To recap the issues raised during this week’s conference call, here are the key media stories we discussed, and the messages we’re conveying.
If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, August 23, please email Michael Barry at michaelb@iii.org.
VIRGINIA VIOLENCE PROMPTS NEWS MEDIA INTEREST IN RIOT COVERAGE
CBS MoneyWatch’s Ed Leefeldt and A.M. Best’s Frank Klimko are both preparing stories on the insurance implications of last weekend’s deadly protests at the University of Virginia.
I.I.I. ISSUES RELEASE IN ADVANCE OF HURRICANE ANDREW’s 25th ANNIVERSARY
The second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history made landfall in Florida on August 24, 1992.
FOURTEEN STATES TO BE IMPACTED BY RARE TOTAL ECLIPSE ON MONDAY, AUG. 21
Reporters are asking whether auto accidents will increase, and if homeowners are covered if they rent out their homes to eclipse-watchers. FEMA (see page 4) outlined the total eclipse’s cross-country path.
GERT BECOMES THE SECOND ATLANTIC HURRICANE
Gert developed west of Bermuda and is traveling this week far to the east of the U.S.’s Atlantic coastline. Franklin was 2017’s first hurricane.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian is taping on Tuesday, Aug. 22, an interview with Tampa’s CBS affiliate on the issue of fraudulent auto glass claims. She is also providing information to The Tampa Bay Times on the insurance coverage carried by gun shop owners in the wake of a series of gun shop burglaries.
Rochester, NY NBC affiliate airing segment tonight at 5:30 p.m. re: NY’s no-fault system. Interviewed NYIA’s Marc Craw with peg to incident in which medical bill was sent to the not-at-fault party.
Barry talking tomorrow to William Hoffman of Auto Finance News re: Well Fargo’s auto insurance settlement.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT (Marielle)
CAPITOL HILL
Kevelighan, Lynch, and Weisbart to address FIO’s Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance tomorrow (Thursday) at 1 p.m. in D.C. Bloomberg BNA’s Brandon Ross will cover the proceedings.
President Trump signed an executive order that revokes 2015’s Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (see Section 6). The Washington Post had a story on the decision which was highlighted in today’s I.I.I. Daily.
STATES
California (Janet)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-insurance-rates-20170810-htmlstory.html Auto insurance costs are on the rise. With more people employed, “We see more people on the roads, more people commuting,” says Janet Ruiz, the Insurance Information Institute’s California representative. That means more accidents, she says. State Farm, the largest auto insurer in the U.S., has seen a continual rise in claims costs due to more expensive vehicle repairs and rising medical costs in recent years, says Sevag Sarkissian, a State Farm spokesman. Many insurers are seeing the same trend. Car technology: The safety features, cameras, sensors and computer systems now commonplace in new cars may help make drivers safer. But these sophisticated car parts are expensive to replace after accidents, Ruiz says.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/category/spoken-word-kpixtv/3714489-auto-insurance-rates-climb-to-new-heights/ KPIX 5, CBS San Francisco – Rising costs of Auto Insurance.
http://www.kcra.com/article/urban-auto-fraud-task-force-uncovers-sacramento-organized-crime-ring/12007060 California’s Department of Insurance Auto Fraud Task Force is investigating an organized crime network that could include as many as 65 people. “Everybody should be angry because you’re paying for this, because insurers pass along their fraud losses to you through higher insurance premiums,” California Department of Insurance spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid said. Kincaid said this is one of the larger auto insurance fraud cases in the Sacramento region, involving more than $500,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.
https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/state-supreme-court-affirms-homeowner-reimbursement-protections-supported-by-jones#.WZO6QbpFzmQ Jones filed an amicus brief supporting Garnes’ argument, pointing out that the Insurance Code entitled her to be reimbursed for the cost of repairing her home even if it exceeded the fair market value of the home. The lower court relied on Commissioner Jones’ interpretation of the Insurance Code when it ruled in favor of Ms. Garnes.
Residential evacuations in Montana, Washington, and a number of other states due to wildfires; will get clips into the recap memo.
Oklahoma (Bill)
A 29-year-old woman injured due to an equestrian accident in May 2016 in Marlow is in the midst of a prolonged insurance dispute that now involves the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Louisiana (Bill)
Nearly 700 FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims were filed this month after portions of New Orleans were flooded due to heavy rain and the failure of the city’s drainage system on Saturday, Aug. 5.
An NFIP specialist will be available to answer questions starting today (Wednesday), and through the weekend, at the Corpus Christi Community Resource Center, St. Bernard Avenue, New Orleans.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is under fire because the flooding would likely have been averted except three of the city’s five Sewerage and Water Board turbines were offline, and another lost power during the event, FEMA said.
A Baton Rouge Advocate editorial focused on the importance of having flood coverage while also noting the first anniversary of the Aug. 13, 2016, historic flooding in the Baton Rouge area.
Florida (Lynne)
CBS MoneyWatch has posted its article on assignment of benefits abuse in the state; the I.I.I.’s McChristian pitched the story.
Citizens is holding a public hearing on August 23 re: its proposed rate hike.
Hundreds of undocumented workers were either arrested, or had their workers’ compensation claims denied, in the 14 years since the state enacted a law saying w/c claims could only be filed by legal U.S. citizens, according to a ProPublica story that is also airing on National Public Radio.
South Carolina (Russ)
The SC Insurance Association’s Russ Dubisky is taping today (August 16) a hurricane preparedness interview with Conway’s ABC affiliate for broadcast on a Sunday, August 20, public affairs program on WPDE-TV.
West Virginia
The governor has requested a major federal disaster declaration for the July 28-29, 2017, flooding and mudslides.
MEDIA MATTERS
Disney paid $177 million to settle a lawsuit filed after Disney-owned ABC’s World News Tonight broadcast in 2012 a series of investigative stories on so-called ‘pink slime,’ according to regulatory filings. The plaintiff was Beef Products Inc.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group’s relationship with policy-makers at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was examined in a front-page story in The New York Times.
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.
