SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL February 15, 2012

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, February 22, please email Mike Barry at Michaelb@iii.org

 

The Davis taped the interview on Friday, February 10, at The Weather Channel’s Atlanta, Georgia, studio, and it was broadcast four separate times on Monday, February 13.

 

The AIA’s David Snyder and the CFA’s Robert Hunter both appeared in this Monday, February 13, NBC affiliate segment, which was pegged to the CFA’s report on auto insurance pricing.

USA Today also reported that wedding insurance policyholders often file claims because either their wedding site venue, or one of the event’s vendors, go out of business prior to the ceremony. The story appeared in their Monday, February 13, print edition. 

 

The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig was interviewed this week by the AP’s Steven Singer. Singer also planned to speak with Connecticut’s insurance commissioner and other insurance industry groups. The news peg: the Connecticut insurance department is apparently looking to hire additional actuaries and attorneys this year amid signs of the industry’s economic recovery.

The AP sued Meltwater in a New York City federal court on Tuesday, February 14, according to this same day Associated Press story, which includes comments from Meltwater.

FEDERAL NEWS 

President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Proposal would assess billions of dollars in new taxes on offshore insurers and reinsurers, making it more difficult for U.S. consumers to obtain reasonably priced property and casualty insurance, according to this Monday, February 13, news release from The Heartland Institute.

 

U.S. Senators David Vitter (R-Louisiana) and Jon Tester (D-Montana) discussed a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) extension at this Tuesday, February 14, news conference.

 

STATE NEWS 

On Monday, February 13, Virginia state lawmakers passed a measure that would require insurers to provide notice to homeowners who do not have earthquake coverage. Virginia House of Delegates Bill 523 unanimously passed the House, after recently clearing the Senate. At the end of January 2012, nearly 6,000 homeowners in the state had reported damage from Virginia’s August 2011 earthquake to FEMA, according to this Monday, February 13, article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Less than 6 percent of these same homeowners had either an earthquake rider or a separate earthquake policy, the story states.  If enacted into law, Virginia insurers will be required to notify homeowners who have not purchased earthquake coverage at the time of each policy renewal. The Washington Post’s Virginia Politics blog also covered the issue. The 5.8-magnitude quake in August 2011 had its epicenter in Mineral, Virginia (Luisa County).

 

Texas Watch announced on Thursday, February 9, that it was seeking additional information from the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) about the types of auto and homeowners insurance policies being approved by TDI and sold to Texans. The Dallas Morning News filed this same-day story on the matter.

 

Insurance Commissioner James Donelon has appointed former state lawmaker Noble Ellington (R-Winnsboro) as his $150,000-a-year chief deputy, the second-highest ranking position in the state’s insurance department. Ellington succeeds Denise Brignac, who had been serving in that capacity on a temporary basis. Brignac will remain at the agency as Commissioner Donelon’s chief of staff. Brignac is also the chairwoman of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s board, according to this Thursday, February 9, Times-Picayune article.

The University of Alabama’s Tuscaloosa campus is building a facility that will allow engineering students and faculty to test how certain building codes and building materials would stand up in the event of an intense earthquake. Since the call, NBC’s Birmingham affiliate filed a Thursday, February 16, story on the institution’s construction of a ‘shake table’.

 

The Mobile Press-Register posted a story on Wednesday, February 15, with the headline, ‘Insurance industry touts statewide building codes for Alabama’.  The article was pegged to a PCI sit-down a day earlier with Press-Register editors and reporters.

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) gave Mississippi a failing grade when assessing the state’s residential building code and enforcement systems in its Rating the States report, according to this Thursday, February 9, Biloxi Sun Herald story (subscription required). 

In its Sunday, February 12, print edition, The Palm Beach Post had a front page story linking the Florida House’s 66-48 vote on Friday, February 3, in favor of allowing surplus lines insurance carriers to take over Citizens policies, to political contributions made to a number of Florida state lawmakers. Florida’s Senate has not yet taken up the measure, according to the story.

 

Long Branch, New Jersey (Monmouth County), was the site of a major fire on Monday, February 13. It caused millions of dollars in property damage to a row of buildings housing both residential apartments and retail stores on the Jersey Shore. The fire generated a significant amount of media attention, most notably in the Asbury Park Press (APP) and News 12 New Jersey. The I.I.I.’s Mike Barry spoke with an APP reporter for a follow-up story on the importance and cost-effectiveness of having renters insurance.

 

Rutgers University has established a Center for Risk and Responsibility at the Rutgers School of Law-Camden, according to this Tuesday, February 14, news release. Co-founded by Professor Jay Feinman, author of 2010’s Delay, Deny, Defend, the center’s first conference, Bad Faith and Beyond: A Conference on the Law of Claims Practices, will be held at the institution’s Camden, New Jersey, campus on Wednesday, February 29, from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

In its Wednesday, February 15, print edition, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that San Francisco’s city attorney has sued the federal agency in charge of pipeline safety, alleging the September 2010 explosion in San Bruno, California, just south of San Francisco, illustrated how the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is “shirking” its duty to protect the public from natural gas leaks. The 2010 explosion killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged numerous homes.

The SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, San  Francisco, has opened a new exhibit called Safe Enough to Stay. It envisions the daily challenges city residents would face in the weeks following a major Bay Area earthquake, according to this Wednesday, February 15, San Francisco Chronicle story.

 

Nearly 82,000 Minnesota consumers who did business with Travelocity.com between June 2009 and January 2012 will split almost $2.5 million in travel insurance-related refunds, according to an announcement made on Tuesday, February 14, by the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT 

Valentine’s Day featured prominently this week in social media with I.I.I.’s news release about making sure expensive valentine gifts are properly insured being shared on Twitter and Facebook by insurance agents.

 

Another trending item is a February 2012 report available for purchase from IBISWorld entitled Road to Recovery: Automobile Insurance in the US Industry Market Research Report. It used I.I.I. statistics and is appearing on financial and insurance blogs. This report is also being shared on Twitter by financial experts.

 

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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