SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL April 10, 2013

 

If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, April 17, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.

 

Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict 18 tropical storms, nine of which will be hurricanes, and four of those major ones, this Wednesday, April 10, USA Today story reports. Weather Services International predicted on Monday, April 8, that 16 tropical storms would form in 2013, nine would become hurricanes, and five of those would be major ones.

 

U.S. property/casualty (P/C) carrier employment in February 2013 rose to 521,600 vs. January 2013 (up 1,000, or 0.2 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  I.I.I. president Bob Hartwig’s presentation and full commentary on the BLS insurance employment numbers is available online.

Co-authored by the I.I.I.’s Hartwig and Claire Wilkinson, the 22-page report concludes that, despite the fact that cyber risks are considered a serious threat, a majority of companies still do not purchase cyber risk insurance, though this is changing.

The number of U.S. workers receiving benefits through the Social Security Administration’s Disability Insurance (SSDI) program has grown dramatically in recent years, according to a front page story in the Monday, April 8, print edition of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). National Public Radio (NPR) explored this issue last month in Unfit for Work.

The facilities in question performed 5,138 spinal fusions on workers comp (w/c) patients between 2001 and 2010 and billed $533 million for the procedures—three times as much as any other hospital in the state, according to a Wednesday, April 10, article in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).  The California Department of Insurance is mentioned near the end.

Only 17 tornadoes touched down in the U.S. in March 2013, the fewest recorded in that month in several decades, USA Today reported, on Monday, April 8. There were 155 tornadoes reported nationwide  in 2013 through April 4, compared with an average of 286 for the first quarter of a typical year, the article states.

 

Noah Pransky of Tampa Bay, Florida’s CBS affiliate is seeking a adjuster willing to be interviewed on-air for a segment on how to detect fraudulent auto glass schemes.  If you know a prospective source, contact the I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian by day’s end Friday, April 12, at lynnem@iii.org.

New York City’s NBC affiliate is interviewing flood insurance policyholders who had their Sandy flood claims either denied or only partially paid. The on-air reporter is Chris Glorioso, and the story is expected to air either late in the week of April 15-19 or early in the week of April 22-26….The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is having difficulty finding homeowners insurers willing to respond to its survey on how insurers determine a home’s replacement cost value; this newspaper is also readying a story on how drivers can best recover financially when a pothole damages their car.

A National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHSTA) survey released on Friday, April 5, estimated that 660,000 Americans, or 5 percent of all motorists, are driving while simultaneously using an electronic device at any given typical daylight moment. 

 

NHTSA also unveiled last week its new online newsletter, SAFETY 1N NUM3ERS.  It will focus each month on hot topics in auto safety, the federal agency said.

More than 80 homes were evacuated in Ventura County as firefighters fought a wildfire in Filmore that burned 170 acres, the Los Angeles Times reported, in this Tuesday, April 9, article. The fire has since been extinguished, and the affected residents have returned to their residences.

The San Diego Union-Tribune, in this Friday, April 5, editorial, said it supports the enactment of a bill (AB 1309) that would halt generous workers compensation claim payouts to retired football players who spent their careers on non-California teams. 

 

The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board criticized this Consumer Watchdog news release on Monday, April 8, saying the group should not advocate for ballot initiatives (the second-to-last paragraph mentions a November 2014 statewide referendum) related to issues for which Consumer Watchdog is accepting federal taxpayer monies.

The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian appeared on the Sunday, April 7, NBC Nightly News broadcast, as part of a story on sinkholes and the risk they pose to life and property.

 

The I.I.I.’s McChristian and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater told Tampa’s Fox affiliate in this Thursday, April 4, segment that, if the 2012 no-fault reform law is implemented, drivers could see their auto insurance premiums decrease. The law has been temporarily blocked from taking effect because of a legal challenge to its constitutionality.

 

The state Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee briefly considered a bill that would repeal Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law effective January 2014 but, when no lawmaker had anything to say about it, Senator David Simmons (R-Maitland), the committee’s chairman, postponed a vote on the measure, the Associated Press reported, in a Tuesday, April 9, article.

