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, January 18, please email Mike Barry at Michaelb@iii.org
I.I.I. ISSUES YEAR-END RELEASE NOTING 2011’S U.S. NATURAL DISASTERS GENERATED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CLAIMS PAYOUTS
This Friday, December 30, news release also noted that the federal government made a record number (99) of disaster declarations in 2011. Reuters was among the media outlets which picked up on the I.I.I.’s statement along with MarketWatch and others.
I.I.I.’S PRESIDENT IS CITED IN USA TODAY STORY ON HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE PREMIUM RATE TRENDS
I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig was quoted in this Wednesday, January 4, USA Today print edition article saying homeowners insurance premium rates could rise slightly following years of natural catastrophes in multiple states. CNN and New Jersey’s Star-Ledger subsequently contacted the I.I.I. to do follow-up pieces on the same topic.
I.I.I. ISSUES NEWS RELEASE ON ‘FIVE COMMON INSURANCE MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM’
The I.I.I. release was issued on Wednesday, January 4, and also touched on ways policyholders can reduce their premiums.
WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS AN ESTIMATED $1 BILLION IN LIFE INSURANCE POLICY BENEFITS LAY UNCLAIMED
Various states probed in 2011 to see if life insurers used a Social Security death database to cut off the retirement-income checks of annuity owners but did not employ the same database to determine if life insurance policyholders have died, and their death benefits should be paid, according to this Saturday, December 31, Wall Street Journal article (subscription required).
SOME LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES ARE A SOURCE OF ‘EMERGENCY CASH’
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners issued a news release that touched on this theme on Wednesday, January 4.
BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL INTERVIEWS I.I.I.’s CHIEF ECONOMIST
The I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart gave an interview on Wednesday, January 4, to Gary Haber of the Baltimore Business Journal about potential consolidation in the U.S. property/casualty insurance business.
IBHS REPORT ‘RATES THE STATES’ ON BUILDING CODES
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) released on Monday, January 9, a 20-page report which Rates the States in coastal parts of the U.S. on the strength of their building codes and how well they are enforced.
PRESIDENT MAKES RECESS APPOINTMENT AT CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
President Obama appointed Richard Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, to begin serving as the new director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday, January 4, a controversial move because it was done as part of a series of recess appointments.
STATE UPDATES
Florida
The first three editions of The Tampa Bay Times (Sunday, January 1?Tuesday, January 3), formerly known as The St. Petersburg Times, examined in separate, detailed stories how: 1) sinkholes became Florida’s latest insurance disaster;2) dubious sinkhole repairs raise questions about homeowners insurance fraud; and 3) premium rates for sinkhole coverage in Florida have soared. The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian worked closely with Dan Dewitt, one of the series’ two reporters, providing extensive information on the state’s homeowners insurance market, even through the I.I.I. is not mentioned.
Mississippi
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, January 4, that William Coleman, a specially appointed judge in Mississippi, issued an order on Tuesday, December 27, vacating a jury verdict that resulted in a proposed $322 million payment to a single plaintiff, believed to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
The Biloxi Sun Herald reported last week that U.S. District Court Judge Sul Ozerden of Gulfport, Mississippi, awarded a legal team $1.9 million in fees and expenses arising from a Hurricane Katrina wind versus water lawsuit involving a Pass Christian condominium association, saying that dollar amount was fair and reasonable even though that figure was more than the $1.8 million policyholders represented by the team received for wind damage caused by the 2005 hurricane.
The AP reported on Friday, December 23, that the Mississippi Supreme Court found a trial judge erred in dismissing the case of a Pascagoula, Mississippi homeowner against Nationwide. The wind versus water dispute dates back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The plaintiff’s attorney argues that the homeowner, his client, is owed at least $60,000 from Nationwide for wind-caused damage to his property.
Alabama
Citing Alabama Department of Insurance numbers, the Birmingham News reported last week that private-sector insurers have so far paid at least $2.2 billion in claims arising out of the late April 2011 tornado outbreak in the state. To date, 117,400 claims have been filed, and about 2,600 are still open, the department reports.
Oklahoma
Tulsa World highlighted the state’s high number of uninsured motorists as one of the main reasons Oklahoma ranks as the third most-expensive place in the U.S. to buy auto insurance, with Michigan the costliest and Louisiana finishing second, according to an Insure.com survey cited in this Monday, January 2, editorial. Oklahoma’s extreme weather events in recent years also played a role in driving up auto insurance premium rates, the newspaper said.
South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley named Gwen Fuller-McGriff the acting director of South Carolina’s Department of Insurance (SCDOI) on Wednesday, December 28, after the abrupt resignation of Director David Black. Black spent 11 months in the director’s position, according to this same-day Associated Press story. Fuller-McGriff had served previously as the SCDOI’s director of legal, legislative and external affairs.
Ohio
A 4.0-magnitude earthquake centered in McDonald, Ohio, a suburb of Youngstown, was felt throughout western Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon, December 31. The only reported damage was a single chimney collapse in McDonald, according to this next day story in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources announced on Tuesday, January 3, that it was temporarily halting the injection of waste water into a well near Youngstown, Ohio, amid concerns the process has contributed to seismic activity.
Illinois
Robert Wagner has been named the third acting director of the Illinois Insurance Division since Michael McRaith left the post, and the Quinn administration, in June 2011. Wagner has been with the Department for the past 11 years and most recently held the title of general counsel, according to this Associated Press story from Tuesday, January 3.
New Mexico
The Great American Insurance Company filed a lawsuit late last month in U.S. District Court seeking to recoup $3.2 million, plus interest, from a number of defendants who used to work for a New Mexico institution now known as Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Great American paid the medical center $3.2 million to reimburse the institution for money which “went missing under a standard employee faithfulness clause that insures clients against staff dishonesty,” according to a front page story in the Thursday, December 29, edition of The Santa Fe New Mexican. Loretta Mares, one of the defendants, is the girlfriend of former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, who is running this year for the U.S. House of Representatives, a personal connection noted in the Santa Fe story’s first paragraph.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
The I.I.I.’s year-end assessment of 2011’s natural disasters received pickup from bloggers at MSNBC to those who cover environmental issues. Insurance agents also shared this information via social media.
The need to be properly insured was another emerging trend this week. Many insurance agents and industry bloggers linked to the I.I.I.’s Know Your Stuff home inventory software when discussing the issue.
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
For an I.I.I. Blog search, click here.
