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, June 9, please email Loretta Worters lorettaw@iii.org who will be filling in for Michael Barry this week.
I.I.I.’s president testifying June 9 before Congressional committee on insurance repercussions of the oil spill:
Since the call, I.I.I. president Robert Hartwig has been invited to testify at a Wednesday, June 9, U.S. House of Representatives hearing on “Liability and Financial Responsibility for Oil Spills under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and Other Related Statutes.” The agenda for the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure committee’s meeting is here. The session gets underway at 10:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C.I.I.I. presentation examines insurance market impact of Deepwater Horizon disaster:
This PowerPoint report by the I.I.I.’s Hartwig reviews the insurance issues relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig loss. Slides show the types of coverage that might apply and the number of parties that might be involved. The liability factor and legal ramifications are discussed and slides explain the Oil Pollution Act and the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. A section deals with risk management and regulatory fallout, noting that increased federal oversight is a certainty. Another section provides information on global energy insurance markets, with a focus on key trends, capacity, insured exposure and profitability. The presentation concludes with a review of past oil spills.Federal government opens civil, criminal investigations into Gulf of Mexico oil spill:
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday, June 1, the opening of civil and criminal investigations into the oil spill. Speaking in New Orleans, U.S. attorney general Eric Holder vowed to prosecute fully any person or entity found to have violated the law as the Justice Department investigates the cause of the spill, according to this front page story in the Wednesday, June 2, edition of The New York Times.
New Orleans attorneys working to expand lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of the oil spill:
Lawyers in New Orleans have been working to expand the lawsuits they have filed on behalf of people who claim to have been harmed by the oil spill spreading along the Gulf Coast, according to this Wednesday, June 2, Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). Lawsuits have also been filed by the families of people killed when the rig exploded as well as on behalf of the 115 survivors and some of the rescue workers. Plaintiffs claiming economic damages include shrimpers, oystermen and other fishermen; seafood processing plants; deep sea fishing operations; and businesses and municipalities that depend on tourism. Environmental groups have also filed lawsuits. The litigation is expected to be strengthened by the government’s criminal and civil investigations. Some attorneys are working to represent clients in Key West, Florida, although oil from the spill may never reach shore there. Transocean Ltd., the owner of the rig that exploded, says that under the Shipowners’ Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 its liability is limited to $27 million, although Congress is considering repealing the limit.
I.I.I. conference call with National Flood Insurance Program clarifies oil spill coverage issues:
A residential NFIP policy will cover flood related, oil-caused damage to an NFIP policyholder’s dwelling, according to a conference call the I.I.I. had on Friday, June 4, with James A. Sadler, CPCU, AIC, Director of Claims, National Flood Insurance Program (Phone: 202-212-4721).NFIP lapsed in absence of Congressional reauthorization on May 31, 2010:
The I.I.I.’s Claire Wilkinson analyzed the issue in this Wednesday, June 2, blog entry.NOAA envisions busy 2010 hurricane season in Atlantic basin:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) official statement on its projections for Atlantic basin activity in the coming months was issued on Thursday, May 27, and generated significant coverage because of its forecast of an “active to extremely active” season. The NOAA release was referenced in Claire Wilkinson’s Tuesday, June 1, Terms + Conditions blog entry.I.I.I. rolls out hurricane related insurance content:
This Tuesday, June 1, media advisory called reporters’ attention to the I.I.I.’s extensive editorial content and subject-matter expertise on hurricane-related issues. This Friday, June 4, I.I.I. news release focused on preparedness, with five tips for coastal homeowners from Maine to Texas.I.I.I.’s president appears in A.M. Best Day video on insurance repercussions of Hurricane Katrina:
The 13-plus minute video, The Game Changer, featured taped interviews with Hartwig and other industry experts. It was first posted at A.M. Best’s Web site on Friday, May 28.Florida’s governor vetoes property insurance reform bill; I.I.I. to talk about issue on Tampa program on June 9:
Governor Charlie Crist’s veto (see attached) kept Senate Bill 2044 from becoming law, even though Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty supported the legislation’s enactment. The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian is scheduled to discuss this issue on Wednesday, June 9, on News at Noon, WTVT-TV, Fox’s Tampa affiliate.Nebraska, Iowa tornadoes generate national headlines:
Seven tornadoes were reported in western Nebraska and eastern Iowa on Tuesday, June 1, according to this Wednesday, June 2, story in the Omaha World-Herald. Footage of the Nebraska tornado was broadcast on Fox News Channel on Wednesday, June 2, as well.I.I.I. to be quoted in August 2010 edition of O Magazine:
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore spoke with O, the monthly magazine for Oprah Winfrey’s fans, for a piece Paige Greenfield is writing for consumers who need guidance when shopping for auto and homeowners insurance.
