DUAL North America Inc., a specialty program administrator offering a broad range of insurance products, has announced a partnership with artificial intelligence-driven risk analytics provider ZestyAI to strengthen its storm-risk underwriting and pricing capabilities.

The partnership aligns with DUAL’s ongoing expansion across the U.S. market and its commitment to improving accuracy in underwriting amid a rise in severe weather events. Through the adoption of ZestyAI’s Z-STORM™ model, DUAL aims to refine risk differentiation, support sustainable growth, and maintain compliance with regulatory standards.

AI-Powered Storm Modeling

ZestyAI’s Z-STORM™ model combines artificial intelligence and property-level data to assess the effects of hail and wind. By analyzing roof condition, material type, surrounding exposure, and local climatology, the model produces detailed insights into property vulnerability. These insights enable insurers to better predict storm frequency and severity, improving both underwriting speed and pricing precision.

In September 2025, ZestyAI expanded its storm-risk suite to include mitigation-aware scoring. This feature adjusts risk scores dynamically based on verified property improvements, such as roof replacements and material upgrades. The update is designed to promote transparency and integrate mitigation incentives directly into pricing workflows.

Regulatory and Regional Reach

ZestyAI’s storm models have undergone regulatory review and are currently in use across the Great Plains, Midwest, and southern United States — regions that face the highest exposure to severe convective storms. Multiple carriers have adopted these models for use in rating and underwriting operations.

Industry Perspectives

DUAL chief actuary Luke Wolmer said accurate property-level risk prediction is essential as the company expands across property lines. “Z-STORM gives us a more nuanced understanding of storm vulnerability, helping us recognize differences in risk that traditional models overlook. This enhances our team’s confidence in pricing decisions and will support our continued expansion across the U.S.,” Wolmer said.

ZestyAI founder and CEO Attila Toth noted that DUAL’s adoption of the model reflects a proactive approach to storm-risk management. “By applying property-level risk analytics and mitigation-aware scoring, DUAL is positioned to underwrite more precisely, grow responsibly, and strengthen community resilience across the regions that are most exposed to extreme weather,” Toth said.

Wright National Flood Insurance Company (Wright Flood), through its affiliate Wright National Flood Insurance Services, has agreed to acquire the assets of Poulton Associates, a long-standing player in the catastrophe risk space headquartered in Salt Lake City.

According to Wright Flood, the transaction is expected to strengthen its position as the “largest” flood insurance provider in the US. The deal is anticipated to close in November 2025, subject to certain conditions.

Details of the Acquisition

Poulton Associates has been offering risk services since 1989 and operates the web platform CATcoverage.com. Through its National Catastrophe Insurance Program (NCIP) and other natural catastrophe insurance products, the company provides property and casualty risk placement services across all 50 US states. It works through licensed insurance agents and brokers to bring catastrophe coverage to policyholders.

Wright Flood stated that the acquisition will bring together complementary teams and product offerings. Poulton Associates president Blake Poulton said: “This is an exciting day. By bringing our complementary teams together, the future of flood looks ‘Wright’.” He added that the companies’ offerings are complementary and that producers and customers “stand to benefit,” calling the deal a “true win-win.”

Profile of Poulton Associates

Based in Salt Lake City, Poulton Associates focuses on catastrophe-related insurance solutions. Its NCIP platform and CATcoverage.com website support coverage for a range of natural catastrophe risks. By working with licensed insurance agents and brokers, the firm delivers property and casualty risk placement services in every US state.

The company has built its position in the market over several decades of risk services since 1989, particularly around catastrophe exposures.

Wright Flood’s Market Position

Wright Flood is a subsidiary of Brown & Brown and operates within Arrowhead Programs, a unit of Arrowhead Intermediaries. The company offers a range of flood insurance products, including federal, excess, and private flood options, and serves 4.7 million flood policyholders.

In 2023, Wright Flood introduced FocusFlood, a residential private flood insurance product, expanding its portfolio of flood-related offerings.

Wright Flood CEO and chief programme advocate Patty Templeton-Jones said the organisation looks forward to welcoming the Poulton team. She noted that the two organisations share a similar culture and a dedicated focus on providing comprehensive flood insurance and related protections to policyholders. According to Templeton-Jones, combining the teams will help deliver greater value to customers and increase the number of properties covered by flood insurance.

