Cyber again generated strong profits for U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurers last year, Fitch Ratings says in its latest market update report, but weaker pricing led to the first decline in direct cyber written premiums since cyber-specific premium data were included in statutory financial statements. Cyber demand for coverage remains strong amid an evolving risk environment. However, U.S. direct cyber written premiums fell 1% in 2023, this change follows a 160% increase in volume from 2020-2022. Standalone cyber policy written premium declined by 3% in 2023, while premiums for package coverage increased by 5%. ‘Expansion in demand for cyber protection and P/C insurers’ expertise in risk mitigation and claims management has promoted strong growth in cyber insurance.’ said Managing Director Jim Auden. ‘However, market concentration has become diluted as more insurers enter the cyber market attracted by longer-term growth opportunities,’ Cyber insurance coverage generated significant underwriting profit for the second consecutive year in 2023 as the industry direct loss plus defense & cost containment ratio for standalone cyber insurance marginally increased to 44% in 2023 from 43%, according to statutory financial data. Global insurance broker Marsh indicates that US cyber renewal premium rates declined by 6% in the latest quarter. Further price deterioration will continue to promote weaker underwriting performance going forward. ‘Underwriters risk management practices continue to improve, but large incidences of data breaches, business e-mail compromises and ransomware attacks continue to present a long-term threat,’ said Senior Director Gerry Glombicki. ‘Cyber loss risk is also affected by expansion in regulatory and compliance requirements that increase potential for litigation risks and substantial fines and penalties for not properly disclosing data breaches.’  

Hurricane-strength winds unexpectedly blew through Houston Thursday, leaving four dead, hundreds of thousands without power and the country’s fourth-largest city scrambling to repair damage.

Mayor John Whitmire confirmed the deaths and “some twisters” and told reporters Houstonians should all stay home Friday if they are nonessential workers. Local schools were closed until Monday. Falling trees and a crane accident appeared to cause three of the deaths, emergency officials said.

“We’re still in recovery mode,” Whitmire said. “We had a storm with 100 mile-per-hour winds, the equivalent of Hurricane Ike, considerable damage downtown, glass.”

Trees were down across the city, most traffic lights were out and many residents were without electricity. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s elected executive, said on X that the debris looked significant, and crews worked through the night to try to clear major thoroughfares. Some 1,500 mutual assistance crews were traveling to the area to help restore power, she said.

On Friday morning, there were more than 785,000 people without power in the Houston area, according to poweroutage.us. There were also nearly 116,000 without power in Louisiana.

Broken glass, tree branches and insulation from the inside of buildings cluttered the streets of downtown Houston on Friday morning as crews and janitorial staff hurried to clean up the area.

Kris Larson, president and chief executive of Downtown Houston +, an organization of business leaders, was busy sweeping glass off the streets alongside some of his crews. Larson said the storm’s intensity caught everyone off guard.

“It was a normal Thursday afternoon, and then suddenly an hour later, massive storm,” Larson said. “But we know how to manage these kinds of situations.”

Larson estimated that it would take days to completely clean up the damage in downtown Houston. Dozens of contractors were on their way to help clean up, he said.

At Houston’s Bush International Airport, there was a small number of delayed flights after 103 cancellations on Thursday, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site.

The storm came after rain doused East Texas in recent weeks, flooding homes, washing out roads and pushing reservoirs to capacity. Forecasters earlier this week warned that more rain could create a “nightmare scenario.”

Matt Lanza, a Houston meteorologist and managing editor of the website Space City Weather, wrote that emergency preparation had been so focused on the threat of heavy rain that the wind danger came as a secondary surprise. In the evening, he began to see a velocity signature on radar that he had never seen before, pointing to a violent tornado or likely destructive winds. It escalated to one of the most ferocious storms he has seen, he said.

“I’ll close with a bit of a sobering note: Hurricane season begins in about 2 weeks,” Lanza wrote. “We know a lot about flooding. Most of us know about surge. Very few knew about wind and what it’s really like. Many do now. Use this experience.”

Noah Johnson was walking in the Houston neighborhood of East Downtown toward a light-rail station when the storm winds and rains suddenly picked up.

The 43-year-old said he ran into a Burger King to take shelter with five other people as the street lost power.

“The storm was stronger than I expected,” Johnson said.

The storm was over as quickly but the fast-food restaurant remained without power, Johnson recalled as he surveyed the damage downtown Friday.

“It sucks because I really wanted some onion rings,” said Johnson with a smile.

A federal jury once again convicted North Carolina insurance executive Greg Lindberg of trying to bribe Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey for favorable regulatory rulings following a second trial, according to court documents. States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on May 15 found Lindberg and fellow defendant John D. Gray guilty of wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and aiding and abetting, according to court documents. Causey in January 2018 reported to federal law enforcement that Lindberg and Gray offered millions in political contributions in a manner designed to avoid public disclosure, according to records. Gray earlier tried unsuccessfully to have the retrials severed. He then cooperated with the investigation and even wore a wire, according to documents. Lindberg, the billionaire founder and chairman of Eli Global LLC and the owner of Global Bankers Insurance Group, and Lindberg’s consultant, Gray, were earlier found guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. Two years after being sentenced, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Lindberg and Gray were not given a fair trial and said they must be tried again.

Lindberg also is facing federal fraud charges and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he and an associate defrauded advisory clients of $75 million. In addition, he is fighting efforts by the North Carolina Department of Insurance to distribute funds from insurance companies in rehabilitation back to investors.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision to move forward with liquidating two of the insurance companies operated by Lindberg that regulators put into rehabilitation in 2019.

Causey in 2021 found the companies, Banker's Life Insurance Co. and Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Co., had no hope of rehabilitation and filed a petition to liquidate them. At the time of the petition, Bankers Life had liabilities that exceeded its assets by about $92 million and for Colorado Bankers, liabilities that exceeded assets by about $114 million, appeals court Judge Julee Flood wrote.