To recap the issues raised during Wednesday’s conference call, here are some of the key media stories, and the messages we’re conveying.
U.S. Senate passes financial regulatory reform bill; legislation to be reconciled with U.S. House-approved measure:
The full text of the 1,600-plus page U.S. Senate’s Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 can be found here, and the legislation is now being reconciled with the U.S. House’s Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. The highlights of the House measure are at the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Web site.I.I.I.’s president addresses Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference:
Bob Hartwig’s PowerPoint presentation, Elephants in the Room: Big Problems in Florida’s Insurance Markets That Nobody Wants to Discuss, was delivered on Wednesday, May 26, in Fort Lauderdale, FL. His remarks were covered in The Palm Beach Post and Florida Underwriter. Hartwig also met while at the conference with Julie Patel of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Nirvi Shah of the Miami Herald, and has agreed to contribute editorial content again this year to the online version of The New York Times as one of its hurricane bloggers.
Long Island Newsday looks at causes of New York’s rising auto insurance premium rates:
Reporter Tom Incantalupo’s story appeared in Newsday’s Friday, May 28, hard-copy and online editions. “Auto insurance premiums over the past decade [in New York] have experienced a bit of a seesaw and now they’re on the way back up again,” said [I.I.I. president] Hartwig, who attributed the latest increase primarily to an increase in fraud, particularly false claims or inflated medical claims.
Wisconsin media highlighting June 1 arrival of mandatory auto insurance purchase law:
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WAOW-TV, the ABC affiliate in Wausau, Wisconsin were among the major outlets which looked at the Tuesday, June 1, deadline for purchasing an auto insurance policy. Even without the law, about 85 percent of Wisconsin drivers already have auto insurance coverage, these stories noted. The Wisconsin Insurance Department issued this Wednesday, May 26, news release on the issue, too.Oklahoma City’s mid-May hail storm may rival this month’s tornadoes when it comes to insured losses:
The property and auto claims from the Sunday, May 16, hail storm that hit Oklahoma City and its suburbs may generate more insured losses than the Monday, May 10, tornadoes that struck the same part of the state, according to industry experts quoted in this Wednesday, May 26, Oklahoman article. Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland gave an interview to KWTV in Oklahoma City about claims filing in the wake of the hail storms and, near the end, offers support for a pending state bill that would require roofing contractors to register with the state.
Forbes examining nation’s top insurance quote Web sites:
Forbes personal finance reporter Ashlea Ebeling (email: aebeling@forbes.com) is preparing a piece on insurance.com, insure.com, insweb.com and netquote.com—a review of their services and business model—for a Forbes Money Guide story slated to appear online on Wednesday, June 9, and in the magazine’s Monday, June 28, hard-copy edition.
I.I.I.’s Hartwig interviewed by Heartland Institute for their upcoming white paper on Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system:
Bob Hartwig spoke this week with Ms. Arin Greenwood, a D.C.-based policy analyst for the Heartland Institute, a think-tank intrigued by the I.I.I. president’s December 2009 testimony on the issue to Michigan state lawmakers.
McGee leaves Bloomberg; Augstums is no longer with the Associated Press:
Two insurance reporters have left journalism to pursue other opportunities. Jamie McGee, who had been a New York City-based insurance reporter for Bloomberg News, has returned to her native Tennessee to pursue a teaching career. Ieva Augstums, a Charlotte, N.C.-based AP business reporter who covered the insurance industry, is moving to Washington, D.C., to work for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), something we learned about since the call.
J.D. Power and Associates report assesses overall consumer satisfaction with the auto insurance purchase experience:
Price is a key factor, but an insurer’s policy offerings and the distribution channels an insurer employs to recruit new customers are also important considerations for consumers when they are in the market for an auto insurance policy, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study, which was released on Tuesday, May 25.