Role of Arrowhead Programs

Arrowhead Programs manages a wide range of insurance programme businesses globally in commercial, personal, and specialty insurance sectors. Its managing general agents and underwriters offer specialised insurance solutions in partnership with various companies.

Commenting on the transaction, Arrowhead Programs president Tom Kussurelis said that Poulton has long been recognised as one of the top companies in the flood insurance space. He stated that together, Wright Flood and Poulton will “present the largest and most comprehensive flood insurance offerings in the market.” Kussurelis added that the combined knowledge will continue to support policyholders facing flood risks and help ensure that claimants receive support after a loss.

A new flood protection model developed by researchers at TU Wien and Joanneum Research examines the interaction between public and private measures — and how this interaction can influence the damage caused by future floods.

The study, published in Water Resources Research, utilizes survey data from thousands of Austrian households to examine how individuals respond to flood events over time and how these responses interact with large-scale public infrastructure, such as dams and retention basins. The model is designed to describe, in mathematical terms, how natural conditions and human behavior influence each other in the context of flood risk.

Rising Flood Risk in a Changing Climate

According to the research team, many regions will face more severe flood events in the coming decades as climate change progresses. There are two main ways people can respond:

• Individuals can take steps to protect themselves, such as purchasing insurance, making home modifications, or planning for emergencies.
• Communities and governments can invest in public protection measures, including dams, levees, and retention basins, to reduce overall flood risk.

The new model focuses on how these two approaches interact over time rather than viewing them in isolation.

“After the Flood” Behavior: Preparedness Rises, Then Fades

Lead author Gemma Carr, from the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at TU Wien, explains that people’s attitudes toward flood protection change after they experience a flood.

During and after a flood disaster, residents tend to gain knowledge about the hazard, its impacts, and their own vulnerability. They become more aware of the risks and, for a time, are more willing to invest in measures such as:

• Safeguarding their homes,
• Developing emergency plans, and
• Taking out insurance.

In total, 3,770 households across Austria were surveyed, and the team analyzed this data to understand these behavioral shifts.

The results show a clear pattern: when no floods occur for a period of time, household preparedness decreases significantly. Even if scientific assessments of flood risk remain the same, people tend to downgrade the priority of flood protection in their own decision-making.

Public Protection Can Lower Private Readiness

The model also explores how public flood protection measures influence individual behavior.

Carr notes that when public infrastructure reduces the likelihood of flooding, the direct effect is positive — fewer events and less frequent damage. However, the study shows that this can also lead to unintended consequences. As the perceived risk declines, some individuals may reduce their own preparedness or forgo private measures that would still be prudent in the long term.

This phenomenon has been discussed conceptually in the past. According to the authors, this study is the first to empirically demonstrate the effect using household survey data and to integrate it into a socio-hydrological model, enabling a quantitative analysis of how natural conditions, public interventions, and private decisions interact.

The research also includes a schematic representation of properties located in 30-, 100-, and 300-year flood zones. The diagram illustrates how public measures can reduce the probability of flooding in each zone over time, thereby lowering exposure. At the same time, the model accounts for how household preparedness and structural measures at the property level reduce vulnerability to damage.

Earlier and Potentially Higher Costs Under Climate Change

The model is used to investigate how climate change may alter the timing and magnitude of major flood events.

Carr points out that a large, once-in-a-century flood, which might previously have been expected decades in the future, could occur within just a few years under climate change conditions. If that happens, public and private protective measures may not yet have reached the levels anticipated for a later date.

In that case, costs would arise earlier than expected and may be higher, because communities and households would still be in the process of building up their protective capacity.

Importance of Proactive Flood Protection

The study emphasizes the importance of taking action before major flood events occur. Carr emphasizes that it is essential to promote proactive flood protection rather than relying only on a surge of activity after disasters.

From the authors’ perspective, key elements of proactive protection include:

• Providing better information about flood risks,
• Offering opportunities for households to protect themselves in time, and
• Raising awareness of flood protection options.

According to the paper, these steps can help minimize long-term costs by strengthening resilience in advance of extreme events.

Public and Private Measures as Complements

One of the central messages of the model is that public and private measures should not be viewed as substitutes for each other. The analysis suggests they work best when they complement each other.

