To recap the issues raised during this week’s conference call, here are the key media stories we discussed, and the messages we’re conveying.
If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, July 23, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
I.I.I. CONDUCTS SATELLITE MEDIA TOUR (SMT), OFFERING ADVICE ON HOW TO INSURE AGAINST NATURAL DISASTER-CAUSED LOSSES
The I.I.I.’s Robert Hartwig, Jeanne Salvatore, and Elianne González conducted the SMT in Manhattan on Tuesday, July 15, offering advice to TV viewers and radio listeners in 11 states.
I.I.I. ORGANIZED JULY 16 PHONE BANK ALLOWING SPANISH-SPEAKING NEW YORK AREA TV VIEWERS TO ASK INSURANCE QUESTIONS
WXTV-News, Univision 41, in Teaneck, New Jersey, has already sent a note thanking the I.I.I. for another successful phone bank, and a link to the segment featuring the I.I.I.’s González.
I.I.I. INTERVIEWED FOR A.M. BEST SEGMENT ON ‘INSURERS, REGULATORS WARY OF RIDE SHARING SERVICES’
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore appeared on the Tuesday, July 15, edition of A.M. Best Day TV, discussing how insurers are adapting to the growth of companies like Uber and Lyft.
INSURANCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (IRC) STUDY FINDS MORE AUTO ACCIDENT CLAIMANTS ARE HIRING ATTORNEYS
The percentage of personal injury protection (PIP) claimants represented by attorneys rose to 36 percent from 31 percent between 2007 and 2012.
CORELOGIC REPORT FINDS MORE THAN 6.5 MILLION HOMES ALONG THE ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS ARE AT RISK OF HURRICANE STORM SURGE
Nearly two-thirds of the total risk is concentrated in 15 metropolitan areas, with the risk being highest in New York City, Miami, Tampa and Virginia Beach, according to CoreLogic.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Salvatore gave interviews to Consumer Reports Money Advisor’s Tobie Stanger (home inventory) and the Queens, NY Chronicle’s Michael Gannon (ride sharing).
The I.I.I.’s Mike Barry spoke with San Jose Mercury News columnist Joe Rodriguez about an e-book (Injured Money) and Bloomberg’s Karen Aho (homeowners liability and airpnp).
The I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart discussed with Reuters’ Kate Doyle a study which found 25 percent of kidney donors had trouble either obtaining, or changing, a life insurance policy afterwards.
Professor Joseph Belth, longtime publisher of The Insurance Forum, is seeking sources who can give him additional details on this July 2 life insurance fraud case.
CAPITOL HILL
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released this week its first-ever list of recommended used vehicles for teenaged drivers.
Days after the I.I.I. issued a media advisory on its updated cyber risk white paper, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew discussed how businesses should do more to avert cyber-attacks.
General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra and GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility administrator Kenneth Feinberg appeared before the U.S. Senate on Thursday, July 17.
U.S. House Republicans are divided on how to extend the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), according to The New York Times (subscription required).
STATES
California
Six defendants who pled guilty to charges associated with filing approximately 1,000 false auto windshield claims in 2011-2012 will be sentenced on Wednesday, August 6.
Florida
In a Tampa Bay Times op-ed, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the homeowners insurance market is the strongest it has been in 10 years.
Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company has assumed approximately $59 million in annualized premium from Sunshine State Insurance Company.
The I.I.I.’s Florida-based González, while in New York this week, taped interviews with Telemundo 47 regarding travel insurance and coverage for swimming pools.
New York
The Department of Financial Services and the Attorney General jointly filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against Lyft’s scheduled New York City launch.
Ohio
Insurance Director and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor announced Ohio’s average auto (2.6 percent) and homeowners (7.4 percent) insurance rates rose in 2013.
Oklahoma
Seven small earthquakes were recorded in the central part of the state last weekend (July 12-13), many of them centered northeast of Oklahoma City, USA Today reported.
The state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission laid off 16 employees this month, according to the Associated Press.
Oregon
The Moccasin Hill Fire (Klamath County) has burned about 2,000 acres since it began on heavily timbered private land on Sunday, July 13.
Texas
The drought is prompting some to question a state law enacted last year that exempts most privately owned dams from safety requirements, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Washington
The Mills Canyon Fire (Chelan County) has now burned more than 20,000 acres, with about 760 firefighters trying to extinguish it, Seattle’s Fox affiliate reports.
Wisconsin
A severe hail storm on Monday, July 14, in a rural northeastern part of the state (Door County), left three to four inches of ice on the ground, adversely impacting crops.
MEDIA MATTERS
Time Warner has confirmed it rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from 21st Century Fox.
Alisyn Camerota joined CNN as an anchor effective Monday, July 14. She left Fox News Channel in March of this year.
Only 15 percent of USA Today’s online stories appear in the paper’s print edition, according to a Monday, July 14, New York Times print edition article.
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
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