NHTSA updates its assessment of Toyota’s unintended acceleration problems:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Tuesday, May 25, that it had received 6,200 reports of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles as of Thursday, May 20, including allegations of 71 crashes and 89 fatalities, with the most recent fatality figure marking a 71 percent increase (to 89 from 52) as compared with NHTSA’s previous estimates, according to this Wednesday, May 26, USA Today article.Mike Bertrand appointed Vermont’s top insurance regulator:
Bertrand, a Deputy Commissioner at Vermont’s Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA) will succeed outgoing Commissioner Paulette Thabault in mid-June 2010, according to a statement issued on Wednesday, May 19, by Governor Jim Douglas.Fox Business Network’s ‘The Willis Report’ to debut on Monday, June 7:
Gerri Willis’ new one-hour program on weekday afternoons will replace ‘Happy Hour’, according to this Wednesday, May 26, Los Angeles Times story.
Proposition 17 battle pits Mercury against California consumer groups:
The State of California’s official ballot guide for the Tuesday, June 8, election offers the arguments in favor, and against, Proposition 17. Yes on Prop 17 and Stop Prop 17 are competing Web sites that are filled with video and editorial content on the issue.
Whitman appears to have regained double-digit percentage lead in polls over California’s insurance commissioner:
Survey USA reports that Meg Whitman holds a 54-27 percent advantage over Commissioner Steve Poizner in the Republican gubernatorial primary, according to its latest polling data, which was released on Monday, May 24.
Next California insurance commissioner will need to focus on health insurance:
The candidates vying to succeed Commissioner Poizner effective January 2011 will have to incorporate the new federal healthcare reform law into California’s state regulatory structure, according to this Wednesday, May 26, story in the Los Angeles Times. The Mercury News has endorsed state Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) in the Tuesday, June 8, Democratic primary for insurance commissioner.
Houston Chronicle article overstates the cost of flood insurance:
The Sunday, May 23, Houston Chronicle piece was pegged to FEMA’s newly-drawn flood maps in and around Houston, and talks about how the federal government had to revisit its storm surge estimates in the state after Hurricane Ike struck Texas in 2008.
Alabama insurance commissioner’s 16-year-old daughter killed in accident:
Hannah Ridling, daughter of Commissioner James Ridling and his wife, Cathy, died this week from injuries she sustained after falling off the back of a moving vehicle, according to a story posted on Wednesday, May 26, at WSFA, the NBC affiliate in Montgomery, AL.
Mobile Press-Register publishes editorial after gubernatorial candidates’ recent visit to homeowners insurance forum in Spanish Fort, Alabama:
“So the next governor must be prepared to make insurance a top priority,” the Press-Register’s Tuesday, May 25, editorial stated. “Alabama’s chief executive should come into office with a general plan for homeowners’ insurance reform, work with lawmakers to fashion strong legislation and then push hard to overcome resistance from legislators who insist on viewing the south Alabama crisis as a ‘local’ problem. It is an economic development issue for the entire state.”
Louisiana lawmakers favor measure to prohibit insurers from dropping or non-renewing policyholders with defective drywall:
Louisiana’s House Insurance Committee has approved Senate Bill 595, which would keep insurers from dropping or not renewing homeowners and businesses who file property claims over defective drywall. The Senate bill’s sponsor, Louisiana state Senator Julie Quinn (R-Metairie), blocked insurance industry amendments to the measure, including one to remove a requirement that insurers reinstate a dropped policyholder within 30 days with the same terms and conditions as were in effect before the termination, according to this Tuesday, May 25, Times-Picayune article. If enacted into law, the bill would also prohibit an insurer from canceling or not renewing any policy “based solely on the presence of installed drywall” imported from China before December 31, 2009. Quinn estimates that 6,000 Louisiana homeowners or businesses could be affected by the Chinese drywall problem, the article states.
Ladies Home Journal readying consumer-oriented insurance article:
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore is working with LHJ freelancer Josh Garskof, a writer who has his own Web site and has written previously for national publications. Garskof wanted to talk about home, auto, disability and long-term care.
Los Angeles Times looking to put Deepwater Horizon’s insured losses into historical context:
Richard Simon (email: Richard.simon@tribune.com) contacted the I.I.I. to retrieve some facts an statistics about the insured losses arising out of previous disasters involving oil (Exxon Valdez) and the Gulf of Mexico (Hurricane Katrina).
About 9 percent of New York Daily News’ editorial staff accepts voluntary buyout offer:
The percentage is equal to almost 30 of the NYDN’s 320-person newsroom, according to this Wednesday, May 26, New York Post article (see second item). For those who took the buyout, their last day at the Daily News was Friday, May 28.
