A planned overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program will involve the use of private-sector data to price flood insurance based on homes' individual flood risk, supplanting the current reliance on a single formula for all homes in a flood zone, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. The revised rates, which will also include coastal-surge risk and home-replacement costs as factors, are expected to take effect beginning in October 2020.

The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee has voted in favor of a bill intended to reduce assignment-of-benefits litigation and abuse, which the insurance industry blames for contributing to rising insurance rates in the state. The measure would allow one-way attorneys' fees only for policyholders.

Reports of golf balls striking vehicles near a country club in Seal Beach, Calif., highlight the issue of liability for such incidents. APCIA's Robert Passmore said comprehensive auto insurance policies typically cover damage from errant golf balls, although insurers might face difficulty if they aim to prove a golf course was negligent regarding golf-ball damage.

Cal Fire said the National Guard will help with managing trees and vegetation as well as establishing fuel breaks to curtail wildfire risk. The state will focus on efforts in more than 200 communities deemed particularly at risk from wildfires.

Texas lawmakers have introduced three measures intended to limit the influence that the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance has on courts in the state. The restatement, which addresses insurers' liability in civil lawsuits, "is neither consistent with well-established insurance law nor respectful of the role of state legislators in establishing legal standards and practice for the insurance industry," one Texas resolution says.

A bill that would eliminate Maryland's statute of limitations for lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse has gained approval from the state House of Delegates. The measure, which now moves to the Senate, also would provide a two-year period for the filing of lawsuits by people who currently are outside the statute of limitations.

Universities named in the recent college admissions bribery scandal are being sued by two Stanford University students. The students claim that they would not have spent money on the application fees for Yale University and University of Southern California if they had been aware that their systems were "warped and rigged by fraud."

Flooding caused by last week's "bomb cyclone" storm that hit the Midwest has led to major flooding in the Missouri and Mississippi river basins. The flooding has broken records throughout Nebraska and left at least two people dead there, while officials in Iowa have reported at least one flood-related death.

Auto insurance rates in Michigan remain high not because of insurers' consideration of credit scores in calculating premiums, but because drivers in the state must carry unlimited lifetime medical benefits, said Jeff Brewer of APCIA. A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives would prohibit insurers from using credit history as a factor in determining auto insurance rates.

The 2018 fatal crash involving an Uber self-driving vehicle in Arizona was found to be avoidable and dealt autonomous-vehicle testing a temporary setback. Nearly a year later, the Yavapai County attorney has determined there is "no basis for criminal liability" for Uber, and companies including Waymo, Nuro and Intel have deployed the tests on Arizona's public roads.