The model shows that reducing government flood protection increases overall risk, and that this increased risk cannot be fully offset by stronger private precautions alone. While the study indicates that individual precautions should be enhanced, it also reports that withdrawing public support — effectively “privatizing the risk” — is not a sensible solution from the authors’ standpoint.

Instead, the research frames flood protection as a combined effort: public infrastructure to reduce hazard and exposure, alongside household-level and structural measures to lower vulnerability.

The findings aim to enhance understanding of how societies adapt to changing flood risks and how public policy and individual behavior, when considered together, shape future flood impacts.

Amwins has released new data in its “State of the Market: A Focus on Public Entity” report, offering a concise look at how public entity insurance is shaping up in 2025. Overall, conditions appear relatively stable, even as legal, legislative and valuation pressures continue to shape how risk is underwritten.

Big Picture

• The public entity market is generally stable in 2025.
• Large public entities are still guided mainly by budgets, limits, and retentions, which are staying fairly consistent year over year.
• Carriers are becoming more selective and are leaning heavily on updated data, valuations, and technology.

Property Highlights

• The property market is softening, with more capacity and competition, including for regional school districts and municipalities.
• Valuations are under the microscope as inflation and construction costs push replacement values higher.
• Large or catastrophe-exposed schedules still face tighter capacity, and layered structures are increasingly common.

Casualty Highlights

• Casualty remains pressured by legal system abuse, nuclear verdicts, social inflation, and shifting legislation.
• Reviver statutes, including California’s AB 218, are driving large volumes of historical abuse claims — one example cited is a $4 billion settlement involving Los Angeles County.
• Trends include more claims being brought in federal court to avoid tort caps and the growing use of theories that challenge traditional immunity protections.
• Collaboration among defense counsel, pools, and carriers is increasing, along with the use of analytics and AI to support litigation and claims strategies.

Professional Lines & Underwriting

• Cyber claims have not slowed, but overall appetite and underwriting requirements remain steady, with tighter conditions and fewer carriers offering higher limits, especially on larger risks.
• Some package and program carriers are reducing limits or trimming professional coverages, prompting more interest in standalone public official, crime, and fiduciary liability policies.
• Underwriting remains selective and jurisdiction-driven, with higher limits harder to secure and more emphasis on recent three to five years of loss data, standard exclusions (such as PFAS, cyber, and biometric), and higher retentions or self-insured layers.

Venture capitalist David Sacks, who serves as President Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, said there will be “no federal bailout for AI,” drawing a clear line on federal support for major artificial intelligence companies.

Sacks’ remarks followed recent comments from OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar about how the company is looking to finance large-scale infrastructure investments for its AI operations.

Sacks: If One Frontier Model Company Fails, Others Will Replace It

In a post on X on November 6, 2025, Sacks wrote that the United States has “at least 5 major frontier model companies,” adding that “if one fails, others will take its place.”

His statement indicates that, in his view, the federal government should not provide a bailout if a leading AI company gets into financial trouble.

Sacks currently serves in the White House as the administration’s AI and crypto czar and has taken part in federal discussions on artificial intelligence policy, including a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education in the East Room on September 4, 2025.

OpenAI CFO Floats A “Backstop,” Then Clarifies

On Wednesday, November 5, 2025, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar spoke about the company’s approach to funding the infrastructure needed to support its AI models.

She described a vision of an “ecosystem” involving private equity, banks, and a potential federal “backstop” or “guarantee” that could help finance OpenAI’s infrastructure investments. The reference to a federal backstop drew attention because it suggested a possible government role in underpinning the company’s long-term capital needs.

After those comments circulated, Friar later clarified her position in a LinkedIn post, saying that OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for its infrastructure commitments. She wrote that her use of the word “backstop” had clouded the point she intended to make.

In that clarification, Friar emphasized that American strength in technology will depend on building “real industrial capacity,” and that this requires both the private sector and government to “play their part.”

OpenAI directed inquiries to Friar’s LinkedIn clarification. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Policy Emphasis On Permitting, Power, And Infrastructure

While rejecting the idea of any bailout, Sacks also outlined where the Trump administration aims to support the growth of AI infrastructure.

He said the administration aims to simplify permitting and power generation, to facilitate rapid infrastructure development without increasing residential electricity rates.

