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, June 1, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
I.I.I.’s PRESIDENT APPEARS IN PBS FRONTLINE DOCUMENTARY ON BUSINESS OF DISASTER; NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO AIRS EXCERPTS
The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig discussed FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program and the industry’s response to 2012’s Superstorm Sandy during the Tuesday, May 24, PBS program.
NOAA TO RELEASE ITS 2016 ATLANTIC SEASON OUTLOOK ON FRIDAY, MAY 27
A press conference is being held on that day (May 27) at 11:30 a.m., ET, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Suitland, Maryland, office.
CERES WANTS INSURERS TO MOVE AWAY FROM INVESTING IN FOSSIL FUEL-RELATED COMPANIES
The I.I.I’s Hartwig countered the arguments made in yesterday’s (May 24) Ceres teleconference in an interview with Insurance Journal. Bloomberg also filed a story.
NATURAL AND MAN MADE CATASTROPHES IN 2015—CALM BEFORE THE STORM?
The I.I.I.’s Hartwig and Thomas Holzheu, chief economist, Americas, Swiss Re, jointly discussed the issue. Josh Bradford, senior editor, Advisen, moderated today’s (May 25) webinar.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
CNBC’s Los Angeles-based Jeff Daniels is gathering information for a prospective story on U.S. auto insurance rate hikes. If you’ve heard from Daniels, let the I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters know (lorettaw@iii.org).
The I.I.I.’s Hartwig will be interviewed by Business Insurance’s Doug McLeod on Axa’s decision to divest its tobacco-related assets.
The I.I.I.’s Worters gave to The Chicago Tribune’s Becky Yerak information about insurance for short-term home rentals.
The I.I.I.’s Michael Barry provided information to The East Valley (Arizona) Tribune’s Jim Walsh about auto insurance coverage for cracked windshields.
CAPITOL HILL
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) evaluated the crashworthiness of three 2016 sports cars. None of them qualified as an IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK.
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) would be unable to override U.S. regulators under the Transparent Insurance Standards Act (H.R. 5143).
STATES
Alabama
The city of Tuscaloosa issued safety tips on the use of hoverboards after responding to two fires within the past two weeks. Both caused property damage and occurred when the hoverboards were being charged.
California
Numerous small businesses offered no workers’ compensation insurance coverage to its employees, state regulators found, after making surprise visits to tree service, home remodeling, and moving companies.
The family of the late San Diego Padres baseball player Tony Gwynn filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against a smokeless tobacco manufacturer.
Colorado
The Colorado Springs Gazette’s series on the perils of landslide zones west of Interstate 25 has prompted the City Council to revisit its land use policies.
Florida
A South Florida Sun-Sentinel article on short-term vacation rentals notes the practice could have adverse insurance implications.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio wrote an opinion column which touched on the status of 2015’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Act.
The Office of Insurance Regulation is appealing a judge’s decision which would allow property insurers to keep private information that is now public.
Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has opened a new office in Tallahassee.
Hawaii
Five people died on Monday, May 23, after a plane crashed in Kauai.
Illinois
Chicago’s City Council wants drivers whose vehicles are burned and rendered “permanently inoperable” to submit a signed statement to the city’s fire commissioner about the incident.
Opioid addiction could be reduced if Illinois either banned or restricted physician dispensation of painkillers to injured workers, according to a Chicago Tribune op-ed writer.
Louisiana
A bill which would allow law enforcement to scan electronically license plates—and cross-check that information with other databases to determine if vehicles are either uninsured or stolen—will not likely win legislative approval.
Missouri
CNN marked the 5th anniversary (Sunday, May 22) of Joplin’s EF-5 tornado, one of the deadliest in U.S. history.
New Jersey
Jim Keady, a Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur in November, tweeted about last night’s PBS story.
Richard Badolato, the state’s acting Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) commissioner, won this week the support of the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
New York
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged a 29-year-old Macedonian citizen with selling illegally obtained credit and debit card data as well as personal identification information.
Oklahoma
Insurance Commissioner John Doak is weighing whether to increase regulation of earthquake insurers.
South Carolina
The Department of Insurance is conducting a coastal property information session at Bluffton Town Hall on Thursday, June 2, at 6 p.m., and a storm readiness expo at Bluffton’s Home Depot on Saturday, June 4, at 10 a.m.
Hilton Head is holding a flood insurance workshop on Thursday, June 2, at 2 p.m..
Texas
Severe rainstorms, a fast-growing population, and an antiquated drainage system have placed more areas of Houston at risk of damaging floods, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Department of Insurance issued a data call last Friday “on the cost of weather-related property insurance claims and the incidence of litigation of these claims.”
A Houston insurance agent pled guilty to charges she engaged in a $3 million annuity scam which targeted senior citizens.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
PBS Frontline – Business of Disaster
PBS Frontline’s story is getting heavy attention in social media, with conversations being primarily conducted among individuals, and negative in tone. Viewers and social media users alike have shared the link of the written online article and some expressed anger about the delays in resolving disputed Sandy flood insurance claims.
The PBS program’s title, Business of Disaster, combined with the word “insurance,” resulted in 717 mentions on social media and 83 mentions in online stories and publications, according to Meltwater.
The conversation on social and Twitter are at the hashtags #disaster and #BusinessOfDisaster. PBS Frontline is using the hashtag #MyStormStory to crowdsource natural disaster stories.
I.I.I. president Bob Hartwig tweeted while the PBS program was being broadcast. You can also find retweets from Hartwig on the I.I.I.’s Twitter channel.
One of his tweets linked to video of FEMA’s Brad Kieserman telling a panel of U.S. Senators in April 2015 that FEMA had seen no evidence of Sandy-related flood insurance fraud (comment comes at around the 3:50 minute mark).
2016 Atlantic hurricane season outlook
NOAA will issue its initial outlook for the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season during a news conference in Maryland on Friday, May 27. The season begins officially on Wednesday, June 1.
In addition to offering its seasonal prediction, NOAA will discuss the new tools it developed to track more precisely a hurricane’s path and intensity. A FEMA deputy administrator will brief the media on the importance of personal preparedness.
You can follow NOAA on Twitter and Facebook, as well as at the hashtags #HurricaneStrong and #HurricanePrep.
MEDIA MATTERS
NBC has appointed Stephanie Ruhle a co-anchor of NBC’s Saturday Today show.
About a dozen reporters have left The Las Vegas Review-Journal since its purchase six months ago by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
The CW’s programming will continue to be carried by Tribune-owned stations in New York (WPIX) and Los Angeles (KTLA). The CW’s new Chicago affiliate is Fox-owned WPWR.
The New York Times is offering voluntary buyouts to eligible newsroom employees. Those in the paper’s video, graphics, and digital design departments are ineligible to take buyouts.
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.
