To recap the issues raised during Wednesday’s conference call, here are some of the key media stories, and the messages we’re conveying.
If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, August 26, please email Mike Barry at Michaelb@iii.org.
Hurricane Bill, first of the 2009 Atlantic season, generates national headlines:
The storm’s parallel track along the U.S. East Coast provided the basis for this Wednesday, Aug. 19, I.I.I. press release on coverage and preparedness issues.
I.I.I. president does live interview with Fox Business Network; tapes segment for ABC’s 20/20:
I.I.I. president Bob Hartwig gave a live interview on Monday, Aug. 17, at 11:55 a.m. EST, with FBN anchor Brian Sullivan. The topic: how property/casualty insurers build their business around risk-based pricing. In a taped interview on that same day with ABC 20/20 host John Stossel, Hartwig discussed the same issue for possible inclusion in Stossel’s Friday, Aug. 28, 10 p.m., EST, story on the current health insurance reform debate in the U.S.
Wall Street Journal readying pieces on property insurers of last resort, ‘reluctant’ landlords:
WSJ reporter Leslie Scism is exploring how most state-run beach, wind and FAIR Plans, despite their shaky finances, are willing to insure homes with very high values even when the same coverage is available from private sector insurers. In addition, the I.I.I. has furnished Scism with the dollar limits of coverage for each of these state-run property insurers as well as a draft of the I.I.I.’s forthcoming paper on residual markets. Meanwhile, the WSJ’s M.P. McQueen continues to research the insurance issues arising from being a ‘reluctant’ landlord, i.e., someone who purchased another home, moved there, and then rented out their previous residence after being unable to sell it.
Beaumont, TX tornado is lead story on the Weather Channel, local TV stations:
Even with Hurricane Bill strengthening on Tuesday evening, Aug. 18, the Weather Channel’s lead item that night was the tornado that struck a Beaumont, TX shopping center earlier in the day. KFDM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Beaumont, filed this next day story. With regard to the print media, the I.I.I. shared with Beaumont Enterprise reporter Mike Smith at his request (mdsmith@beaumontenterprise.com, Phone: 409-880-0753) its facts & statistics on the tornadoes that have hit the U.S. in 2008 and 2009 for a story he was preparing on the insurance coverage issues which traditionally arise after these events.
H1N1 virus vaccine expected to be widely available by mid-October 2009:
In the hope of getting the vaccine to those who will need it most no later than mid-October, the federal government’s clinical trials will enroll as many as 1,000 adults and children at 10 centers nationwide. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is the agency leading the effort, according to this Tuesday, Aug. 18 press release.
California wildfires burn thousands of acres but result in very limited structural damage to properties:
The Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee published stories this week on wildfires in Santa Barbara (believed to have been caused by marijuana growers), Nevada and Yuba counties.
Poll shows former California insurance commissioner ahead in Sept. 1 congressional election:
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, a Democrat, holds a double-digit percentage lead over his rivals as they vie to succeed former Rep. Ellen Tauscher in California’s 10th Congressional district, according to a poll commissioned by San Francisco’s CBS affiliate, which reported its findings in this Thursday, Aug. 13, broadcast. The Democrat and the Republican in the 14-candidate race who receive the most votes in the Tuesday, Sept. 1, special election will face one another on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with the eventual winner serving the year remaining in former Rep. Tauscher’s term.
ISO increases to $12.5 billion from $10.7 billion its Hurricane Ike estimated insured loss figure:
The revision makes September 2008’s Hurricane Ike the third costliest in U.S. history, behind Katrina (2005) and Andrew (1992). The Houston Chronicle’s Purva Patel is expected to incorporate this information into an upcoming story.
James Wrynn appointed New York State insurance superintendent:
Governor David Paterson announced on Friday, Aug. 14, that Wrynn, executive director of the New York State Insurance Fund, was his choice to succeed Eric Dinallo as superintendent of insurance. Superintendent Wrynn’s first day on the job was Thursday, Aug. 20.
Maine considers creating a fraud unit within its Bureau of Insurance:
Two hearings to discuss the matter—one on Thursday, Aug. 20 and the other on Thursday, Sept. 10—are being held in Augusta, Maine, at the Cross Office Building, Room 216, between 1 and 4 p.m. The Maine Bureau of Insurance’s point of contact is Tim Schott, who heads the fraud unit working group. His direct line is 207-624-8403 and his email is timothy.n.schott@maine.gov.
