SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL July 11, 2012

If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, July 18, please email Mike Barry at Michaelb@iii.org

 

Maryland, Virginia and the District of the Columbia incurred the heaviest property damage after a “derecho” swept through that part of the country on Friday, June 29. The I.I.I. issued this news release on Tuesday, July 3, to answer coverage questions. Many reporters asked about food spoilage because of the multi-day power outages in the affected states.

 

The I.I.I.’s Mike Barry gave a live interview to FNC anchor Jamie Colby on Sunday, July 1, at 11:20 a.m., ET, with the news peg being Friday, June 29’s mid-Atlantic windstorm.

 

Jeff Blyskal’s article will explain hurricane deductibles, and outline the premium rate discounts that can be secured by installing impact-resistant roof shingles, among other things.

The report, co-authored by the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and Claire Wilkinson, was the subject of a Monday, July 9, news release. The Harford Courant, the Baton Rouge Advocate and, since the call, Bloomberg News’ New York City-based Steven Norton have expressed interest in doing a story on the I.I.I.’s findings.

Aon Benfield estimated in this report, which was released on Tuesday, July 10, that U.S. insurers will pay out nearly $2 billion in claims nationwide in June 2012 alone because of severe hailstorms in states such as Texas, as well as wildfires in Colorado and elsewhere. The findings discussed in The Hartford Courant as part of a same-day story.

The I.I.I.’s Hartwig is quoted, and data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau cited, in a story that looks at how technology has contributed to a drop in auto thefts, according to this Wednesday, July 11, Wall Street Journal article by Joseph White, the paper’s Eyes on the Road columnist.

 

It can be accessed here: pinterest.com/iiiorg/pool-safety/

Employment in May 2012 rose by 1,600 (+0.3 percent)—the fourth straight month of employment gains (+4,400, or 0.84 percent, from February 2012 to May 2012), according to a federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released on Friday, July 6.  Life insurer employment in May 2012 was virtually flat (+100) vs. the prior month. The I.I.I.’s Hartwig offered this commentary on the numbers on Tuesday, July 10.

The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore has been working closely with the Wall Street Journal’s Karen Blumenthal on this story.  Blumenthal also asked about deductibles (both traditional dollar deductibles and hurricane deductibles), CLUE reports, and non-renewal of both auto and homeowners insurance policies.

 

President Obama signed into law on Friday, July 6, the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, extending FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program through 2017.

 

A Denver Post analysis put the insured claims payouts arising out of last month’s Waldo Fire, near Colorado Springs, at $110 million. Carole Walker of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association was interviewed in this Friday, July 6, Denver Fox affiliate story on how not only wildfires, but also severe hail storms, struck Colorado in June 2012.

The auto insurance initiative Californians will consider on Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, will be known as Proposition 33, according to this Monday, July 9, news release from California’s Secretary of State. The ballot language for Proposition 33 reads as follows: Changes Law to Allow Auto Insurance Companies to Set Prices Based on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage. Advocates for the initiative have already created a website to tout the measure.

 

The Charleston Post and Courier published an editorial on Sunday, July 8, saying budget cuts to the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs constitute one of the main reasons homeowners insurance rates have risen in recent years while also crediting reporter Tony Bartelme’s Storm of Money series with prompting the state’s Department of Insurance to create a review panel that would provide counsel to the agency and consist of a meteorologist, engineer and an actuary.

 

Allstate’s decision to issue non-renewal notices to about 10,000 of its homeowners policyholders statewide was the subject of this Wednesday, July 11, Post and Courier article, as well as a segment the same day, which was broadcast by WBTW-TV, the CBS affiliate in Myrtle Beach. The I.I.I. and the South Carolina Insurance News Service are quoted in the latter.

 

Former Mississippi attorney Zach Scruggs, the son and law partner of plaintiffs’ attorney Dickie Scruggs, has asked a federal appeals court in New Orleans to vacate his 2008 guilty plea in a judicial bribery case involving a dispute with other lawyers over $26.5 million in fees from lawsuits, according to this Monday, July 9, Associated Press article, which appeared in The (Jackson) Clarion Ledger.

 

The Atlanta metro region was hit with severe thunderstorms on Tuesday, July 10, a weather event that caused property damage and power outages, the Journal-Constitution reported.

 

The Texas state Senate’s Business and Commerce Committee held a public hearing on Texas’ homeowners insurance trends on Tuesday, July 10. The hearing notice and witness list are here.

 

Four people were killed by a windstorm that swept through the state on Thursday evening, July 5, according to this story from MSNBC. Two of the fatalities occurred when a boat capsized in a Chattanooga lake due to strong wind gusts, and the other two were at Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

North Jersey home and business owners, especially those near the Passaic River, could pay significantly more for flood insurance going forward under the terms of the federal government’s just-passed five-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The I.I.I.’s Barry worked with Record reporter Herb Jackson on this story, and he is quoted in the Sunday, July 8, article, which appeared on the front page of the paper’s print edition.

A story about “robot cars” potentially eliminating the need for auto insurance is circulating around social media this week with techie blogs sharing and reposting a story that quotes the I.I.I.’s  Mike Barry. The article is about how improvements in technology will impact auto insurance and asks if people will still need insurance if collision rates are reduced to almost zero percent. Some of the bloggers are excited about the possibility of eliminating the need for auto insurance while others are more realistic about the fact these policies will likely continue to be necessary.

 

The I.I.I.’s Tuesday, July 3, press release on home burglaries is the tweet of the week with insurance agents and home security companies sharing the content through Twitter. The story is also being posted to consumer advice blogs warning homeowners to protect their property during the spike season of break-ins during the summer. 

 

Another popular story in social media is about insurance companies sending fire crews to protect homes from the wildfires in Colorado. The money spent on the fire crews potentially saves insurance companies millions of dollars and while the service is being viewed as “life-saving” and helpful by some, others are critical because the insurance-funded fire crews are only protect company assets and ignore the homes of lesser value. 

 

Finally, Beyond Thunder Dumb, the I.I.I.-produced animated video about lightning safety, continues to get good pickup with more than 1,000 views on YouTube and the attention of local and state government websites that are posting the video to their websites.

 

USA Today has turned to the digital world for its new editor-in-chief, according to The New York Times.  David Callaway, the editor of the financial news website MarketWatch, will become USA Today’s top editor later this month.

 

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.