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, December 21, please email Mike Barry at Michaelb@iii.org
IN THE NEWS
I.I.I. CREATES NEW MADRID RESOURCE PAGE IN ADVANCE OF FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, BICENTENNIAL OF MAJOR CENTRAL U.S. EARTHQUAKE
The I.I.I. issued a media advisory to tout the launch of its special resource page, and call attention to this significant historic event. The Memphis Commercial Appeal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Associated Press article) and The Jefferson City (MO) News-Tribune (subscription required) were among the media outlets who marked the occasion.
I.I.I. WRITES WHITE PAPER ON SOCIAL MEDIA, LIABILITY AND INSURANCE
Co-written by the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and Claire Wilkerson, the document assesses the insurance repercussions of issues such as data breaches and cybercrimes. Wilkinson’s Wednesday, December 14, Terms + Conditions blog entry offered additional details on these topics.
PRUDENTIAL SCORES MAJOR VICTORY IN FLORIDA COURT CASE INVOLVING STRANGER-OWNED LIFE INSURANCE POLICY
Judge James Cohn of U.S. District Court in Southern Florida upheld the right of Prudential Financial Inc. to void a $10 million life insurance policy covering a retiree in Delray Beach, Florida, a rulingchronicled in this Monday, December 12, Wall Street Journal (subscription required) article. The piece also discusses the increasing legal obstacles facing investors who purchase the policies of the elderly in order to collect death benefits.
RENOWNED HURRICANE FORECASTERS SAY THEY’LL MODIFY THEIR DECEMBER PROGNOSTICATIONS IN THE FUTURE
Philip Klotzbach and William Gray, the Colorado State hurricane forecasters, have announced that they will limit their December prognostications going forward to probabilities, rather than suggesting the specific number of tropical storms they expect to form in the Atlantic basin between June and November 2012. Their next forecast is slated for release on April 4, 2012.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CALLS FOR BAN ON THE USE OF ALL PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHILE DRIVING
The NTSB’s Tuesday, December 13, announcement made national headlines and was the lead story on that night’s NBC Evening News. Days earlier, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that fatalities on U.S. highways in 2010 were at their lowest level since 1949.
CONSUMERINSURANCEGUIDE.COM AND LIFEQUOTES.COM SEEK I.I.I.’S INPUT ON UPCOMING ARTICLES
Chicago-based freelance writer Regina Waldroup is working on a story for consumerinsuranceguide.com about insurance fraud during the holidays. She is assessing whether there are higher incidences of insurance fraud around this time of year and what type of fraud usually happens around Christmas and New Year’s Day. Meanwhile, Lifequotes.com’s Rick Richards wanted to know if a person can purchase a life insurance policy for themselves if 1) they have ever had cancer or 2) attempted suicide. The short answer: in most cases, yes.
STATE UPDATES
Alabama
The I.I.I.’s Hartwig testified before the Alabama Affordable Homeowner’s Insurance Commission on Monday, December 12, and met with Governor Robert Bentley and Insurance Commissioner James Ridling while he was in Montgomery, Alabama.
California
TheLos Angeles Times reported on Friday, December 9, that this month’s Santa Ana windstorms caused more than $40 million in property damage in cities such as Pasadena and San Marino.
Connecticut
The I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart was quoted in a Friday, December 9, Hartford Courant story regarding the Connecticut Insurance Department’s announcement that insurers cannot impose a hurricane deductible in the future unless a storm generates wind-speeds of at least 74 miles per hour (i.e., the definition of a hurricane) somewhere within the state’s boundaries.
Maine
The state’s workers’ compensation insurance premium rates will drop 7 percent in 2012, largely because the Maine Workers’ Compensation Board issued an official medical fee schedule, according to this Friday, December 9, article in the Bangor Daily News.
New York
Superintendent Ben Lawsky’s Monday, December 5, news release on identifying unclaimed life insurance policies generated a favorable news article for the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Tuesday, December 13, print edition of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), and an editorial praising the DFS in the Monday, December 12, Albany Times Union.
MEDIA MATTERS
—The Tampa Tribune laid off 165 people this week, a number equaling about 16 percent of its total payroll. The layoffs extended to the Tribune’s weekly and community newspapers.
–Charles Elmore is now covering insurance for The Palm Beach (FL) Post: [Email: celmore@pbpost.com, Phone: 561-820-4811].
–Lee Enterprises, owner of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other media properties, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, December 12, while also winning approval to borrow up to $40 million as it works through its restructuring. Most of Lee’s debt stems from of its acquisition of Pulitzer Inc. in 2005, the Associated Press reports.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
The I.I.I.’s social media, liability and insurance white paper is getting some good attention via Twitter shares. Social media liability and cyber security are increasingly popular topics with individuals and companies wanting to know their risks as they rely more and more on the digital network. Journalists and insurance bloggers are the ones sharing the I.I.I.’s content.
Another popular topic in social media this week is home and auto insurance policy deductibles springing from I.I.I.’s release earlier this month on the topic. Insurance agents and consumers on Twitter and Facebook are the people and places where this information is being talked about.
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.
