SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL August 10, 2011

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

 

The two-page paper, compiled by the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and Steve Weisbart, was released on Monday, August 8, along with an I.I.I. media advisory. The I.I.I.’s analysis generated stories in The Hartford Courant, Business Insurance, and National Underwriter.

New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, Teachers and Insurance Annuity Association (TIAA), and United States Automobile Association (USAA) are mentioned in this Monday, August 8, S&P news release, in which the ratings agency explains its decision.

CNBC producer Sabrina Korber taped an interview on Thursday, August 11, with the I.I.I.’s Hartwig as part of a three-part series being prepared in advance of 10^th anniversary of 9/11.  It will explore: 1) the cost of 9/11 to Wall Street; 2) the cost of 9/11 to New York City; and 3) the cost of 9/11 to the overall U.S. economy.  The I.I.I. could find itself quoted in one, or all, of the segments. Steve Liesman, a senior economics reporter, is the on-air reporter. The issue of terrorism risk insurance will also likely be covered by CNBC when the series airs during the week of September 5-9. In a related development, a report titled Terrorism: Terror Market Continues to Provide Abundant Cover was issued by Guy Carpenter on Tuesday, August 9.

 

The federal government reports that, as of June 2011, life insurance carrier employment had dropped by 7,300 positions over the past 12 months, as did P/C carrier employment (down 9,200 jobs since June 2010). The total number of insurance agents and brokers, however, rose by 2,800 positions (0.4 percent) in June 2011 as compared to May 2011, and was higher (644,500 jobs) than at any time since December 2009.  The I.I.I.’s PowerPoint analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data is online at /presentations/employmenttrends/.

AccuWeather.com was the source of a front page graphic in USA Today’s Monday, August 8, edition showing the number of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms for each month from May to November from 1851 to 2010. September was the most active month during the period, with a total of 548 storms.

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and its proposed premium rate increase for sinkholes was the subject of a radio interview taped on Monday, August 1, with WUSF (National Public Radio) in Tampa for Florida Matters, a 30-minute in-depth news program. The panel included the I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian, Florida state Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), Sean Shaw, a former Florida insurance consumer advocate who now works for The Merlin Law Group, and Florida state Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton). Citizens’ CFO Sharon Binnun was interviewed separately for the program, which aired on Tuesday, August 2, at 6:30 p.m., and again on Sunday, August 7, at 7:30 a.m. WUSF’s initial story on the matter was posted on Thursday, July 27, the same day McChristian blogged about the issue.

Senator Fasano and Policyholders of Florida will be lining up on Tuesday, August 16, between 4 and 6 p.m., in front of the Pasco County Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey, Florida, “to wave signs and express their opposition to the proposed sinkhole rate increases sought by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation,” according to this Thursday, August 11, news release.

The NFIP is scheduled to expire on Friday, September 30, in the absence of Congressional action. The U.S. House has already approved a five-year extension of the program.

The I.I.I.’s Elianne Gonzalez taped an interview on Tuesday, August 9, with Univision in New York City regarding pool safety and insurance issues.  The segment is slated to air on Wednesday, August 17, as part of Channel 41’s 6 p.m. news broadcast…the I.I.I.’s Mike Barry worked with CFO Magazine’s Marielle Segarra for a story she is writing on business survival rates after natural disasters, Business First’s Adrian Burns for a story the Columbus, Ohio-based reporter is filing on claims payouts resulting from tornadoes, and Insurance.com’s Michele Lerner for an article she is readying on Volvo’s new crash avoidance device, City Safety…the I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters gave an interview to Jeff Blyskal, a reporter with Consumer Reports Money Adviser Newsletter, who is doing a story on extended replacement coverage and insuring homes to value, briefed Emmet Pierce of Insure.com on home replacement coverage and the way insurers pay claims following a major disaster, and spoke to Linda Melone of InsuranceQuotes.com for a story on life insurance and extreme sports. Melone wanted to know how often a prospective policyholder gets turned down for life insurance coverage if they enjoy sports such as sky diving.  Both Barry and Worters developed the I.I.I.’s response to Cecil Angel of the Detroit Free Press, who wanted to explore the insurance implications of DuPont’s recall of the herbicide Imprelis.

Anita Lee of The Biloxi Sun-Herald wrote in this Saturday, August 6, article that policyholders must be ready to prove to insurers the extent to which wind damaged their home after a hurricane, and highlighted how the state’s wind pool has grown to 46,000 from 16,000 homeowners policies since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Meanwhile, WLOX-TV, the ABC affiliate in Biloxi, Mississippi reported this week on an Ocean Springs, Mississippi, businessman’s efforts to market a so-called hurricane camera, a $3,000 device which could record all the damage as it happens during a storm in order to ease the process of filing and deciding hurricane claims. 

The Austin American-Statesman story ran on Thursday, August 4, and offered details about the company’s origins and financial performance.

According to the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, 97 percent of the auto insurance premium rate increases in 2010 were due to rising personal injury project (PIP) costs, with insurers paying out $1.23 in benefits for every dollar they charged in PIP premiums. This Sunday, August 7 article, posted at New England Cable Network, explains what PIP covers and how it works, details the changes proposed for medical services as well as the approval and dispute process, and who stands to gain from the implementation of the new rules. The text also discusses who supports the regulations and who is against them, and why. The public has until the end of September 2011 to comment on the new rules before the state decides to adopt them as is, make changes or start over.

 

WYOMING’S INSURANCE COMMISSIONER SAYS CHEYENNE HAIL STORM GENERATED COMPLAINTS ABOUT HOW AUTO CLAIMS WERE HANDLED
Some Cheyenne, Wyoming, residents, whose cars were damaged in a July 12 hail storm, say auto insurers are undervaluing their vehicles, according to this Tuesday, August 9, article in the Casper Star-Tribune. Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Ken Vines told the paper that the majority of the calls his department has received in the storm’s aftermath involved totaled vehicles. The state’s Insurance Department is recommending that dissatisfied vehicle owners request full explanations of the settlement offers they receive from insurers.

 

The Charleston Post & Courier says the state’s telecommunications companies have worked to hurricane-proof their facilities, according to this Sunday, August 7, article.  Most say their cell towers can withstand wind gusts in the 100-120 mile per hour range. 

–The S&P credit downgrade of the U.S. is a trending topic on Twitter. The I.I.I. article and Media Advisory about the credit downgrade are both very popular on Twitter and are being shared by a collection of journalists and people with financial institutions.

 

–Ben Berkowitz of Reuters and Matthew Sturdevant of The Hartford Courant both tweeted about how the S&P downgraded top-rated insurance companies, too.

 

–The rioting in London has also been trending in the social media space and there has been a large amount of Twitter activity talking about riot insurance for homes, automobiles, and businesses. The Association of British Insurers estimates the insured losses resulting from the civil unrest to be over £100 million and losses caused by the riots will be covered under most standard home, auto and business policies. The I.I.I.’s Claire Wilkinson blogged on Wednesday, August 10, about Riots and Insurance, as well.

 

–I.I.I. resources about college students’ insurance  needs continue to be popular shared items this week. Insurance agencies are posting our videos and articles regarding this topic to their Facebook pages. In addition, the editorial content is getting tweeted and reposted on a few blogs.

 

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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