SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL May 8, 2013

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, May 15, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.

 

The I.I.I.’s news release was issued on Wednesday, May 8, hours after the CFA released this statement. National Underwriter, Insurance Networking News, and Insurance Journal filed stories.

 

Spanish-speaking consumers in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, with questions about their insurance coverage and disaster preparedness called a telephone hotline, hosted by WXTV, Univision’s Channel 41, on Thursday, May 9, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Spanish-speaking experts from the I.I.I., FEMA and the Latin Agents and Brokers Association provided information. The hotline was televised live and the I.I.I.’s Elianne Gonzalez appeared on camera to provide insurance information to consumers. Viewers were also encouraged to submit questions via Twitter which were fielded by the I.I.I.’s Andréa Basora.

Over the last 16 months, at least five life insurers have informed the holders of their annuities that they will not accept, or have placed restrictions on, additional money for older contracts with the highest guarantees, according to this Monday, May 6, print edition WSJ article. The next day, the WSJ had a print edition story with a Colorado Springs dateline on how more Colorado and New Mexico residents are trimming brush near their homes amid concerns that the 2013 wildfire season could be severe in those states, and elsewhere.

Many people fail to insure their most valuable asset, the ability to work and earn money, according to this Wednesday, May 8, USA Today story. According to a recent Social Security fact sheet, more than 25 percent of Americans who are now 20 years old will become disabled before reaching the age of 67, the article states.

Aon said airline insurance claims fell 20 percent in 2012, the third consecutive decline, and premiums dropped 11 percent to $1.61 billion, according to this Tuesday, May 7, Bloomberg article.

Brian Heap, an investigative reporter at the CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kansas, is exploring the extent to which home insurers are non-renewing their Kansas policyholders….the Hartford Courant’s Matt Sturdevant is prepping a piece aimed at rebutting an Iowa newspaper’s implication last month that Des Moines is gaining insurance jobs while Hartford is losing them…the I.I.I.’s Steve Weisbart offered his insights on what the typical consumer needs to know about life and disability insurance for an August 2013 Woman’s Day story….the I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters spoke with The New York Times’ Wheels blog writer, Jim Montavalli about the insurance issues raised by car-sharing services….the I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore briefed Marketwatch’s Kelli Grant about travel insurance in the wake of a recent volcanic eruption in Alaska …the I.I.I.’s Mike Barry is taping on Friday, May 10, an interview with A.M. Best’s John Weber for inclusion in an upcoming Best Day News video on the industry’s Sandy response….Inside Edition, the national TV show, is doing an investigative story on Aftermath, an Illinois-based bio-hazard clean-up firm accused of sending exorbitant bills to homeowners insurance companies.

 

A U.S. Senate subcommittee is holding a Wednesday, May 8, public hearing on The Role of the Private Sector in Preparedness and Emergency Response.

 

More than 20,000 acres burned during the Springs wildfire, which struck to the northwest of Los Angeles. It started on Thursday, May 2, according to a Tuesday, May 7, Live Science story.

 

Governor Brown declared May 6-12, 2013, Wildfire Awareness Week and kicked it off with a Monday, May 6, press conference in McClennan, a community in Sacramento County.

 

A judge has sided with Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, the defendant in a case brought against him by a Mercury General Corporation unit, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported, in this Wednesday, May 8, article.

A California appeals court ruled that Mt. Hawley, an insurance subsidiary of Illinois-based RLI Corporation, must pay the $1 million-plus in defense costs and other fees one of their policyholders, a medical doctor, incurred prior to being acquitted of charges involving in a liver transplant scam, this Friday, May 3, Wall Street Journal Law Blog story explained.

 

National Hurricane Center (NHC) Director Rick Knabb said the weather events of 2012 highlighted the dangers of storm surge and flooding, and how difficult they are to predict, according to this Tuesday, May 7, Associated Press article on Knabb’s remarks at the annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference in Fort Lauderdale.

 

The Baton Rouge Advocate reported this week on the status of Senate Bill 147, which if enacted would expand the existing ban on driving while using a cellphone, to include tweeting or posting material to social network sites while behind the wheel. One legislative critic says applying make-up and reading are other activities that should be added to this list.

 

on Thursday, May 2, Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law HB 695, legislation requiring insurers that write homeowners policies in the state with anti-concurrent causation (ACC) clauses to explain these clauses to their policyholders on an annual basis. It will take effect on June 1, 2013. 

 

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said insurers paid out $209 million in claims resulting from the March 18 hailstorms in the Jackson area, as of April 15, 2013. The Clarion Ledger picked up on the commissioner’s news release in a Saturday, May 4, article.

 

Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, Pass Christian and Waveland will likely see the highest spikes in flood insurance premiums because of last year’s Biggert-Waters Flood insurance Reform Act, according to this Saturday, May 4, article in The Biloxi Sun Herald.

 

Governor Chris Christie has signed into law a measure requiring homeowners insurers to provide policyholders with a one-page description of what policies cover, and what is excluded. The state Department of Banking and Insurance will now create a timeline for implementing the requirements, this Monday, May 6, Star-Ledger article stated.

The asking prices for homes in Beach Haven West, a Jersey Shore community of 4,000 waterfront residences, have dropped $75,000-$80,000 in Sandy’s wake. Since the storm, 44 of Beach Haven West’s residential properties have been sold, and another 163 are for sale, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, in this Monday, May 6, story.

New Jersey residents about to buy a used car should cross-check its vehicle identification number (VIN) with the ones posted at a special New Jersey Consumer Affairs website, making sure the VIN for their prospective vehicle does not match one that was declared flood-damaged in the wake of Sandy, this front page story Philadelphia Inquirer article stated, on Tuesday, May 7.

The Bloomberg administration is expanding the number of evacuation zones along the city’s waterfront, a move that adds an additional 640,000 New York City residents to the rolls of those who would be forced to evacuate when a major storm is threatening the city, The New York Times reported, in a Saturday, May 4, print edition article.

 

Governor Mary Fallin signed into law on Monday, May 6, a measure that will overhaul the state’s worker’s compensation system, this same-day Associated Press story reports. 

The West Fertilizer Company only had a $1 million liability insurance, a dollar amount constituting a small fraction of the estimated losses arising out of the April 17 explosion at the site, which killed 15 people and injured 200 others, The Dallas Morning News reported, in this Friday, May 3, article. The I.I.I.’s Hartwig is quoted in the story.

State Senator Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) announced on Tuesday, May 7, that the Senate Business and Commerce Committee had passed Senate Bill 1700, legislation which calls for replacing the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s (TWIA) current management structure and changing TWIA’s name to the Texas Residual Insurance Plan (TRIP).

 

State lawmakers have lowered the higher unemployment insurance trust fund bills Vermont’s Irene-damaged businesses initially received, this Saturday, May 4, Valley News article says.

“Are you ready for hurricane season?” With less than a month until the season officially starts on June 1, insurance professionals and disaster preparedness experts are taking to Twitter and Facebook to reach out to consumers and business owners about preparing for potential storms and urging homeowners to consider purchasing flood insurance.  The I.I.I.’s Friday, May 3, press release on the latter topic is being shared as part of this trending topic.

 

There is also a lot of focus on the issue of auto safety and teens; Twitter and several blogs are full of tips and stories on keeping teenage drivers safe. The summertime is the deadliest season for young drivers and, once again I.I.I. content on this topic is being shared. 

 

CNBC’s Brian Shactman is moving to MSNBC effective Monday, May 13; after being named the host of MSNBC’s 5:30 a.m., ET, program Way Too Early, succeeding Willie Geist, who is now the co-hosting the Today Show’s third hour.

 

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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