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, July 8, please email Mike Barry at michaelb@iii.org.
‘Cash for clunkers’ program requires proof that trade-in vehicle was insured continuously for past year:
Ron Medford, acting deputy administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation, (Phone: 202-366-1836, email: Ronald.Medford@dot.gov) called I.I.I. President Bob Hartwig on Monday, June 29, seeking auto insurance industry guidance on the protocol(s) dealers and consumers ought to follow when participating in the federal government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program. The NHTSA’s deadline is Friday, July 24. Wall Street Journal ‘Eyes on the Road’ columnist Joseph White had a CARS-related story on the front page of the WSJ’s Wednesday, July 1, Personal Journal section (subscription required). The I.I.I. seeks your feedback in the role auto insurers can potentially play in this program. Please contact either Mike Barry or Bob Hartwig at bobh@iii.org.
I.I.I. seeks insurer consumer education materials for distribution at July 9-11 Florida Press Association event:
I.I.I. member companies who have consumer education materials they’d like to place in front of hundreds of Florida reporters and editors should mail them, for arrival no later than Wednesday, July 8, to: Lynne McChristian, I.I.I.’s Florida representative, 3953 Applegate Circle, Brandon, FL, 33511. The I.I.I. will be an exhibitor at the Florida Press Association Convention, July 9-11, 2009, in Palm Beach, FL. Given enough brochure, pamphlet and fact sheet samples, the I.I.I. can showcase the industry’s investment in both English and Spanish-language educational resources.
New York City’s ABC affiliate doing story on aftermath of New Jersey hail storm:
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore was interviewed by WABC-TV consumer affairs reporter Tappy Phillips for a segment on hail and flood damage. The story is slated to air tonight.
2009’s tornado season dramatically calmer and less deadly than 2008’s, USA Today reports:
The peak season for tornadoes traditionally ends in early July and fatalities related to twisters are sharply lower this year, according to a Tuesday, June 30, USA Today article. The National Weather Services’ Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma reports that tornadoes have caused 21 deaths to date in 2009, compared with 121 in the first half of 2008. The average number of annual tornado-related deaths has stood at 63 over the last decade.
Wall Street Journal prepping stories on travel insurance, coastal coverage, and insuring a home-based business:
The I.I.I.’s Salvatore is working with WSJ personal finance columnist Jonnelle Marte (Phone: 212-416-3105, email: jonnelle.marte@wsj.com), who targets readers in their 20s, for a story Marte is doing on travel insurance. Meanwhile, the I.I.I.’s Hartwig has spoken with the WSJ about upcoming pieces on what a coastal property owner should do if they’re having trouble securing homeowner’s insurance coverage, and what kind of policy an individual needs when starting a home-based business (the reporter on the latter story is Kelly Spors).
Construction firms sometimes carried inadequate liability coverage during boom times, WSJ reports:
More than half of the approximately 250 families in the Blue Oaks subdivision in Ranch Murieta, California, have reported some type of flaw in the construction of their homes, according to this Wednesday,
July 1, story in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Kay Lynn, one of the subdivision’s residents, told the WSJ that she continually heard a cracking noise in the house that she and her husband purchased in 2002 for $357,000. The couple contend that the house is moving and shifting, slowly tilting toward a neighboring golf course, resulting in cracks in the walls, ceiling and floors. The Lynn family and dozens of their neighbors filed construction defect lawsuits last year against the builders, and the first case is expected to go to trial this month.
Chinese drywall manufacturers difficult to track down, McClatchy Newspaper chain story finds:
Chinese manufacturers made more than half of the goods that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled last year, but few of them paid any price for producing defective wares, a Monday, June 29, McClatchy newspaper investigation found. “The difficulty in recovering damages is a lesson that U.S. homeowners who are stuck with defective and possibly toxic Chinese drywall are likely to learn in the coming months,” the story states.
Obama administration unveils legislation to create Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA):
The U.S. Treasury Department released the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 on Tuesday, June 30. A link to the 152-page document, which says little about insurance regulatory matters, can be found here.