Sacks added that he did not believe anyone was literally asking for a bailout, writing that, to give the benefit of the doubt, he did not think that was the real intent behind the earlier comments, and that “would be ridiculous.”

Taken together, his statements reinforce a position that favors streamlining infrastructure development and energy access for AI companies, while keeping financial risk with private firms and investors rather than shifting it to the federal government.

Tech & Industry Trends: Infrastructure Risk And AI Growth

Although this is not a property and casualty-specific policy move, the exchange between Sacks and Friar points to broader trends around AI infrastructure and potential risk exposures.

As AI companies scale and invest heavily in data centres and compute capacity, several themes emerge from the commentary provided alongside this story:

• The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure may lead to increased exposure to power supply disruptions, data center outages, and infrastructure-related failures.
• Without an expectation of federal bailouts, financial and operational risk is likely to remain concentrated in private markets, lenders, and counterparties.
• The growing demand for large-scale computing and energy may draw more attention to how infrastructure is financed, permitted, and insured, including the role of power generation and grid reliability.

At a high level, the discussion highlights that AI is not only a software and algorithm story, but also an infrastructure-intensive sector that relies on robust power, physical facilities, and complex supply chains — all areas where operational resilience and risk management are likely to remain in focus as the industry expands.

Mortgage rates rose slightly this week after a month-long decline, as markets reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks suggesting a more guarded approach to future rate cuts, according to Realtor.com.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on 30-year fixed home loans climbed to 6.22% for the week ending November 6, up from 6.17% the previous week. A year ago, the average rate was 6.79%. “On a median-priced home, this could allow a homebuyer to save thousands annually compared to earlier this year, showing that affordability is slowly improving,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

The modest uptick came shortly after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to lower the benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.75%–4%. Although the move was expected, Powell’s subsequent comments tempered expectations for another cut in December. “A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” Powell told reporters. “Policy is not on a preset course.”

The Fed’s decisions are being made without access to key economic data, including unemployment figures, due to the ongoing government shutdown now entering its second month.

Market Reaction and Housing Activity

Following Powell’s remarks, the 10-year Treasury yield rose, and mortgage rates followed suit. Yields and mortgage rates often move in tandem, as Treasury bonds reflect investor sentiment on economic growth and inflation.

Despite the uptick, rates remain significantly lower than the highs seen earlier in 2025. “Nevertheless, mortgage rates remain well below recent highs, offering slightly improved affordability for buyers hoping to secure a home before year-end,” said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.

In October, home shoppers in the South and West benefited from easing prices, lower mortgage rates, and greater inventory. Buyers in the Midwest and Northeast saw more modest signs of improvement. Nationally, homes are still taking about two months to sell—an indication that many buyers remain cautious amid economic uncertainty. “Despite the positive undercurrent of lower rates, uncertainty persists,” Jones noted. “The recent government shutdown has weighed on buyer sentiment, particularly in federal-heavy markets and metros tied closely to public-sector employment.”

As the housing market moves further into fall, seasonal slowdowns are expected as both buyers and sellers shift focus toward the holidays. However, Jones added that motivated shoppers may find a brief opportunity window as prices ease and inventory grows.

Different mortgage programs have varying credit score requirements, and individual lenders may apply stricter standards to ensure borrowers can meet repayment obligations.

The latest Global InsurTech Report for the third quarter of 2025 provides an overview of the ongoing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping the insurance and reinsurance sectors, with a specific focus on commercial insurance. The report evaluates how InsurTech firms are leveraging AI to transform this major line of business — both through collaborations with established carriers and through the development of standalone solutions.

In addition to its analysis of AI applications, the report examines overall InsurTech market performance during Q3 2025. Despite a slight decline compared to the previous quarter, global InsurTech funding reached $1.01 billion, remaining within a 10% margin of the $1.1 billion average observed over the past three years. This reflects a continuation of the steady funding trend the sector has maintained in recent periods.