St. Petersburg Times says governor, insurance commissioner deceived public about health of private-sector property insurance market:
Citing the release last week of an Office of Insurance Regulation report sought by Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer, the paper’s editorial board stated that, “just 5.6 percent of the new capital since January 2006 comes from regulated insurers who did not get a state handout to do business here. Another 6.6 percent is from regulated insurers who received either a state loan or payments for accepting former Citizens customers. But 87.8 percent of the new insurance capital came from ‘surplus lines carriers,’ companies that are not subject to state regulation in areas such as price, coverage or customer service.” Governor Crist and Insurance Commissioner McCarty have repeatedly implied that the state’s private property insurance market was healthy because $4.9 billion in new capital had come into the state’s property insurance market over the past three-plus years, the editorial, published on Monday, Aug. 17, notes.
Jacksonville, FL radio station interviews I.I.I.’s Weisbart on differences between Citizens and White House’s ‘public option’:
Citizens is very different from a health insurance program run by the federal government because Citizens has little leverage over the prices it must pay for goods and services, Moreover, Citizens can neither collect monies as efficiently as the federal government nor can Citizens access the U.S. Treasury as quickly as a federal program if deficits emerge. A link to all-news station WOKV’s Wednesday, Aug. 19, story is here.
Florida reports first population drop in 63 years:
The University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research reported on Monday, Aug. 17, that Florida’s population dropped by 58,000 between 2008 and 2009. This is the first decline since large numbers of military personnel left Florida in 1946, after World War II. The news received widespread media coverage.
AAA Carolinas subsidiary says it will write homeowners insurance policies in North Carolina:
Days after North Carolina’s state Legislature passed a Beach Plan reform bill, the AAA Carolinas-owned Members Insurance Company said it would begin offering homeowners insurance statewide. The news prompted this Friday, Aug. 14, press release from the North Carolina Department of Insurance and generated a next-day Charlotte Observer article.
Louisiana Citizens approves 4.3 percent statewide assessment; holds off on voting for 9 percent rate hike for Citizens’ policyholders:
The assessment paid by all homeowners insurance policyholders statewide, which had been 5 percent for the past two years, was reduced to 4.3 percent by the Louisiana Citizens’ board. The monies pay off the debt service on the $1 billion in bonds Citizens issued after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit Louisiana in 2005. Meanwhile, the Citizens’ board postponed until its Friday, Aug. 21, session a vote on a 9.2 percent premium rate hike for Citizens’ policyholders, according to this Thursday, Aug. 13 New Orleans Times-Picayune story.
Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s staff combing through hundreds of thousands of Department of Insurance documents:
Claiming some of the records Legislative Auditor Steven Theriot originally sought were protected under either state or federal privacy laws, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon lost a court battle to keep them off-limits. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported in its Tuesday, Aug. 18, edition about the arrival of Theriot’s staff members a day earlier at the Department of Insurance’s Baton Rouge offices; it is unclear what the Legislative Auditor is looking for.
Mississippi insurance commissioner marks Hurricane Camille’s 40th anniversary:
Pointing to the Hurricane Camille-related deaths and property damage in Mississippi on Aug. 17, 1969, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney issued this press release on Monday, Aug. 17, regarding preparedness and the importance of keeping coverage up-to-date. It resulted in a next-day Associated Press story.
Commissioner Chaney says he’ll seek re-election in 2011:
Commissioner Chaney’s statement can be read on page 2 of this Thursday, July 30, 2009, speech, which he delivered at the Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi. A former state senator, Chaney, a Republican, was first elected insurance commissioner in 2007.
Mobile Press-Register prepping piece on financial health of Alabama property insurers:
George Altman, a Montgomery, AL-based Capitol Bureau reporter for the Press-Register (Phone: 334-262-7087) spoke earlier this week with I.I.I. chief economist Weisbart about the way to interpret profit/loss data for the state’s property/casualty insurers.
Advance Publications names new president and publisher of the Mobile Press-Register:
Ricky Mathews, the 52-year-old former president and publisher of the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, will also have oversight over two other Advance-owned Alabama papers, the Birmingham News and the Huntsville Times, as well as the Mississippi Press, according to this Monday, Aug. 17, Birmingham News article
USA Weekend cover story offers auto, homeowner consumer tips:
The second of six Suze Orman’s ways “to keep more money in your wallet” calls for purchasing auto and homeowners policies from the same insurer and increasing deductibles. A link to her Sunday, Aug. 16, article is here.
Fox Business Network may simulcast ‘Imus in the Morning’ radio program:
The move could boost FBN’s lackluster viewer ratings, this Monday, Aug. 17, New York Times article theorizes.
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
For an I.I.I. Blog Search, click here.