West Palm Beach, FL is site of Thursday, July 2, U.S. House hearing on homeowner’s insurance:
‘The Homeowners’ Insurance Crisis: Solutions for Homeowners, Communities and Taxpayers’ is the topic of a Thursday, July 2, hearing sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives’ subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The event’s agenda and the list of scheduled speakers are here.
Wall Street Journal’s editorial page criticizes Governor Crist’s veto of House Bill 1171:
Governor Charlie Crist’s Wednesday, June 24, veto of Florida’s Consumer Choice Bill (HB 1171) “all but guarantees a state disaster on top of any wrought by Mother Nature,” this Tuesday, June 30, Wall Street Journal editorial argues (subscription required).
Front page St. Petersburg Times story says ‘new insurers not much help to typical Floridian:’
More than 90 percent of the $4 billion-plus in new capital made available to the Florida property insurance market since 2006 has come from surplus lines insurers, the St. Petersburg Times reports. This article appeared in the paper’s Wednesday, July 1, edition.
Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s board to convene on Wednesday, July 8:
Citizens’ board of governors will meet on Wednesday, July 8, at 9 a.m., according to this online hearing notice.
South Carolina Legislative Audit Council report offers mixed reviews of state’s insurance department:
Columbia, South Carolina-based The State offered a look at the Council’s report on Wednesday, July 1. The 58-page Legislative Audit Council report was released on Tuesday, June 30, and focused on South Carolina’s regulatory performance in the workers’ compensation and coastal property insurance arenas.
North Carolina Beach Plan bill aims to bolster the Plan’s finances:
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has created a Web site to call attention to the issue, and the Associated Press filed a story this week with the latest details on state lawmakers’ efforts to fix the Beach Plan.
Mississippi governor weighing whether to sign bill allocating $20 million for state’s wind pool:
Governor Barbour is weighing whether to sign into law a bill appropriating an extra $20 million for reinsurance programs to offset premium increases in the Mississippi wind pool, according to this Tuesday, June 30, Biloxi Sun Herald story. The governor says he doesn’t think the state can keep pumping money into the wind pool, so he and other governors scheduled to attend the National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi, MS in mid-July will discuss a regional wind pool to spread the risk, the article adds. Mississippi’s Insurance Department is hosting a two-day forum in that same city on July 16-17, 2009 to talk about hurricanes and property insurance, too.
Alabama lawmakers hosting Wednesday, July 15 hearing on coastal property insurance:
The State Capitol in Montgomery, AL will be the site of the July 15 gathering but four other hearings are scheduled for this summer, to be held in other parts of the state. Alabama’s House Speaker has asked a group of lawmakers to study coastal insurance issues and report back to the Legislature in January 2010, this Monday, June 29, Mobile Press-Register story reports.
Wisconsin to require drivers to have auto insurance coverage effective July 2010:
Wisconsin’s newly-enacted mandate leaves New Hampshire as the only state in the U.S. without such a requirement, the Associated Press reports.
Washington reports 3.7-magnitude earthquake under Whidbey Island; a day earlier, researchers warned of quake risk to Seattle:
The Seattle Times reported online about an earthquake which occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 1. The previous day’s edition of that same newspaper had a story on University of Washington researchers who are concerned about an earthquake hitting near Seattle.
President declares disaster exists in 28 Kansas counties:
President Obama declared a state of disaster in Kansas on Thursday, June 25. The executive branch’s action authorizes federal assistance to supplement the local recovery efforts in the Kansas communities which were hit by severe storms, flooding, winds and tornadoes between April 25 and May 16, 2009.
New York’s superintendent of insurance leaving office on Friday, July 3:
Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who has been in office since early 2007, is stepping down at the end of this week. Governor Paterson’s search for a successor may be delayed because the superintendent is subject to state Senate confirmation, and New York’s upper legislative Chamber is in the midst of a leadership fight because one Democrat crossed the aisle, leaving the Senate deadlocked at 31-31. There is no lieutenant governor to break the tie because the position was vacated when then-Lieutenant Governor Paterson became governor in March 2008.
AM Best taps former Harford Courant reporter and Capitol Hill bureau chief to run its Washington D.C. news room:
Jesse Hamilton’s appointment was announced in this Monday, June 29, AM Best press release (subscription required).
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