Providing coverage: State Farm is now providing insurance in Louisiana and 13 other states to help fill the insurance gap for its policyholders who use their personal cars to provide rides for Transportation Network Companies such as Uber and Lyft. In a news release, State Farm says insurance provided by TNCs may be limited in scope and coverage. Personal auto policies also tend to not generally extend coverage for the use of personal cars as taxis or livery vehicles. To help fill the insurance gap, State Farm is offering an optional TNC Driver Coverage endorsement that enables the policyholder to have their personal auto policy fill in the coverage gaps left by TNC-provided insurance. The endorsement provides the driver with full coverage limits carried on his or her auto policy during the period of time when the driver is available for hire and other coverages applicable to the auto policy during all periods TNC driving. State Farm was previously offering the coverage in 10 states. Get more information.
Coach for a day: Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will bring his Super Bowl winning skills to Denham Springs High School, where he’ll coach the Yellow Jackets for a day. The high school squad is the winner of the CBS Sports’ “Coach Me Cowher Contest,” a national competition for which high school football teams from across the country submitted videos explaining why the Super Bowl coach should be their coach for a day. Denham Springs High School was announced as the winner over the weekend. The high school took on three to four feet of water during the August flood, and the team played its first game one month after the widespread flooding left 90% of the community underwater. Cowher says he’s “looking forward to going down there and meeting with that inspirational group of kids the resilient people who make up the Denham Springs community. It ought to be a great time.” CBS did not specify when Cowher will make his visit.
Striking a deal: General Electric Co., banking on a recovery in oil prices, announced this morning plans to merge its oil and gas business with No. 3 oilfield services provider Baker Hughes, which is based in Houston. Reuters reports GE will own 62.5% of the new company, which will have combined revenue of $32 billion, while Baker Hughes shareholders will own 37.5% Shareholders of Baker Hughes, which had a market value of about $26 billion as of Friday, will get a special one-time cash dividend of $17.50 per share after the deal closes. The deal comes after Baker Hughes’s planned merger with bigger rival Halliburton fell through in May due to opposition from regulators. That deal was valued at $34.6 billion when it was announced in November 2014. Read the full story.