I.I.I. interacts with Univision, New York Daily News as part of NY’s no-fault reform initiative:
The I.I.I.’s Salvatore accompanied Univision during a Brooklyn ‘ride-along’ on Wednesday afternoon, June 2, for a story the station is filing on no-fault auto insurance fraud and abuse. Salvatore has also spoken with the NYDN’s William Sherman, who wrote about New York’s no-fault problems in 2001 and 2002, about revisiting the issue this year because of the dramatic increase in no-fault claims payouts in New York between 2004 and today.
Syndicated personal finance columnist looking at ‘insurance myths:’
The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters spoke with columnist Liz Weston Pulliam to rebut a few enduring myths, such as the idea that there is a link between auto insurance premium rates and the color of a policyholder’s car.
U.S. Senate candidate in Connecticut criticizes insurance companies in initial TV spots:
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general and the Democratic nominee to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, highlighted his intervention on behalf of consumers, and against insurance companies, in these television advertisements. The one we’ve linked to here deals with an unnamed property/casualty insurer, and the others focus primarily on health insurers.
Mandatory auto insurance law took effect in Wisconsin on June 1: Effective June 1, no one may operate a motor vehicle in Wisconsin unless the vehicle’s owner or operator has a motor vehicle liability policy in place. The policy covering the vehicle must have minimum liability limits of $50,000 per person, and $100,000 per accident, for bodily injury and $15,000 for property damage, according to this news release from Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg.
400-unit Winter Haven, FL apartment complex needs to have defective drywall removed: The Wednesday, June 2, edition of the Lakeland (FL) Ledger offered details. The owners of the apartment complex met with residents about their remediation plans but that gathering was not open to the media, according to this Fox 13 report.
Proposition 17, California insurance commissioner’s post come before state’s voters on June 8:
California’s voters will decide the fate of Proposition 17, a measure governing auto insurance coverage, and the state’s registered Republicans will choose whether they want California insurance commissioner Steven Poizner or Meg Whitman to be their gubernatorial nominee in November 2010’s general election. There are also party primaries being held on Tuesday, June 8, for the insurance commissioner’s position, with the winner of the general election succeeding outgoing Commissioner Poizner effective January 2011. The final results will be posted here.New York State Insurance Department (NYSID) sets June 23 hearing date on workers compensation loss cost application:
The NYSID will consider at a public hearing the application of the New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board (NYCIRB) for a workers’ compensation loss cost increase of 7.7 percent. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, June 23, 11 a.m., at the department’s New York City office, 25 Beaver Street, lower Manhattan. The approved loss cost is used by workers compensation insurance companies in setting rates.South Carolina homeowners find “more storm insurance options available:”
The relative calm in South Carolina’s property insurance market is attributed to increased competition that has made coverage more widely available, according to this Wednesday, June 2, article in The State (Columbia, South Carolina). Prices, which escalated several years ago, have remained generally reasonable, the article adds. Scott Richardson, director of the South Carolina Insurance Department, notes that hundreds attended a coastal property insurance forum in 2007 but only four people turned out for a comparable event a few weeks ago in Myrtle Beach, SC.Daily Oklahoman columnist chronicles extent of May 2010’s severe hail storms:
“In May [2010] alone, there have been about 50 preliminary reports of significant size hail—2 inches or larger—to the National Weather Service forecast offices covering Oklahoma’s 77 counties. In comparison, there were 49 such reports in 2005 and 2006 combined, according to the National Climatic Data Center,” wrote Bryan Painter, in his Sunday, May 30, Oklahoman column.
The Weather Channel (TWC) names Dr. Richard Knabb as the network’s new hurricane expert and tropical program manager:
Dr. Knabb will be TWC’s on-camera hurricane expert providing in-depth forecast analysis and tropical storm updates as they happen, according to this TWC news release. Most recently, Dr. Knabb had been deputy director and director of operations of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) and NWS Forecast Office in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center from 2005-2008, Knabb prepared and issued official forecasts and warnings during the historic 2005 hurricane season. Dr. Knabb replaces the network’s current tropical weather expert, Dr. Steve Lyons, who has accepted a position with the National Weather Service as the meteorologist-in-charge of the San Angelo, Texas office.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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