BP announces establishment of $20 billion claims fund:
BP’s website offers details on the claims fund, which was announced after BP’s senior management team met with President Obama and members of the president’s Cabinet on Wednesday, June 16. The White House issued this Fact Sheet on claims, the escrow account, and other BP related matters.
I.I.I.’s president quoted in Wall Street Journal on issue of BP’s plans for claims fund administered by an independent party:
Bob Hartwig’s comments appeared toward the end of this Tuesday, June 15, article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
I.I.I. issued releases this week on National Flood Insurance Program policies and oil coverage, hurricane deductibles:
The NFIP related release is here, and a release explaining hurricane deductibles and reviewing the 18 coastal states allowing their use in a standard homeowners insurance policy is here.
American Association for Justice (AAJ) held press teleconference to discuss oil liability issues and proposed BP claims fund:
The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters and Claire Wilkinson listened in on the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon, June 15, but there appears to be limited media interest in what the AAJ had to say about the issue at this time. The AAJ issued a news release on the subject the same day.
Arkansas, Oklahoma flooding events generate national headlines:
Heavy rains caused flash floods that killed at least 16 people in southwestern Arkansas on Friday, June 11, according to this Washington Post account of the event. The severe flooding in and around Oklahoma City on Monday, June 14, was chronicled by the Daily Oklahoman, and was also attributed to intense rainfall.
NAIC revisiting the issue of life insurer capital reserving requirements, WSJ reports:
A National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) task force approved on Monday, June 14, a proposal that would require life insurers to increase their cumulative capital approximately 12 percent, or $622 million, from the requirements for 2009. The increase was far less than the 53 percent increase originally proposed to protect policyholders from the financial troubles forecast in the commercial real estate market, a proposal that was vigorously opposed by the American Council of Life Insurers, this Tuesday, June 15, WSJ (subscription required) article states.
Wall Street Journal prepping piece on coastal homeowners insurance coverage, pegged to hurricane season:
The I.I.I.’s Hartwig and Worters have spoken with the WSJ’s M.P. McQueen about coastal coverage issues, and at least one I.I.I. member company who dealt with her said McQueen seemed particularly interested in issues involving Maryland and Virginia.
CBS Evening News explores the potential repercussions of a hurricane-driven, oil-soaked storm surge:
Since the call, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric aired the story on its Thursday, June 17, broadcast with comments from an AccuWeather.com representative, among others.
New York Times blogger readying homeowners insurance coverage/hurricane season story:
Paul Sullivan (email: paujsullivan@mac.com), a NYT blogger, has been working with the I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore on the story.
Forbes explains why homeowners insurance policies no longer pay legal fees for certain liability lawsuits:
The I.I.I. is not quoted in the Forbes article but Salvatore worked closely with personal finance reporter Ashlea Ebeling on this story, posted online on Monday, June 14. The final passage talks about a famous case involving a homeowners insurance policy and legal fees.
Money magazine doing consumer piece on auto/homeowner insurance savings:
Sarah Max (sarahvonmax@gmail.com) spoke with Salvatore about ways to save money on auto and home insurance premiums.
Insurance Day, Business Insurance, Leader’s Edge, AARP magazine, and Kiplinger’s have stories in the works:
Christopher Munro (christopher.munro@informa.com), a new reporter for London-based Insurance Day, contacted the I.I.I. this week regarding Hartwig’s Wednesday, June 9, Congressional testimony on the oil spill….Zack Phillips of Business Insurance (zphillips@businessinsurance.com), spoke with the I.I.I.’s Worters for a story BI is doing on the oil spill and its total estimated insured losses….Ed Leefeldt (Litenair@aol.com) is doing a piece for Leader’s Edge having to do with risk management and the oil spill….Robert Otoca (rotoca@comcast.net) from AARP magazine spoke with Worters on coastal homeowners issues….Jerry Idaszak from Kiplinger’s (email: JIdaszak@kiplinger.com) is doing a story on the recession and its implications for insurance. He also had an interest in no-fault and the issue of fraud and abuse, so he may weave that into the story.
Creation of a Federal Insurance Office (FIO) almost certain to emerge out of financial regulatory reform bill:
Bloomberg Businessweek touched on FIO near the end of its Friday, June 18, assessment of how the U. S. Treasury Department’s powers will be expanded under the new financial regulatory reform law.
Congress has yet to reauthorize National Flood Insurance Program:
The Des Moines Register reported on the NFIP being “in limbo” in a Thursday, June 17, article.President’s Working Group on Financial Markets seeking comments on long-term availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance:
The U.S. Treasury Department, as the chair of the Working Group, issued this statement on Monday, June 14, saying respondents had 45 days after the publication of the Notice in the Federal Register to offer written comments. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 expires in 2014.
New York no-fault programs gain media attention via GEICO lawsuit, U.S. attorney’s indictments:
GEICO issued on Monday, June 14, this press release, announcing that it had filed suit against a Kew Gardens, NY (Queens County), imaging company. In an unrelated case, the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York said that it had secured indictments against individuals who were alleged to have either overbilled or wrongly charged auto insurers for medical equipment related to no-fault cases.Tulsa, Oklahoma mayor wants to send fire-service bills to insurers to raise revenue for the city:
Insurers are highly critical of Mayor Dewey Barlett’s proposal, according to this Monday, June 14, Tulsa World story, which was followed by a Friday, June 18, letter to the editor from Jerry Johns, president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service.Wyoming’s governor attends groundbreaking ceremony for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)-Wyoming Supercomputing Center:
The $70 million project in Cheyenne, WY, is being designed specifically for scientific supercomputing in a variety of fields, including weather, climate, oceanography, and air pollution. The Wyoming governor’s office issued this news release on the event on Tuesday, June 15.
Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation clears Orlando-based home and condominium insurer Olympus Insurance Company:
Olympus has convinced the OIR that its financial contracts, accounting methods, reinsurance program and claims-paying abilities are satisfactory, according to this Monday, June 14, Sarasota Herald-Tribune story, which also touched on the precarious state of the Florida homeowners insurance market as 38 of 48 Florida property insurers posted losses on their insurance operations during the first three months of this year, according to the article.
Louisiana’s governor is about to receive Chinese drywall bill:
The Legislature-approved measure would prohibit an insurance company from failing to renew or dropping a homeowner whose house is filled with Chinese drywall or who has filed a claim based on the drywall imported before December 31, 2009 from China, according to a Wednesday, June 16, article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.Georgia’s insurance commissioner blocks sale of bank to group with ties to one of the commissioner’s gubernatorial fundraisers:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Saturday, June 12, that Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, the leading Republican candidate this year for governor, blocked the sale of Heritage First Bank, which has three branches in Alabama and three in Georgia, to the Rome, GA based State Mutual Insurance Company. State Mutual is under investigation for the methods by which it sent $120,000 to Oxendine’s gubernatorial campaign, the article notes.
California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) employees were furloughed illegally last year, court rules:
National Underwriter’s Chad Hemenway has new contact information:
The former A.M. Best reporter can now be reached at chemenway@sbmedia.com, or at his office number in New Jersey (201-526-1245).
