ABC continues to examine issue of force-placed homeowners insurance policies:
ABC’s Chris Cuomo is focusing on the contractual arrangements governing force-placed homeowners insurance policies sold to JP Morgan Chase by Assurant, a homeowners insurer. The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig briefed the group on his Friday, February 5, taped interview with Cuomo, in which Hartwig stressed the importance for banks and homeowners alike of having coverage on a home at all times.Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) appoints new media relations manager:
Joseph King joined the IBHS as media relations manager effective Monday, February 8. Mr. King wrote for A.M. Best early in his career and most recently was with PR Newswire. His office number in Tampa, Florida is 813-675-1045, and his email address is jking@ibhs.org.3.8 magnitude earthquake strikes northern Illinois:
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports the quake occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday, February 10, between the towns of Virgil and Sycamore, Illinois. Both communities are 50-plus miles northwest of Chicago. No significant damages were reported but the earthquake made national news.Reporters focus on Toyota’s recalls and the issue of diminished value:
Toyota’s recall of a large number of vehicles to correct problems with acceleration and braking will cost the company large sums in legal liability, and Toyota vehicle owners may also face part of this expense, according to a front page story in the Friday, February 12, edition of the Los Angeles Times. “Auto pricing experts such as Kelley Blue Book (KBB) and Edmunds.com have started to document declines in the value of Toyota’s products. According to Kelley’s Blue Book “prices for used Toyotas caught up in the recalls have dropped 2.5% to 4.5%, depending on the model. Edmunds.com estimates that used Toyota models are down about 3% for retail and about 6% on trade-in value,” the LA Times article states.Wall Street Journal wants to know ‘where Toyota’s biggest liability will likely be:
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WSJ insurance reporter Serena Ng spoke with the I.I.I.’s Hartwig to explore potential product liability and Directors & Officers coverage issues in the wake of the Toyota recalls.New York City’s ABC affiliate interviews I.I.I. on auto insurance and the Toyota recalls:
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore spoke on-air about auto insurance issues and the Toyota recalls in a WABC-TV segment broadcast on the station’s 11 p.m. news on Thursday, February 4.Winter storms may have caused significant amount of insured losses on the Eastern Seaboard:
The two major snowstorms that hit the Washington, D.C., area and other mid-Atlantic states this month could generate a sizable number of auto and homeowners insurance claims. Fox Business Network offered an assessment of the insurance implications of the severe weather on Wednesday, February 10. The I.I.I. issued a news release the same day discussing winter storms and insured losses (what’s covered, what’s not).I.I.I. conducted numerous media interviews on winter storm coverage issues:
CNN, syndicated columnist Jean Chatzsky, Washington, D.C.’s CBS and NBC affiliates, CBS Market Watch, the Associated Press, the Baltimore Sun, and New York City’s CBS affiliate were among the major outlets who spoke with the I.I.I. about the potential insurance fall-out of the storm.U.S. House bill may allow medical malpractice insurers to keep their antitrust exemption:
But health insurers would lose their antitrust exemption, which dates back to the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945, if the soon-to-be introduced Health Insurance Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2010 became law, according to this Thursday, February 11, BestWire article (subscription required). Representatives Tom Perriello (D-Virginia) and Betsy Markey (D-Colorado), the primary co-sponsors of the act, are expected to submit their legislation formally when Congress reconvenes during the week of Monday, February 22.
Connecticut power plant explosion causes five deaths, 27 injuries, and millions of dollars in property damages:
Documents filed with the state indicate that the power plant that exploded in Middletown, Connecticut, on Sunday, February 7, was insured for as much as $877 million in damages to the structure alone. Although no official estimate is available, the structural damages could be under half the insured amount, according to a Wednesday, February 10, story in the Hartford Courant.
Los Angeles Times columnist offers harsh critique of Proposition 17:
Columnist Steve Lopez offered a very negative take on the ballot initiative, which will impact the way auto insurance policies are priced in California if it passes in a statewide vote on Tuesday, June 8. The column appeared in the paper’s Wednesday, February 10, hard-copy edition.Hundreds evacuated in southern California due to concerns about landslides:
CNN talked about the evacuation order being lifted in this Wednesday, February 10, report. Californians who reside in the foothill areas of La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Acton were affected.California’s insurance commissioner releases list of 50 companies doing business in Iran:
Effective Wednesday, March 31, 2010, no investments that a California-licensed insurer holds in any of these companies will be recognized on its financial statements in California, Commissioner Steven Poizner announced, in this Wednesday, February 10, press release. The commissioner’s list of companies is here.Massachusetts governor removes ‘acting’ from insurance commissioner’s title:
Joseph Murphy, who had been acting commissioner of the state’s Division of Insurance since September 2009, was named commissioner on Monday, February 8, by Governor Deval Patrick.Atlanta Journal-Constitution tracking fate of insolvent workers compensation insurer:
The AJC’s Peralte Paul is doing research into why claims paid to injured workers by the now-insolvent Southeastern U.S. Insurance Inc. (SEUS) were assumed by the Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool only if the SEUS claimants were injured on or after June 23, 2006. This online backgrounder offers details.Texas Tribune reports troopers turned in hundreds of error-riddled accident reports in 2007 and 2008:
The Tribune’s Tuesday, February 9, story was sourced to an internal audit report compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). “In Hillsboro—the region with the most errors—more than two-thirds of the reports that officers filed in the first half of 2007 contained mistakes, according to the audit, which the Texas Tribune obtained through an open records request. Internal DPS auditors reviewed accident reports from troopers in 22 regions across the state. In 17 of those regions, auditors found that at least 30 percent of the accident reports that troopers submitted contained errors,” the article stated.
Houston Chronicle publishes op-ed on the importance of having flood insurance:
The piece was written by Michael Talbott, director of the Harris County (TX) Flood Control District, and pegged to the recent upgrading of the Hurricane Ike insured loss damage figure. It appeared in the Chronicle on Monday, February 8.
U.S. Senator readies introduction of federal auto insurance fraud bill:
The Cheaper Car Insurance Act of 2010 would create strict federal penalties for persons convicted of auto insurance fraud related crimes and establish Federal-State-Local Anti-Auto Insurance Fraud Task Forces. These task forces would be housed in the 10 U.S. cities deemed to be most severely affected by auto insurance fraud, according to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-New York) proposed bill (see attached). Senator Schumer’s staff called the I.I.I.’s Hartwig for his input on this issue after reviewing Hartwig’s Thursday, February 4, testimony on no-fault auto insurance fraud before the New York State Senate’s insurance committee in Albany, New York.
