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, November 18, please email Michael Barry at michaelb@iii.org.
Tropical Storm Ida causes record rainfall in parts of southeastern U.S.:
Ida made landfall in Dauphin Island, Alabama in the early morning hours of Tuesday, November 10, causing record amounts of rainfall later that day in cities such as Atlanta, Georgia, as the storm moved quickly in a northeasterly direction. The Weather Channel predicted on Thursday, November 12, that heavy rains and gusty winds will hit a number of states along the Atlantic seaboard, from North Carolina to New Jersey, over the weekend of November 14-15.
Columbus Dispatch says quiet 2009 hurricane season benefited insurers:
Pegged to Tropical Storm Ida, the Tuesday, November 10, edition of Ohio’s Columbus Dispatch included a story on the insurance repercussions of the relatively calm 2009 hurricane season.
Wall Street Journal publishes special advertising supplement on annuities:
Prudential and John Hancock appeared to be the section’s primary sponsors, according to a review of the ads appearing in this special section of the WSJ’s Wednesday, November 11, hard-copy edition.
Study of 50 U.S. hotels suggests higher workplace injury rate for women, especially housekeepers:
The American Journal of Industrial Medicine’s January 2010 edition will include an examination of Occupational Injury Disparities in the U.S. Hotel Industry, according to a Wednesday, November 11, New York Times article. Female hotel workers were 50 percent more likely to be injured than their male coworkers and Hispanic women had an injury rate two-thirds higher than white women, the study found.
Tennessee rock slide is captured on tape and broadcast nationwide; natural disaster closes Polk County highway:
NBC’s Today Show aired footage on its Wednesday, November 11, broadcast of the Tuesday, November 10, rock slide which closed Highway 64 in Polk County, Tennessee. The video can be accessed at WDEF-TV, the CBS affiliate in Chattanooga.
Wall Street Journal Sunday edition readying piece on insurance issues confronting 20-something drivers:
New York City-based WSJ reporter Jonnelle Marte (email: jonnelle.marte@wsj.com) spoke with the I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore for a story Marte is writing about ways 20-somethings can reduce their auto insurance premiums. Marte’s piece will also talk about young men and women in this age range who are either insuring their first car or leaving their parents’ auto insurance policy for the first time. An aside: we mentioned Marte’s phone number on the call, but will in the future forward only reporters’ email addresses. Marte objected to the I.I.I. sharing her direct line with other organizations and companies.
Associated Press science writer talks to I.I.I. about natural disasters and insurance; piece will focus on climate change:
Washington, D.C.-based Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein spoke on Tuesday, November 10, with the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig for an upcoming story on natural disasters and insured losses, which will also touch on the extent to which climate change might impact both. The I.I.I. has provided the AP with facts and statistics on disasters and insured losses over the past 20 years.
U.S. Senate’s regulatory reform bill includes federal insurance office and surplus lines legislation:
The D.C.-based trade groups say something akin to the U.S. House’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) bill and language comparable to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2009 (HR 2571), which already passed, were incorporated into U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd’s (D-Connecticut) regulatory reform proposal, which focuses primarily on banks. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) offered a summary of the 1,136-page bill in its Wednesday, November 11, edition.
KHOU-TV, Houston Chronicle carry stories critical of Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA):
Houston’s KHOU-TV aired a major investigative story on Monday evening, November 9, regarding TWIA’s Hurricane Ike claims-handling while, on Tuesday, November 10, the Houston Chronicle focused on TWIA’s bid for immunity from punitive damages, should the association lose any of its pending court cases. TWIA claims eligibility for immunity because of its quasi-governmental status while plaintiffs’ attorneys point out that TWIA is privately-managed, the Chronicle reports.
Mississippi jury generally sides with State Farm in Katrina wind versus water case:
State Farm policyholder Reginald Bossier of Biloxi, Mississippi, is not entitled to any additional money beyond what State Farm had already paid him to repair the damage caused to his home by the winds from Hurricane Katrina. State Farm does, however, owe Bossier $52,300 for losses incurred to the home’s contents, a jury decided on Tuesday, November 10, after deliberating for 80 minutes. The Biloxi Sun Herald covered the jury’s initial decision in its Wednesday, November 11, edition. Meanwhile, the paper reported on the jury’s second decision, which said Bossier is not entitled to punitive damages, on Friday, November 13.
National Lloyds says it will not write new coastal Texas windstorm policies starting in 2010:
“National Lloyds joins a growing list of home insurers limiting how much coverage they sell on the hurricane-prone coast,” the Houston Chronicle reported in its Wednesday, November 11, online edition.
Mobile Press-Register, Mobile’s CBS affiliate cover public hearing on Alabama coastal property insurance issues:
Four Alabama state legislators—Rep. Joe Faust (R-Fairhope), Rep. Randy Davis (R- Daphne), Rep. Steve McMillan (R-Gulf Shores) and Senator Trip Pittman (R-Montrose)—reaffirmed their support for insurance reform during a Tuesday, November 10, meeting in Spanish Fort, Alabama, with members of the Homeowners’ Hurricane Insurance Initiative, according to a Wednesday, November 11, Mobile Press-Register story. WKRG-TV, Mobile’s CBS affiliate, also covered the event.
East Texas Review op-ed rebuts Dallas Morning News’ stance on credit-based insurance scoring:
Bud Schauerte, a former National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) administrator, offered a spirited rebuttal to the DMN’s October 2009 news story and editorial on credit-based insurance scoring.
Chinese government has ultimate responsibility for damages caused by defective Chinese drywall, U.S. Senator says:
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), the keynote speaker at a Tampa drywall symposium late last week, also said he is trying to find other financial assistance for U.S. homeowners with Chinese drywall problems, including asking the Small Business Administration to provide disaster loans and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer temporary housing, according to a Saturday, November 7, St. Petersburg Times article.
California’s insurance commissioner rejects second rate increase request from Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau:
California insurance commissioner Steven Poizner rejected on Monday, November 9, a proposal from California’s WCIRB, in which the Bureau asked that workers compensation insurers be allowed to raise by 22.8 percent the rates paid by employers on workers comp policies written, or renewed, after January 1, 2010. Although the commissioner’s decision is not binding, many leading insurers generally comply, according to a Tuesday, November 10, Los Angeles Times article.
USA Today’s Kathy Chu has moved to Hong Kong:
USA Today’s Kathy Chu (email: kchu@usatoday.com), who extensively covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, is staying with the paper but has moved to Hong Kong. In an email sent earlier this month to her sources, Chu said she will continue to write about the U.S. banking and the credit card industries. This link archives her most recent USA Today stories.
New York Times reports broader video offerings at news Web sites are generating additional advertising revenue:
“News Web sites are starting to look a lot less like newspapers and a lot more like television,” the New York Times reports, in a Wednesday, November 11, article that appeared on the front page of the paper’s hard-copy Business Day section.
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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