SYNOPSIS – ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL December 18, 2013

To recap the issues raised during today’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, January 8, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.

 

The FIO report concludes that, in some circumstances, federal involvement is necessary to improve insurance regulation, according to this Thursday, December 12, U.S. Treasury news release.

The website did a survey considering fatality rates and moving violation data, according to this Monday, December 16, USA Today story. Vermont has the best drivers, the website found.

The NAIC’s Monday, December 15, news release summarizes the information contained in the report, and the I.I.I. has revised an Issues Update paper to reflect the latest data.

The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig was quoted in The Boston Globe as well as the initial article from the Bankrate-owned website, which was released on Tuesday, December 17.

November 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan claimed more than 7,000 lives in the Philippines while U.S. natural disaster-caused losses fell to $38 billion from $75 billion in 2012, Swiss Re reports.

Holman Jenkins says, in this Wednesday, December 18, column, that self-driving car manufacturers should note how one lawsuit against Toyota grew because of the U.S. tort system.

The I.I.I.’s Hartwig will be speaking soon with The Hartford Courant’s Matt Sturdevant for a January 2014 article on how the state’s insurance industry has changed throughout history. The Courant is marking its 250^th anniversary in 2014, and the publication will look back at the city’s past periodically over the next year.

The Wall Street Journal is weighing whether to peg a story on the FIO’s just-released report by assessing how regulators have adapted to the expansion of same-sex marriage (see page 48).

David Strickland, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) administrator since 2010, announced his resignation late last week, the Washington Post reported.

 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced on Thursday, December 19, the winners of its 2014 Safety Awards.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew met with the NAIC’s president and the chief executive officer on Tuesday, December 17, to discuss Solvency II and the Financial Stability Board.

Bradley Byrne, a Republican, won a Tuesday, December 17, special election to succeed former Rep. Jo Bonner, who resigned in August to become the University of Alabama’s vice chancellor.

More than 20 structures have been destroyed, including the Big Sur fire chief’s home, since the Pfeiffer Fire began on Tuesday, December 17. More than 200 residences are threatened.

 

Orange County’s board of supervisors scrapped its plan to create an online map that would have allowed residents to see where dangerous dogs reside, the Orange County Register reports.

An EF-1 tornado swept through Palm Coast on Saturday, December 14, destroying seven homes and damaging more than 150 others, according to this segment from Orlando’s ABC affiliate.

 

Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) introduced legislation on Tuesday, December 17, to make it easier for companies to sell flood insurance, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

 

Global Weather Oscillation, Inc., an Ocala-based business launched by a former NOAA meteorologist, was profiled on Monday, December 16, in the Ocala Star Banner.

 

Since the call, The Palm Beach Post chronicled the NAIC’s designation of Florida as the costliest U.S. state for homeowners insurance. The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian is quoted.

 

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation will see its statewide market share drop to 2.7 percent by year-end 2013 after standing at 10 percent in 2008, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.

 

Opponents of 2012’s federal Biggert-Waters Act are finding it is more difficult than they imagined to modify the law, according to this Monday, December 16, Times-Picayune article

 

FEMA formally acknowledged this week 17 municipalities for reducing their flood risk through the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS).

 

Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to settle its 9/11 litigation against American Airlines for $135 million, this Tuesday, December 17, CNN article states.

Since the call, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued a news release saying DFS had approved an auto insurer’s program to prevent teens from texting and calling while driving.

The minimum financial responsibility limits of auto liability coverage are rising to $25,000/$50,000/$25,000 from $12,500/$25,000/$7,500, effective Sunday, December 22.

 

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s new workers compensation law, according to this Monday, December 16, Daily Oklahoman article.

 

Joseph Caramadre was sentenced this week to six years in prison for taking advantage of seriously ill people, and for defrauding insurance companies, The New York Times reports.

 

Raymour Radhakrishnan, Caramadre’s associate, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on the same day, according to this Monday, December 16, Providence Journal article.

 

The wintry weather in the northern part of the state earlier this month caused at least $30 million in insured losses, this Thursday, December 12, Dallas Morning News article says.

 

Texas dropped to third from first place in 2011 as the NAIC’s costliest state for homeowners insurance, this Monday, December 16, Dallas Morning News story reports.

 

Seattle’s Fox affiliate broadcast on Tuesday, December 17, a story about University of Washington research on the city’s vulnerability to landslides in the event of a major earthquake.

 

Wilson Mutual is exempt from liability because a fatal 2010 shooting on their policyholder’s property was a homicide, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported, on Monday, December 16.

 

The wildfire in California’s Big Sur region has generated national media attention this week. As of the call, only about 20 percent of the fire had been contained. Local and national news organizations posted regular updates on the status of the fire and NASA tweeted an image of the fire from space on Tuesday, December 17.  It has been retweeted over 380 times.

 

Another topic gaining some social media traffic is the issue of peer-to-peer home rental. In the midst of the holiday season, people all over the country are either tweeting about needing or looking for a rental while others are announcing their home is available for rent. A few news media outlets and realtors have released tips on how to make your rental home feel like home. In addition, the I.I.I.’s article on the insurance implications of renting your home has received pick up in social media, as well.

 

Finally, in technology news, Facebook is joining the S&P 500. Facebook reported its fourth straight profitable quarter, an indication of just how powerful this social media giant is.

The Weather Channel is threatening to leave Georgia’s Cobb County unless it receives governmental tax breaks, according to a front page story in The Marietta Daily Journal.

NBC News will be awarded an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award on Monday, January 21, 2014, for its coverage of May 2013’s Moore, Oklahoma tornado.

Gannett’s acquisition of Belo can proceed if Gannett divests its interests in KMOV-TV, the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Monday, December 16.

 

Liz Sidoti, national political editor for the Associated Press, resigned from the AP to become the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. head of communications for BP.

 

America Online’s (AOL) Patch.com, a national network of hyper-local news websites, is in its “death throes,” according to this Monday, December 16, New York Times media column.

 

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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