Key Findings

• Global funding: $1.01 billion in Q3 2025
• Deal activity: 76 deals recorded — the lowest count since Q2 2020
• Early-stage growth: Early-stage funding increased 6.8% quarter over quarter
• AI-driven focus: 74.8% of total Q3 InsurTech funding went to AI-centered companies
• Commercial insurance investment: Commercial-focused InsurTechs raised $470.67 million during the quarter
• (Re)insurance participation: (Re)insurance companies backed 51 tech investments — the highest number on record

The report highlights the continued integration of AI technologies across the global InsurTech landscape, particularly within commercial insurance, underscoring its role in shaping new models of efficiency, underwriting, and customer service.

View the full report.

A Virginia jury has awarded $10 million to Abby Zwerner, an elementary school teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in her classroom on January 6, 2023. Zwerner, who taught at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, sustained serious injuries after the bullet passed through her hand and into her chest, causing a collapsed lung.

The lawsuit, filed by Zwerner, sought $40 million in damages and named former assistant principal Ebony Parker as the defendant. After more than five hours of deliberation, jurors found Parker liable for the shooting, though the amount awarded was significantly less than the original request. The verdict must still be affirmed by a judge before Parker is required to pay any damages.

According to court documents, Zwerner alleged that the student had a documented history of behavioral issues, including a prior incident in which he reportedly strangled and choked a teacher. The lawsuit stated that Parker had been repeatedly warned about the student’s behavior but had failed to take appropriate action.

On the day of the shooting, multiple staff members allegedly raised concerns that the student might be armed. Zwerner’s lawsuit claimed that Parker declined to authorize a search of the child for a weapon, despite these warnings.

Separate from the civil case, Parker has been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse in connection with the incident. The criminal proceedings are ongoing.

The shooting drew national attention and raised questions about school safety, accountability, and administrative response to behavioral threats involving young students.

Spektrum Labs has announced the launch of a free New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Compliance Journey, designed to help organizations meet the updated requirements of 23 NYCRR Part 500. The limited-time offer provides a guided, step-by-step process to validate and prove compliance while strengthening cybersecurity posture and reducing regulatory exposure.

Updated NYDFS Cybersecurity Requirements

Effective November 1, 2025, all entities covered under 23 NYCRR Part 500 must comply with several new mandates:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Required for all individuals accessing any information system, expanding beyond previous requirements that applied only to remote or privileged accounts.
• Asset inventory: Organizations must establish and maintain a complete, accurate, and documented inventory of their information systems, serving as a single authoritative source of truth.
• Risk assessments: Must be updated more frequently than once a year when a “material change” occurs.

Together, these changes emphasize the need for continuous monitoring, documentation, and verification of cybersecurity programs — not just annual assessments.

Features of the Free NYDFS Compliance Journey

Spektrum’s free NYDFS Journey helps organizations achieve continuous compliance through:

• A full NYDFS-aligned compliance checklist
• Automated resilience and control validation
• Zero-knowledge proof capability for audit-grade attestations

Built on Spektrum’s patented Cyber Resilience Data Fabric, the platform enables real-time validation and automates the most time-consuming parts of compliance. It also offers cryptographic proof of resilience.

Key Platform Capabilities

• Tokenized compliance & audit readiness: Converts cybersecurity, backup, and compliance data into immutable, verifiable tokens that represent specific NYDFS requirements. This allows organizations to demonstrate compliance without disclosing sensitive data.
• Zero-knowledge proofs: Validates that risk assessments have led to updated controls while protecting internal configurations and sensitive information.
• Real-time compliance monitoring (paid version): Provides a continuously updated compliance view, alerting teams when controls drift out of compliance and triggering corrective workflows.

Organizations can enroll in the free NYDFS Journey through Spektrum’s website.

Statement from Spektrum Leadership

Joshua Brown, CISO of Spektrum, said: “With the NYDFS amendments, proving compliance becomes a continuous state of readiness, not an annual event. The ability to rapidly and automatically demonstrate audit-readiness and risk-informed controls is no longer a competitive advantage; it’s a regulatory necessity. Spektrum is the only platform offering provable, real-time, tokenized compliance with integrated support for audits, automated remediation, and insurability.”

About Spektrum Labs

Spektrum Labs is an AI-first cyber resilience company focused on building infrastructure for provable protection. By integrating security, backup, and insurance, Spektrum provides cryptographic proof that safeguards are working before, during, and after a breach. Enterprises use the Spektrum Fusion platform to streamline board reporting, accelerate insurance approvals, and verify resilience.

For more information, visit spektrum.ai.