New York Attorney General Letitia James unveiled two historic settlements valued at a combined $328 million with ride-sharing conglomerates Lyft and Uber on Nov. 1, 2023. These settlements mark the conclusion of extensive investigations into both companies, revealing...
N.Y.: DFS releases final cyber regulations, PIA offers guidance
The New York State Department of Financial Services released its official second amendment to the cyber security regulation (23 NYCRR 500) on Nov. 1, 2023. The amendment makes multi-factor authentication mandatory for all covered entities, increases the thresholds for...
Health insurance, new diabetic drugs and the future of weight loss
In the U.S., weight-loss drugs have received renewed attention thanks to recent medical advancements. Frequently, Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are included in this conversation—even though not all of them are marketed as weight-loss drugs. For example, Ozempic notes...
Are you selling umbrellas with holes in ’em?: If your clients get wet, you could too!
We (independent agents) are raised to sell umbrella liability insurance policies, but why? We are told to sell umbrellas because people can get sued for an auto accident or a slip-and-fall, and other outrageous scenarios. Basically, when you make a mistake and cause...
Veterinary medicine trends affect pet’s care
The COVID-19 pandemic left a major mark on the American workforce that can be seen in every industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce provided a brief overview of these trends in a September 2023 report. The report characterizes this phenomenon of industries seeing high...
N.J.: Property valuations
If you are like most of us, you are finding that property valuations are going crazy—what may be valued as $1.9 million home with an ISO carrier may be valued as a $1.4 million home based on an MSO carrier’s estimator. And, to add to that, who knows what the...
This Halloween, don’t get scared: get coverage!
Halloween is almost here, and with it, everything that makes the holiday so special. There’s the chilly fall air, and it seems as though there’s the grinning jack-o-lanterns posted at every door. Elaborate decorations and haunted houses are a fixture of Hallows’ Eve,...
2FA, user security and you: Staying safe on X
According to Statista, a data gathering platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, has some 556 million monthly active users. Whether you’re an independent agent or the head of an agency, having a presence on a platform with more than half a billion active users is...
President announces executive action on AI
At the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel in San Francisco, President Joe Biden made remarks about technological development in the United States before he met with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on Sept. 27. His remarks focused primarily on...
N.Y.: Call to action: Insurance agents assemble
The 2023 New York legislative session was a successful one for independent insurance agents. In 2023, PIANY saw not one, but two, of the association’s top priorities pass the Legislature! The advocacy of insurance agents, like yourself, has been critical in getting...