SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL February 13, 2013

If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, February 20, please email me at michaelb@iii.org

 

USA Today posted on Sunday, February 10, a story and chart illustrating the snowfall totals from the previous two days in some of the Northeast’s largest cities. The February 8-9 blizzard resulted in Portland, Maine’s largest snowfall ever and the fifth-highest total in Boston’s history, the Boston Globe reported.

The 157-page NHC document was released on Tuesday, February 12, and generated coverage, such as this Hartford Courant story on Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Sandy-caused storm surge.

The I.I.I. held a conference call on Tuesday, February 12, to brief its member companies on the talking points it has developed amid calls to require gun owners to purchase liability coverage as a condition of buying a firearm. The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig has spoken to Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Bunn and Noah Buhayer about the public policy implications of the idea.

 

The April 2013 edition of Money magazine will include Lisa Gibbs’ detailed look at what is, and what is not, covered under a standard homeowners insurance policy in the U.S.  Gibbs tells the I.I.I. she will next turn her attention to the term life insurance market….CNN asked the I.I.I.’s Hartwig on Wednesday, February 13, whether a homeowners insurance policy generally covers damages caused by a law enforcement agency-caused fire, such as the one that engulfed the California home where fugitive Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer, was reportedly hiding—it does….AnnaMaria Andriotis is writing about homeowners insurance for high-end residences for an upcoming story in The Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section, and also spoke last week with the I.I.I.’s Hartwig and Jeanne Salvatore about winter storm damage and insurance coverage for a Marketwatch.com piece….The I.I.I.’s Salvatore appeared on Lifetime TV’s New York affiliate on Thursday, February 14, at 7:30 a.m., as part of a Designing Spaces segment on the importance of having flood insurance. 

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) issued a media advisory with all the details on the event, to be held on Wednesday, February 20, in South Carolina.

 

Mindy Lubber, president of CERES, wrote in this Thursday, February 7, editorial that policymakers should be “Rethinking Our Place In A Post-Hurricane Sandy World.”

The 24-page document was released publicly on Monday, February 11, with A.M. Best reporting that, while the personal lines and reinsurance sector maintained its stable outlook, the commercial lines segment will retain a negative outlook in 2013.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will have new regulatory powers over the homeowners insurance market, according to this 83-page HUD rule (see pages 54-56) released on Friday, February 8. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) said HUD’s move will “threaten underwriting, and raise costs.”  The I.I.I.’s Hartwig was quoted in this same-day, online Wall Street Journal article (New HUD rule bolsters Housing-Bias Law).

 

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) is the new chair of the U.S. Senate’s subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment while U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska) will serve as its ranking member, according to a U.S. Senate Banking committee news release issued on Monday, February 11.

 

Hail storms and wildfires have in recent years generated hundreds of millions of dollars in insured losses, prompting homeowners insurance premium rates to rise substantially in 2013, the ABC affiliate in Colorado Springs reported, in a five-minute segment broadcast on Thursday, February 7. The Colorado Springs Gazette covered the same topic on Monday, February 11.

 

A severe tornado swept through the University of Southern Mississippi campus in Hattiesburg on Sunday, February 10, damaging six buildings. The institution’s administrative offices re-opened on Wednesday, February 13, and classes resumed on Thursday, February 14.

 

A federal judge approved five class-action settlements ordering Knauf, the Chinese drywall manufacturer, to pay millions of dollars to repair thousands of homes damaged by defective drywall. The residences are situated primarily in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This Saturday, February 9, Associated Press article appeared in The Clarion Ledger.

Governor Bentley released the Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission report in Montgomery on Wednesday, February 13.

 

Banks and mortgage servicers are cumulatively holding about $208 million in Sandy-related insurance proceeds, a state Department of Financial Services survey found. These monies ought to be disbursed more quickly to New York’s policyholders, according to this Tuesday, February 12, news release from Governor Cuomo.

 

The Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) should follow Nevada’s example and post online the auto and homeowners insurance policy forms DOBI approves, consumer advocates told The Star Ledger, for this Sunday, February 10, article.

 

The I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart will be one of three commentators offering a critique of academic papers to be presented at The Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility’s conference on Fragmented Risk. It will be held on Friday, March 1, between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, 217 North Fifth Street, Camden, New Jersey.

 

The I.I.I.’s Florida subcommittee is convening in Tampa on Tuesday, March 5.  If you would like to attend the meeting, contact the I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian (lynnem@iii.org).

 

McChristian is continuing her meetings with the state’s editorial boards. She will visit with the Tallahassee Democrat on Wednesday, February 20, and is sitting down with the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun Sentinel, and Palm Beach Post’s editors on Tuesday, February 26, and Wednesday, February 27.

 

The Florida Insurance Council is briefing the Tallahassee-based press corps on Monday, February 25, and McChristian will be participating in the session.

 

The I.I.I.’s Elianne Gonzalez did an interview via Skype this week with Univision as part of its Northeast snowstorm coverage. The story was broadcast on Monday, February 11.

Unclaimed life insurance policies worth millions are among the assets being held by the Bureau of Unclaimed Property, this Sunday, February 10, Sarasota Herald Tribune story reports.

 

Homeowners insurance prices rose 5 percent last year while auto premiums increased 3.4 percent in 2012, according to this Saturday, February 9, Columbus Dispatch story. The article was based on the Ohio Insurance Institute’s findings.

Google’s self-driving car project is getting a lot of discussion this week on finance and tech blogs. The stories quote Bob Hartwig, who was on a Washington, D.C. panel last week with Google, where the insurance repercussions of these types of vehicles were discussed. Many of the comments expressed excitement for the new technology but doubts about how long it will take to become a reality. Most people believe these technological advances will save them money in the future.   

 

Another trending topic is Valentine’s Day gifts; insurance companies and agents are sharing information about how to protect expensive jewelry purchases. The I.I.I.’s Tuesday, February 12, press release on this issue is being shared all around Twitter, with users encouraging people to be covered. 

 

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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