SYNOPSIS – ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL August 21, 2013

 

If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, August 28, please email Loretta Worters at lorettaw@iii.org.

Ms. Miller, who has been IINC’s executive director for nearly 17 years, will leave her post effective Friday, October 4. Her successor has not as yet been named.

The Idaho fire broke out during the second week in August and has spread to 100,000 acres. More than 2,200 homes near Hailey and Ketchum have been evacuated, and other communities remain under a pre-evacuation warning as crews work to contain the main blaze, extinguish spot fires and protect homes, according to this Monday, August 19, USA Today article.

Thirteen of the 19 firefighters killed in late June in Prescott, Arizona, were considered either temporary or seasonal, according to this Monday, August 19, New York Times article.

The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and the Reinsurance Association of America’s Frank Nutter were interviewed for this Monday, August 19, WNYC (93.9 FM, 820 AM) segment.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released an expanded, data-rich version of its popular Hot Wheels report on Tuesday, August 20.

The CPI-U—sometimes called headline inflation—rose 0.2 percent in July 2013 vs. June 2013, after seasonal adjustment, and was up 2 percent in July 2013 vs. July 2012. The I.I.I.’s full Inflation Watch commentary and charts are posted in the I.I.I.’s Members Area (password required).

The I.I.I.’s Hartwig was interviewed by NBCNews.com economics reporter John Schoen about the economic impacts of multi-state wildfires….Money Magazine’s Florida-based Lisa Gibbs (Phone: 954-587-7595) is seeking industry sources who can offer estimates of how much more a 50-year-old male driver would pay for higher liability limits (250/500, rather than 50/100, for instance) if they had a tainted driving record as opposed to a clean one….The Wall Street Journal’s Ann Zimmerman is covering the wildfires in the western U.S. this week….the Associated Press’ (AP) Memphis, Tennessee-based Adrian Sainz (Phone: 901-525-1972) wants to know if any insurers write a landlord policy that pays for the clean-up of properties once used as crystal meth labs….The Los Angeles Times’ Alan Zarembo is readying an article that reviews how suicide is handled differently by life insurers that write policies for members of the military as opposed to those who cover civilians….The Oklahoman’s Brianna Bailey is prepping a piece on the latest rate filings from the state’s property insurers….The Palm Beach Post’s Charles Elmore was intrigued by this Bankrate study, which found that Florida is the 16^th costliest state to drive a car but has the 4^th highest auto insurance premiums….Dave Cherry, a consumer reporter at Phoenix’s CBS affiliate, has taken up the cause of a renters insurance policyholder who had their theft claim denied because the police report said there was no sign of forced entry into the residence before the theft took place….the I.I.I.’s Hartwig spoke with MaryAnn Spoto of New Jersey’s Star Ledger about Sandy related lawsuits.

 

A 200-page Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy Document was issued by the federal government on Monday, August 19. It stressed the need to build stronger, more resilient communities.

The Rim Fire in Stanislaus County, near Yosemite National Park, has destroyed two homes and seven outbuildings, and continues to threaten 4,500 structures, the Associated Press reports.

 

The Swedes Fire in Oroville (Butte County) threatened about 700 homes and had grown to nearly 2,000 acres by Sunday, August 18, the Sacramento Bee reported.

 

A wildfire was threatening about 400 homes near the Alta Sierra ski resort in Wofford Heights (Kern County) as of Monday, August 19, according to the Associated Press.

Los Angeles should insist developers that want to build near a mapped fault ought to dig a trench and look for the fault line before their project can be approved, according to this Friday, August 16, LA Times editorial. A $500 million residential and commercial development is about to be constructed in the vicinity of a Hollywood fault line, the project’s critics argued.

 

The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) held a public hearing in Tampa on Tuesday, August 20, to discuss Citizens’ proposed rate increases.

 

Workers compensation rates will increase one percent overall in 2014, based on the National Council of Compensation Insurance’s (NCCI) latest rate filing, OIR said, on Friday, August 16.

 

Sinkholes generated insurance claims totaling $1.4 billion between 2006-2010, CNBC’s Diana Olick reported, in this Thursday, August 15 segment, which also includes a brief interview with Paul Caldwell, CEO of Summer Bay Resort condominiums in Clermont, the property damaged by a sinkhole on Monday, August 12.

 

The state’s Bond Commission approved unanimously the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s request to have its line of credit  increased to $125 million from $75 million, according to this Thursday, August 15, article posted online at New Orleans’ Times-Picayune.

 

Richard Chambers, having pled guilty to racketeering while serving as the Insurance Department’s deputy commissioner in 2009-2010, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, one year of supervised release following his imprisonment, a fine of $10,500, and forfeiture of $11,341, according to this Friday, August 16, U.S. attorney’s office release.

 

Habitat for Humanity is trying to determine if upwards of 350 Jackson homeowners received insurance claim checks resulting from a Monday, March 18, hailstorm without having those payments made co-payable to Habitat for Humanity, according to this Friday, August 16 article in The Mississippi Business Journal.

 

The 10 largest home insurers raised their rates 7.6 percent in 2012 while the biggest auto insurers’ rates increased 4.1 percent last year, the Tuesday, August 20, Columbus Dispatch reports.

 

Residents of Moore, site of a deadly tornado in May, are weighing whether to require schools to have safe rooms, according to this Monday, August 19, Wall Street Journal article.

 

Auto insurers can ask drivers why they dropped their coverage but cannot charge them more for having done so, Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali said, on Tuesday, August 20.

 

Insurance Commissioner Todd Kiser issued a news release on Tuesday, August 20, offering tips on how to file a claim if your property has been damaged by a wildfire.

 

For the next two years, the University of Washington will be studying Mount St. Helens’ volcanic monitoring and advance warning system, according to this Wednesday, August 14, news release.

The big story this week is college students heading back to campus and making sure their belongings are properly insured. An I.I.I. press release on the topic is getting great pick-up on Twitter, with insurance agents sharing the story.

 

The I.I.I.’s Andréa Basora, along with the American Red Cross, the National Weather Service, and FLASH, have submitted a panel on technology and disaster response for the digital innovation conference, SXSW 2014. If you are interested in knowing more, or want to show your support for this panel, click here. 

Mark Ruquet is no longer with National Underwriter. His last day there was Friday, August 9.

 

Long Beach, California is now a two-newspaper town in the wake of the Monday, August 19, launch of the Orange County-owned Long Beach Register.

 

Ed Schultz will host a one-hour show starting at 5 p.m., ET, on MSNBC effective Monday, August 26.

 

Al Jazeera America debuted on Tuesday, August 18, having released its programming line-up a few days earlier.  The network has bureaus in 12 U.S. cities.

 

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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