New Jersey’s Senate passed legislation requiring residents seeking a gun permit to undergo training and to carry liability insurance, as well as banning guns from many public places, placing the bill on the governor’s desk. The insurance requirement places a minimum limit of $300,000 in liability coverage for bodily or property damage, or death, arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a firearm carried in public upon permit holders. Litigation regarding the constitutionality of these requirements is expected.

Oberlin College, located in Oberlin, Ohio, has satisfied in full a $25 million judgment to a local bakery that won a libel suit against the school. The bakery was awarded $44 million, later reduced to $25 million, in its libel suit against the college filed after the owners’ son tackled a Black student he suspected of shoplifting and two other Black students intervened. All three were arrested, which triggered protests of the bakery, a student senate resolution against the bakery, and the school to institute a policy forbidding its campus food provider from purchasing goods from the bakery.

The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed a $4.6 million jury verdict and held that Cincinnati Insurance Co. should have been granted a directed verdict before the case reached the jury. K-2 Catering held an employee party at the owners’ home, at which the owners’ son gave guests rides on a newly purchased ATV. The vehicle crashed, causing disfiguring injuries to a guest. The owners filed claims with their business liability carrier, and the injured party sued the tortfeasor. The owners settled with the injured party and assigned their bad faith claim to the third party, who litigated the claim and prevailed at jury trial. The Kentucky Supreme Court ultimately held that coverage was obligated under the policy, but the insurer had a reasonable basis to deny the claim and had not acted with reckless disregard, and remanded the case to the trial court for dismissal on directed verdict.

114-year-old restaurant John’s Grill in San Francisco, Calif., settled its business interruption claims with the Hartford Group after an appellate court requested further argument from the parties. The settlement amount was not disclosed.

On December 16, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping property insurance reform bill aimed at shoring up the property insurance market in Florida. Florida’s property insurance market is massively impacted by mass casualty events like hurricanes, dating back to 1992 when Hurricane Andrew caused widespread losses and wiped out several companies. The bill aims to disincentivize litigation over property losses by forcing more policyholders to purchase private insurance and to encourage more efficient responses during claims handling by insurers.

CEOs and other executives of small Florida state-based insurance companies and their affiliates are often paid millions more than executives of the largest international insurance companies. While the insurance industry is well-regulated, payouts to executives have caused insolvency of entire companies in the past. Now, the Florida legislature is considering special rules allowing for deeper investigation of these affiliate companies.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s updated safety guidelines and testing have lead to many small SUVs, currently the most popular car style in the country, to fail or do more poorly on crash tests. The new tests place a premium on back seat passenger safety, an area that has not been focused on previously and where passengers are 46% more likely to die than in the front seat, owing to safety features such as air bags that have been adopted over time to protect front seat passengers and drivers. In the past, updated safety concerns have led to industry changes and new regulations.

Turkey had been preventing 26 oil tankers carrying Russian crude oil from passing through the Turkish Straits for over a week, demanding blanket insurance protections be secured and documented for the ships regarding concerns over western nations’ sanctions on Russia. Insurers initially balked at providing the demanded documentation, but relented after intervention by UK and Turkish authorities.

The Marshall Fire was the most destructive fire in Colorado’s history, destroying over 1,000 structures in two days. The Colorado Division of Insurance has now asked insurers that have policyholders impacted by the fire to voluntarily extend additional living expenses (ALE) coverage beyond the typical 12-month period of restoration. This request underscores the scope of the losses and the difficulty of rebuilding after a massive casualty loss. Insurers are to respond by December 30, 2022.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed new legislation this month that prohibits insurers from canceling policies, refusing to renew policies, or raising premiums in response to an Insured requesting coverage for a hate crime or having a loss due to a hate crime in the past 5 years.