Haiti reconstruction costs may near $14 billion:
The cost of rebuilding Haiti’s homes, schools, roads and other infrastructure in the wake of last month’s earthquake could approach $14 billion, according to a new study released on Tuesday, February 16, by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Risk modeler says insured losses from this month’s East Coast winter storms will exceed $2 billion:
EQECAT announced on Friday, February 12, that it estimatesinsured losses resulting from the two February winter storms along the Atlantic seaboard, from northern Virginia to New York City’s metropolitan area, will exceed $2 billion, based on a preliminary assessment of the overall scale of these storms and their snow, ice and wind impact relative to major prior events in the last two decades. Fox Business Network interviewed EQECAT senior vice president David Smith on the subject.Travel insurance policies offer financial protection against severe winter weather, WSJ finds:
Travel insurance, which protects policyholders from trip delays or cancellations due to a medical condition, can also help those stranded because of weather conditions, according to a story in Thursday, February 18, edition of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters spoke with reporter Jonnelle Marte and is quoted in the piece.P/C insurance companies ranked slightly higher than life, health insurers in customer satisfaction study:
Graded on a scale of 0-100, P/C insurers (80) edged out life (79) and health (75) insurers in the latest University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) report (see page two of the three-page news release). Released on Tuesday, February 16, the ACSI reflects consumer attitudes toward a wide variety of industries. The I.I.I.’s Claire Wilkinson offered an analysis of the report’s findings in her Terms + Conditions blog posting the same day.New Jersey law professor has book coming out next month on ‘why insurance companies don’t pay claims:’
Jay M. Feinman, a Distinguished Professor of Law at Rutgers’ School of Law, Camden, New Jersey, is the author of Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. To be published by Portfolio/Penguin, it is scheduled for release on Thursday, March 18. The book’s Web site is here.Wall Street Journal reports on planned 2011 rescission of New York’s 2005 ban on contingent commissions:
MarshMac, Aon and Willis, three of the nation’s largest insurance brokers, have reached an agreement with New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo and insurance superintendent James Wrynn to remove the prohibition on the fees that insurers pay to brokers on the basis of the volume of business, or profits from the business arranged by the brokers. The new agreement, to go into effect on January 1, 2011, effectively sets aside the 2005 accord negotiated by the New York attorney general at the time, Eliot Spitzer, to resolve conflicts of interest that could result from the fees paid to brokers by insurers and referred to as “contingent commissions,” according to a Wednesday, February 17, Wall Street Journal article (subscription required).
PCI schedules Monday, February 22, D.C. media event to unveil new study on ‘systemic risk:’
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) will release a NERA Economic Consulting report it commissioned, ‘Why ‘Too Big to Fail’ is Too Short-Sighted to Succeed: Problems with Reliance on Firm Size for Systemic Risk Determination,’ on Monday, February 22, at 9 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The event will be held in the Bloomberg Room on the Press Club’s 13th Floor.Medical malpractice insurers may retain their federal anti-trust exemption:
As Congress negotiates healthcare reform, Democrats now seem willing to allow insurers that provide malpractice coverage to doctors and other healthcare providers to maintain their antitrust protection, according to this Tuesday, February 16, online story at Politico.com.Los Angeles Times columnist, a Mercury policyholder, revisits pros and cons of Proposition 17:
Steve Lopez did a two-hour interview with George Joseph, Mercury’s chairman and an ardent supporter of a Tuesday, June 8, ballot initiative known as Proposition 17, which would favor California drivers who maintained continuous auto insurance coverage over those who did not. The interview was chronicled in this Wednesday, February 17, Los Angeles Times article and posted at www.StopProp17.org.
Los Angeles Times editorial board supports surcharge on residential, commercial insurance policies:
The Schwarzenegger administration’s proposed imposition of a 4.8 percent surcharge on the premiums of all commercial and residential property insurance policies statewide has the backing of the Los Angeles Times, according to a Sunday, February 15, editorial. “The money would go into the general fund this year to help balance the budget, and would be used for emergency fire and disaster protection in future years. That’s a reasonable proposal because homes throughout the state may, from time to time, require emergency response to an earthquake or other natural disaster, and all owners should bear a portion of the burden,” the editorial states.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek readying piece on major players in real estate market; might incorporate property insurance figures into story:
Venessa Wong (email: venessa_wong@businessweek.com) is doing a real estate story that looks at the industry’s ‘movers and shakers,’ although the reporter recognizes that property insurers, as well as developers, impact this market.
Massachusetts’ highest court upholds decision to allow two-year, high-risk pool exemption for auto insurers new to the state’s market:
The ruling by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court originated with a lawsuit filed by Arbella Mutual Insurance, a Quincy, Massachusetts-based carrier that claimed then-insurance commissioner Nonnie Burnes “exceeded her authority” and favored national companies new to the Massachusetts auto insurance market when she changed the state’s insurance rules in 2008 to exempt auto insurers who were new to the Massachusetts market from covering high-risk drivers for two years. The Boston Globe reported on the decision in a Wednesday, February 17, story.Atlanta TV station reports insolvent workers compensation insurer spent freely on state lawmakers before the company’s demise:
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and some of the state’s most influential state lawmakers were given gifts, in the form of air travel and hunting trips, courtesy of Southeastern U.S. Insurance Inc. (SEUS), a workers compensation insurer that was declared insolvent in 2009, a two-part investigative report on Atlanta’s Fox affiliate reported. The first segment aired on Monday, February 15. The second story was broadcast on Tuesday, February 16. One of SEUS’s clients was the Georgia Department of Labor, Fox’s investigative team determined.
Louisiana insurance commissioner approves 4-plus percent rate increase for Citizens commercial policyholders:
Former CNBC on-air analyst may be headed to Fox Business Network (FBN):
Charles Gasparino, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who worked at CNBC for many years, is about to join FBN, the Washington Post reported this week.
