Ignoring the pandemic wasn’t an option, so instead, they started looking for solutions.
One option that was intriguing to Gary Scholten, innovation lead for San Diego at DPR Construction, a membe...

Schools from colleges to pre-K are gearing up for another year, and students at each level all have insurance needs that need to be considered.
From health to auto to tuition coverage, and even possibly life insurance, a wide range of policies are available to help protect students as they return to the classroom. This guide will serve as a checklist for many of the back-to-school insurance needs a family might face.
College Health Ins...

While there aren’t yet a slew of policies stepping into the breach to cover NFTs, a new class of policies will manage risk for this emerging market.
NFTs are creating a buzz in the art world. Touted as an innovative way for digital artists to get paid for their work, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, offer a proof of ownership for things that by definition are intangible. NFTs also represent a whole new world of risk, and with risk comes insurance.
In some ways, the risks introduced by NFTs are n...

For university student Erin Snodgrass, paying for meals while she was studying abroad in Europe came with a little confusion, some complication — and in a few cases, negotiation.

Near her adopted school in eastern Europe, cash ruled. As she traveled west across the continent, cards became more acceptable, and then by the time she got to the United Kingdom, contactless had overtaken cash.

And in nearly all cases, debit was preferred to credit.

Snodgrass was studying in the Czech Republic, but ...

With 2020 more than halfway through, it is a good opportunity to take stock of the risks we have faced so far, and to evaluate what we may be facing for the rest of the year.
Nobody wants to think that the coronavirus is going to spring back into the forefront of our national dialogue now that we are getting back to business and thinking about returning to school in the fall, but the experts say that while it is fine to be hopeful, we really need to be prepared.
In the case of life insurance,...

Nobody wants to think about financial liability, but if you are in an accident or sued for something you did, an umbrella insurance policy might be just the thing for your financial rainy day.

An umbrella policy is is an extra layer of personal liability insurance. Umbrella coverage protects you beyond the coverage limits of your other personal liability coverage found in your other policies.

In other words, umbrella insurance steps in when you have some form of personal liability, but after ...

The problem with supply-chain disruptions from an insurance perspective is that if an insured vehicle is destroyed in a crash, the insurer now has to pay more to replace it. And with more money potentially going out in claims, premiums will have to eventually follow.
The auto insurance industry is marching into 2022 facing a combination of factors ranging from supply chain-driven cost increases to technological revolutions. But at least for now, auto insurance rates appear to ...

Planning conventions can be a whirlwind of choosing keynote speakers, venues, session topics, and vendors. But if you neglect to also spend a few minutes examining your special events insurance needs, you may be setting you and your organization up for legal trouble.
Whether you need special events insurance or not depends on a number of things — not the least of which include how you are planning the event, where it is going to be held, how many people are going to be there, and what types o...