 

The Florida Insurance Council (FIC) held a teleconference on Wednesday, April 10, to discuss its efforts to oppose Senate Bill 1832, which calls for repealing a tax credit given to insurers based on the amount of money paid in salaries to its employees within Florida. FIC wants Floridians who are insurance employees to lobby their legislators on the matter.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans has agreed to hear a case involving a lawsuit filed against energy and chemical companies in 2005. The plaintiffs are a group of Mississippi coastal landowners who believe the intensity of Hurricane Katrina can be traced to greenhouse gas emissions, this Monday, April 8, Associated Press article reports.

 

The hail storms that struck in and around Jackson on Monday, March 18, generated more than 40,000 insurance claims. About 75 percent were for damaged autos, according to this Tuesday, April 2, news release from the Mississippi Insurance Department. Insurers will cumulatively pay out more than $25 million because of this severe weather, the state estimates.

 

The Biloxi Sun Herald prominently covered a federal jury verdict which favored a North Biloxi couple over State Farm in Gulfport this week. The case involved a Katrina flood claim.

William McCune, the state Insurance Department’s chief examiner, is believed to have been murdered last weekend in Carson City, according to this Monday, April 8, Associated Press story. Police have arrested four people in connection with the 62-year-old McCune’s death.

 

Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski had an op-ed in the Wednesday, April 10, Asbury Park Press, saying 93 percent of New Jersey’s 445,200 Sandy claims had been closed.

 

New Jersey families whose homes incurred damage because of Sandy were profiled in this Fox News Channel story, which was first broadcast on Monday, April 1.

United Policyholders was awarded a $47,000 grant by the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund to “provide insurance-related education and counseling services,” the Bergen Record reported, in this Monday, April 8, article.

 

The Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) appeared before the Senate’s Budget and Appropriations committee on Wednesday, April 10, to discuss DOBI’s 2014 budget.

 

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page (subscription required) criticized in its weekend edition (April 6-7) the Cuomo administration’s plan to raid the State Insurance Fund (SIF), the largest writer of workers compensation insurance in New York, to balance the state budget.

 

Governor Cuomo issued a news release on Monday, April 8, saying the workers comp reforms in the recently enacted state budget will result in $800 million in savings for businesses.

 

The New York Daily News reported on Monday, April 8, that two of the businessmen who allegedly paid a bribe to a state Assemblyman from New York City recently settled for $2.4 million a lawsuit brought against them for their involvement in a no-fault auto insurance fraud scheme.

 

Elephant Insurance, a direct to consumer auto insurer which employs about 260 people at its Henrico office, has expanded into Illinois, Maryland and Texas since beginning its U.S. operations in 2009, according to this article in the Sunday, April 7, edition of The Richmond Times-Dispatch. The I.I.I.’s Hartwig is quoted, talking about insurer distribution channels.

 

A former firefighter who collects disability payments while also competing in challenging athletic events is suing Fox News Channel (FNC), alleging FNC defamed him in this broadcast, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, in its Friday, April 5, online edition.

The Weather Channel began airing its Great Tornado Hunt program this week. The show features Mike Bettis and Dr. Greg Forbes, their severe weather expert. In addition, the Weather Channel announced it would premiere five new series in 2013 as part of “an entire refresh of the network’s look and feel,” according to a Wednesday, April 3, news release.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer plans to lay off 53 of the 160-plus people in its newsroom and, even though the Advance-owned publication will print a daily newspaper, home delivery will be reduced to three from seven days a week.

 

Highway safety is a popular topic on Twitter this week, with I.I.I. facts and statistics being shared by insurance companies and agents. The focus is on pedestrians and how those struck by cars are most often hit while in the crosswalk with the traffic signal on their side. The I.I.I. released new facts and statistics following this Wednesday, April 3, New York Times article, which sparked interest in the issue.

 

Another trending topic is cyber security, with the I.I.I.’s new white paper on the growing cyber threat and its implications for insurance being shared on Twitter by insurance companies and blogs about specialty insurance. The conversation around this topic is who needs this type of insurance, and how it works.

 

The I.I.I. is cited regularly in the media as an authoritative source of insurance information. To access the current I.I.I. press clips, click here

 

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