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 10, please email Mike Barry at michaelb@iii.org.
I.I.I. appears on Weather Channel and in other national media outlets as hurricane season begins:
The I.I.I.’s Bill Davis gave a live interview to the Weather Channel on property insurance and hurricane preparedness on Monday, June 1, at 10:40 p.m., ET. The I.I.I. was interviewed by reporters from the Associated Press, Slate.com, National Public Radio (NPR) and numerous other national media outlets in the days leading up to the start of hurricane season. In addition, the I.I.I. issued press releases within the past two weeks on the issues of coverage and preparedness.
Small-town Mississippi mayors retire amid post-Katrina struggles, NPR reports:
The mayors of Moss Point and Bay St. Louis are not seeking re-election in 2009, largely because of ‘hurricane fatigue’, this Monday, June 1, National Public Radio report says.
I.I.I. media advisory on June 1 Air France plane disappearance gets trade press pick-up:
The I.I.I.’s facts and statistics on aviation insurance were cited in this Wednesday, June 3, advisory, and generated media calls to I.I.I. from National Underwriter, Business Insurance and Insurance Journal. An aside: the U.S. commercial aviation industry had not one fatality between August 2006 and February 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board reports.
Wall Street Journal scrutinizes political contributions to Congressman who chairs insurance subcommittee:
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pennsylvania), chairman of the U.S. House’s subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, had his picture published on the front page of the Wednesday, June 3, edition of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The reason: a WSJ article looked at political contributions Rep. Kanjorski received from financial industry sources who lobbied him to change the accounting rules that forced banks, insurers and securities firms to lower the value of their assets to prices they characterized as a fire sale, thereby resulting in losses that reduced their capital.
Texas lawmakers pass Texas Windstorm Insurance Association reform bill:
The Texas Senate approved House Resolution 4409 on Monday, June 1, a bill that ensures Texas coastal residents will continue to have affordable windstorm insurance from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), according to a front-page story in the Tuesday, June 2, Austin-American Statesman. Texas Governor Rick Perry had threatened to convene lawmakers in a special session if they did not send him a TWIA reform bill by the beginning of this month. If enacted, HR 4409 will restructure the way TWIA is funded. TWIA has only $50 million in reserves today and officials want to raise that amount eventually to $2.5 billion, the article states.
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to examine current economic crisis in the U.S.:
President Obama signed into law last week the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, which calls among other things for the creation of a Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States.” The 10-member commission, to be comprised of selections made by the U.S. House Speaker
(3 seats), U.S. Senate majority leader (3 seats), U.S. House minority leader (2 seats) and the U.S. Senate minority leader (2 seats), will hold hearings to review current regulatory and business practices in the financial sector, the Monday, June 1 Best Wire story (subscription required) reports.
Roll Call reports on meeting between insurance industry chiefs and senior Obama administration officials:
Federal regulatory reform initiatives were high on the agenda of a Thursday, June 4, Washington D.C. meeting between high-level insurance industry trade group representatives, Diana Farrell, deputy director of the National Economic Council, and Michael Barr, the U.S. Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial institutions, Roll Call reports.
Florida’s governor signs into law measure capping attorney fees in workers compensation cases:
The Associated Press filed a story on Friday, May 29, about how business interests hailed Governor Charlie Crist’s signing of a bill that overturns a court ruling and restores caps on fees for lawyers who represent workers in compensation appeals for on-the-job injuries. Florida’s employers said the law (HB 903) would lower their workers compensation insurance premiums while the state’s trial lawyers had urged the governor to veto the measure.
Tallahassee (FL) Democrat’s managing editor to become executive editor at Shreveport (LA) Times:
Africa Price, the managing editor of the Tallahassee Democrat, is going to be executive editor of the Shreveport Times, the Gannett newspaper chain announced on Monday, June 1.
Georgia insurance commissioner’s ties to guaranty fund chairman are focus of two Atlanta Journal-Constitution stories:
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s ties to Delos ‘Dee’ Yancey III, an insurance executive who has since 1999 been head of the Georgia Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association, was the subject of this Sunday, May 31, front-page Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. The AJC revisited the issue on Wednesday, June 3.
