New York Times looks at pending climate-change liability lawsuits:
Plaintiffs, such as municipalities and environmental groups, are arguing in Alaska, Connecticut and Mississippi court rooms that companies that produce heat-trapping gases should be held liable for events such as shore erosion and extremely intense hurricanes, according to a front page story in the Wednesday, January 27, edition of the New York Times.
I.I.I.’s ‘Five Insurance Mistakes to Avoid’ is featured on New York City morning news program:
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore was interviewed live on Monday, January 25, by WPIX-TV, Channel 11 in New York City; the interview was initiated by the station after it received I.I.I.’s video news release on the topic.
I.I.I. cited in Money magazine story on ‘5 Things You Need to Know about Life Settlements’:
The I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart was quoted as a subject matter expert in this Tuesday, January 26, online piece on life settlement transactions.
Federal government acts to prohibit texting by drivers of commercial vehicles:
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Tuesday, January 26, ‘federal guidance’ to prohibit texting by drivers of commercial vehicles, such as large trucks and buses, according to a Wednesday, January 27, USA Today story. The I.I.I.’s Claire Wilkinson had additional details on the issue in her Tuesday, January 26, blog entry.
U.S. House committee examines Federal Reserve’s 2008 AIG intervention, generating national headlines:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during AIG’s liquidity crisis in 2008, submitted these written remarks to the Oversight and Government Reform committee regarding the steps the Fed took on AIG’s behalf between September and November of 2008. On Wednesday, January 27, Thomas Baxter, executive vice president and general counsel, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, delivered testimony on the ‘Factors Affecting Efforts to Limit Payments’ to AIG counterparties in late 2008.
Georgia insurance commissioner’s 13-year-old stepson accidently shoots, injures man, during quail hunt:
The 13-year-old stepson of Georgia insurance commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine accidentally shot and wounded a 59-year-old man on Sunday, January 17, while all three of them were hunting together on a North Georgia preserve owned by a prominent insurance executive with close political ties to Commissioner Oxendine, according to a Thursday, January 21, article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Austin (TX) American-Statesman fact-checking assertion that Texans pay highest homeowners insurance rates in U.S.:
American-Statesman chief political writer Gardner Selby (email: wgselby@statesman.com) is looking to ‘fact check’ a politician who said Texans pay the highest homeowners insurance rates in the nation, even though the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, in this December 2009 release, put Texas second in that category behind Florida as of year-end 2007. Selby also writes for www.politifacttexas.com, which is where the story appeared on Friday, January 29.
Dozens of San Antonio homeowners evacuate after nearby retaining wall partially collapses:
Since the call, a negligence lawsuit was filed by one of the 80-unit subdivision’s homeowners against the development’s builders, according to a Friday, January 29, item posted at San Antonio’s ABC affiliate, KSAT-TV. The earth movement event generated this Tuesday, January 26, Wall Street Journal story, too (subscription required).
Oklahoma prepares for severe winter storm:
Details on the winter storm which hit Oklahoma late this week can be found at The Daily Oklahoman.
California’s secretary of state places Continuous Coverage Auto Insurance Discount Act on June 2010 ballot:
Secretary of State Debra Bowen has details on the initiative on her office’s home page (see fourth item from the top).
California consumer group launches Web site to rail against Mercury-backed Auto Insurance Discount Act:
Campaign for Consumer Rights (CCR), the campaign affiliate of Consumer Watchdog, released a video on their new Web site claiming motorists will pay steep surcharges in states where Mercury Insurance is allowed to penalize drivers for not having prior insurance coverage. CCR issued a news release on Tuesday, January 26, claiming the proposed Mercury Insurance-backed initiative in California seeks to gut a Proposition 103 provision that prohibits insurance companies from surcharging people who have not driven previously, have had a lapse in coverage, or have missed an insurance payment.
Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s board to seek competitive bids for statewide home re-inspection program:
The move marked a reversal from the Citizens board’s October 2009 decision, when Citizens awarded an emergency $60 million contract to administer its home re-inspection program to Inspection Depot, a Jacksonville, FL-based company. The re-inspection initiative involves verifying that Florida’s Citizens policyholders who have received mitigation discounts actually qualify for them. About 400,000 homeowners currently receive the discounts, costing Citizens about $740 million a year in lost premiums, according to a Tuesday, January 26, story in the Miami Herald.
Florida’s governor trails Republican rival in primary bid to become state’s next U.S. Senator, poll finds:
Governor Crist is three percentage points (47-44%) behind former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio in the Republican Senatorial primary, according to this Quinnipiac (CT) University poll, which was released on Tuesday, January 26.
Mississippi insurance commissioner offers critique of credit-based insurance scoring as rating criterion:
Commissioner Michael Chaney agrees with consumer groups that believe credit-based insurance scoring has outsized influence as a rating criterion, according to a Saturday, January 23, story in the Biloxi Sun Herald. The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig is quoted in the piece, offering the industry’s perspective on the use of credit.
Louisiana auditor says Citizens Property Insurance Corp. lacked proper internal controls in 2008:
Citizens allowed too much access to computer systems, opening the door for potential fraud, and failed to take enough steps to make sure that Citizens policy applicants were eligible for coverage, according to a report issued by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office. The Associated Press had the story as well as the response from Citizens CEO John Wortman. One audit finding that was not mentioned in the AP article: Citizens paid insured losses totaling $253.6 million due to damage caused by 2008’s Hurricane Gustav
GAO chides FEMA for its inadequate flood insurance claims-handling tracking procedures (2005-2007):
The Mobile Press-Register had a story this week saying the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did a poor job of keeping tabs on private insurance companies’ National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims-handling practices between 2005 and 2007.
Former New York superintendent of insurance has raised nearly $1.8 million for 2010 attorney general race:
Eric Dinallo, New York’s superintendent of insurance between 2007 and 2009, has raised nearly $1.8 million for the 2010 attorney general (AG) campaign, should incumbent AG Andrew Cuomo step down to run for governor, according to an article in the January 23-24, Wall Street Weekend Journal (subscription required). One of Dinallo’s financial contributors was Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, the article notes.
Wall Street Journal readies April 2010 New York news bureau launch:
Former reporters and editors for the now-closed New York Sun, a Manhattan-based daily newspaper, are among the WSJ’s new hires, according to this Tuesday, January 26, online New York Observer story.
Hartford Courant looking at earthquake insurance, Boston TV reporter researching dishwater liability, MSN Money readying piece on art insurance, and Illinois Daily Herald asking about ISO ratings:
Matt Sturdevant of the Hartford Courant is working on a possible story regarding earthquakes and how mandating that homeowners in earthquake-prone areas purchase earthquake insurance would, in essence, help the economy….Boston NBC affiliate consumer affairs reporter Ms. Hank Phillipi Ryan might be putting a piece together on a Massachusetts requirement that every dishwasher in the state have a permit; Ryan wanted to explore the insurance repercussions, if any, of the permit requirement….The accidental damaging of a Picasso painting valued at $80 million prompted MSN Money’s Anna Vander Broek (email: v-anva@microsoft.com) to do a story about whether or not you are covered by your homeowners insurance company if you break a museum-quality art work. I.I.I. went through the coverage issues for individuals and museums, as well as private collectors….Debby Donovan (email: ddonovan@dailyherald.com) of the Daily Herald, which covers the Chicago suburbs, wanted to know if it would make a difference as far as homeowners insurance premiums are concerned if a community’s ISO rating dropped to 2 or 3 from 1.
