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, March 20, please email me at michaelb@iii.org
MONEY MAGAZINE’S APRIL 2013 PRINT EDITION OFFERS DETAILED LOOK AT CHANGES IN THE U.S. HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE MARKET
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore is quoted, and I.I.I. research cited, in Lisa Gibbs’ Covered? Don’t Be So Sure (page 73). The sub-head reads: “Think your homeowners insurance premiums are bad? What you’ve really got to worry about is the gaps in your coverage that could leave you on the hook for major repair costs.”
CNN STORY ON SPIKE IN TEENAGE DRIVING FATALITIES PEGGED TO TRAGEDIES THIS WEEK IN ILLINOIS, OHIO AND TEXAS
The I.I.I.’s Mike Barry worked with on-air reporter George Howell’s producer to provide facts and statistics for this Wednesday, March 13, CNN story on the recent spate of teen driving deaths.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE’S (NWS) FLOOD SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK TAKING PLACE BETWEEN MARCH 18-22, 2013
The I.I.I. issued a media advisory on Wednesday, March 13, to call reporters’ attention to its flood insurance resources as the NWS prepares for Flood Safety Awareness Week.
JOHN BYRNE, CREDITED WITH MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AT GEICO AND FIREMAN’S FUND, DIES AT THE AGE OF 80
Byrne died at his New Hampshire home on Thursday, March 7, according to this Tuesday, March 12, New York Times obituary.
SINCE MID-2012, A.M. BEST ADDED 15 U.S. PROPERTY/CASUALTY (P/C) INSURERS TO ITS LIST OF ‘FINANCIALLY IMPAIRED COMPANIES’
Inadequate pricing and under-reserving brought most of these P/C insurers to the attention of state regulators, this A.M. Best report from Wednesday, March 6, reveals.
THE QUALITY OF TRUCK UNDER-RIDE GUARDS IS GENERALLY IMPROVING, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY FINDS
The strength and dimensions of the steel bars that hang from the backs of large trucks and semi-trailers—known as under-ride guards—are key to preventing passenger vehicle occupant fatalities when the front of a car strikes the rear of either a truck or a semi-trailer, a study released on Thursday, March 14, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.
NPR INTERVIEWS I.I.I., IBHS PRESIDENTS ON BACKGROUND; PREPARING STORY ON POST-SANDY INSURANCE REPERCUSSIONS
National Public Radio’s (NPR) Washington, D.C.-based science correspondent Christopher Joyce spoke on Wednesday, March 13, with the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and IBHS’s Julie Rochman about the many public policy issues that emerged in the wake of Sandy. Joyce said he will likely tape interviews with both Hartwig and Rochman and file a story a few weeks from now.
CAPITOL HILL
The Wall Street Journal’s print editions on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week (March 11, 12 and 14) included stories on efforts to bring greater transparency to asbestos trust fund disbursements. A U.S. House hearing was held on Wednesday, March 13, regarding the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013 (House Resolution 982).
The Flood Victim Premium Relief Act of 2013 (House Resolution 960) calls for allowing National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums to rise no more than 5 percent in each year over the next four years, for NFIP policyholders in communities declared a federal disaster area since July 2012, The Staten Island Advance reported, in this Monday, March 11, article.
Liberty Mutual’s Joseph DiGiovanni has been appointed senior vice president, State Affairs, at the American Insurance Association. He starts his new job on Monday, April 1.
STATES
Florida
The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian was interviewed for this Wednesday, March 13, Fort Myers Fox affiliate story on property insurance coverage for sinkhole caused damage.
Core Logic reports there are 15,000-plus verified sinkholes in Florida, more than in any other U.S. state. Twenty-three of them are situated within a mile of the one which killed 37-year-old Jeffrey Bush at his Seffner home on Thursday, February 28, according to this Wednesday, March 6, USA Today article. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) posted The Science of Sinkholes.
Jennifer Carroll, the state’s lieutenant governor, has resigned amid a federal probe into a gambling company for which she was a consultant prior to her 2010 election, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Governor Rick Scott will not seek a new lieutenant governor until the conclusion of the current legislative session, according to a Wednesday, March 13, news release.
The Miami Herald’s Carl Hiassen strongly criticized the senior management team at Citizens for raising policyholder premiums while also awarding hefty bonuses to some of its employees.
California
Only three of the 11 renters displaced by a January 2013 fire in a Moreno Valley apartment building had renters insurance. The tenants may take legal action against the building’s owner to recoup their financial losses, according to this Monday, March 11, story in The Riverside Press-Enterprise. Pete Moraga of the Insurance Information Network of California is quoted in the piece.
Amagnitude 4.7 earthquake centered in Riverside County occurred on Monday, March 11. The temblor was felt from downtown Los Angeles to Mexico, the Los Angeles Times reported.
South Carolina
The R Street Institute released a 12-page analysis of The South Carolina Coastal Property Insurance Market on Tuesday, March 5. The report’s co-authors are Eli Lehrer, the president and co-founder of R Street, and Ernst Csiszar, a former South Carolina Insurance Director who is now a professor at the University of South Carolina.
North Carolina
This Tuesday, March 12, story from the Associated Press’s Raleigh bureau offers details on a scheme which defrauded the federal crop insurance program of up to $100 million.
Tennessee
Governor Haslam’s workers compensation reform proposal won the approval of key House and Senate committees on Tuesday, March 12, The Nashville Tennessean reports.
Louisiana
Richard Robertson, the Louisiana Property Insurance Corporation’s CEO, is retiring effective June 1, 2013, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported, in a Tuesday, March 12, story.
New York
The I.I.I.’s Barry is quoted in this Tuesday, March 12, Staten Island Advance article on how Katrina impacted downstate New York’s property insurance market before Sandy hit.
Texas
A state lawmaker from Amarillo has introduced a measure (House Bill 2785) that would require the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) to offer its policyholders detailed information about TWIA’s financial condition, according to this Thursday, March 7, Corpus Christi Caller Times story.
Ohio
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that Ohio’s Richard Cordray, head of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will have trouble winning U.S. Senate confirmation.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
Tornado season is a popular topic this week on Twitter, with insurance agents and consumer groups sharing a single message: be prepared. The I.I.I.’s tornado safety tips are being linked to, and there are also discussions about disaster apps, such as the Red Cross tornado app and the I.I.I.’s Know Your Plan app.
Another trend this week involves saving money on auto insurance; insurance agents on Facebook are sharing advice with policyholders on how to get a better deal for themselves.
MEDIA MATTERS
The New York Post announced this week its launch of a Post-centric bus tour of New York City. Tickets are $49 per person, and the tours will be conducted only on Thursdays.
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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