Atlanta fire department says its lower ISO rating will not lead to higher homeowners insurance premiums for city’s residents:
Commissioner Oxendine’s role as the state’s fire safety commissioner was highlighted in a story published in the Monday, June 1, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In the piece, Commissioner Oxendine pointed to an ISO report his office sought which found Atlanta’s public protection classification had dropped to a 4 from a 2 rating. One is the highest ISO rating. The AJC reporter canvassed three insurance agents, two of whom said that the move to a 4 from a 2 could result in homeowner’s insurance premium rate increases of 5-plus percent within the city’s boundaries. The Georgia insurance commissioner’s home county of Gwinnett was also given a 4 rating by ISO, the Atlanta fire department’s spokesman noted.
Wall Street Journal also looking at municipal fire department cutbacks and homeowners insurance rates:
WSJ reporter M.P. McQueen is in the very early stages of researching a story that looks at whether firefighter layoffs or firehouse closings are adversely affecting homeowners insurance rates.
Auto Club Family Insurance Group says it is completely leaving Louisiana’s property insurance market:
Auto Club Family Insurance Group, better known as AAA, has announced it will non-renew all 9,985 of its Louisiana homeowners insurance policies starting in August 2009, becoming the first Louisiana property insurer since Hurricane Katrina to entirely stop writing this coverage in the state, according to this Sunday, May 31, New Orleans Times-Picayune article. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon says he is confident other private-sector carriers will pick up the AAA policyholders.
Louisiana lawmakers consider bills to limit insurer use of hurricane deductibles and to expand auto insurance availability:
Louisiana House Bill (HB) 333 would allow insurers to impose a deductible on a policyholder only once during a single hurricane season, even if the policyholder were to be hit by multiple storms, whereas HB 185 would force insurers to write auto insurance policies even while a named storm was in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Friday, May 29, Times-Picayune story.
Oklahoma becomes seventh state to ban municipal accident response fees; Florida may become eighth to do so:
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed HB 2013 on Sunday, May 31, making Oklahoma the seventh state to enact a ban on the imposition of municipal accident response fees, something Tulsa and Shawnee were exploring because of their budget shortfalls, a Monday, June 1, Best Wire (subscription required) article said. The other states with bans to this effect are Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Florida’s state Legislature also passed a municipal accident response fee ban during its 2009 session. Governor Crist will decide soon whether to sign it into law.
Nevada’s governor signs law that changes way insurance division is financed, rules governing viatical settlements:
The Nevada Division of Insurance issued a release on Monday, June 1, to announce Governor Jim Gibbons’ decision to sign Senate Bill 426. The law does two things: 1) moves the funding for the Division of Insurance to a newly created Fund for Insurance Administration and Enforcement from the state’s General Fund; and 2) revises state law governing viatical settlements, consistent with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Model Act.
Nevada’s insurance commissioner releases three public service announcements for broadcast in June 2009:
Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott Kipper issued a press release on Friday, May 29, saying he will have three public service announcements (PSAs) airing statewide in June 2009. Two of the three are TV spots and were produced by the NAIC. They deal with disaster preparedness and long-term care insurance. The other is a radio PSA which talks about the threat of wildfires and was done in both English and Spanish. The latter was produced through a partnership between Nevada state government and the Nevada Broadcaster’s Association.
I.I.I.’s Worters to write column for woman’s magazine:
Loretta Worters, the I.I.I.’s vice president, Communications, will soon start writing a column periodically for Diversity Woman magazine. Her first topic: How to save money on insurance during the current economic downturn.
Media stories in the works:
Jessica Anderson at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine (Phone: 202-266-3612 email: janderson@kiplinger.com) has been talking to the I.I.I. for a ‘Lowdown’ segment on auto insurance. The piece aims to offer useful information while also busting myths…..Sara Vigneri of Men’s Fitness (Phone: 610-439-2339, email: sara@saravigneri.com) is consulting with the I.I.I. for a story on what men should look for when buying auto/home/life insurance….Christopher Taylor (Phone: 917-554-8278, email: christaylornyc@yahoo.com) , a former senior writer at Smart Money, is writing an article for Parents magazine on the recommended levels of life, disability and long-term care insurance coverage a parent should be carrying. He has his own Web site: www.christaylornyc.com….Jennie Phipps of Bank Rate Monitor (Phone: 248-324-0128, email: jennielp@earthlink.net) is writing a story on things you should know about homeowners insurance as property values drop….Sean Carr of Best Week (sean.carr@ambest.com) is interviewing insurers, regulators, academics and lawyers about Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s record and positions on insurance matters. Since the call, the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig has spoken to Carr for this story….Betsy Wiesendanger (Phone: 212-522-5562, email: wiesendanger@allyou.com) of All You, a new magazine from Time that ‘speaks directly to value-conscious American women,’ is looking at how women can save on auto insurance.
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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