SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL November 30, 2011

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, December 7, please email Loretta Worters at lorettaw@iii.org.

 

The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig and Steve Weisbart are the co-authors on the background paper, which provides information on the events surrounding the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt in August 2011, and the work the Congressional supercommittee was created to accomplish. “The nation’s property/casualty (P/C) insurers have very limited direct exposure to the U.S. government bond market and have collectively set aside hundreds of billions of dollars to pay unanticipated claims. Both of these factors will enable the industry to operate effectively despite any further downgrade of long-term U.S. bonds,” the I.I.I. paper states.

The I.I.I. page went live this week and can be found here.

 

Sales of catastrophe bonds, which offer high yields for investors who accept risks related to natural disasters, have fallen this year to $2.28 billion through September 2011, compared with $4.85 billion for all of 2010, according to this Wednesday, November 30, Wall Street Journal article (subscription required). The story highlights the plight of Mariah Re Ltd., which is “poised to default on a $100 million, three-year bond that it issued in November 2010 on behalf of American Mutual Family Insurance Co. with bondholders expected to lose all of their principal,” the piece states.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offered details in this Monday, November 28, news release, and the I.I.I.’s Claire Wilkinson devoted her Wednesday, November 30, Terms + Conditions blog to the just-ended season.

The I.I.I.’s Hartwig spoke on Tuesday, November 29, with the WSJ’sLeslie Scism about the debate over whether homeowners insurance policies should be posted online….the I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters briefed Susan Stellin of The New York Times real estate section and Jonathan Epstein of The Buffalo News about what is covered under a standard renters insurance policy….James Nani of the Times Herald-Record, a daily newspaper covering New York State’s lower Hudson Valley, is prepping a piece on the insurance repercussions of deer-vehicle accidents….Don Jergler, Insurance Journal’s Western Region Editor, is filing a story on the I.I.I.’s updated Firm Foundation report on California (a link is below, under the State Updates section)….Terry Loose of Yahoo! Finance sought and received the I.I.I.’s input for an upcoming story on the most and least expensive U.S. cities in which to buy auto insurance, and how/why they achieved their rankings.

The I.I.I.’s Worters is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, November 30, with writer Donna Freedman about this story, which offers a number of consumer tips about dealing with auto insurance adjusters that are best not followed. Former Wall Street Journal reporter Chris Oster is Freedman’s editor at MSN Money.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), ranking Member on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services committee, announced on Tuesday, November 29, that he will not seek re-election to his current post in 2012.

 

A U.S. House hearing on Tuesday, December 6, has the following title: The Endangered Species Act: How Litigation is Costing Jobs and Impeding True Recovery Efforts.

 

The Joplin Globe reported last weekend that private-sector insurers have paid out $1.13 billion in claims to date arising out of the May 2011 Joplin tornadoes, a natural disaster that killed 161 people and destroyed more than 7,500 homes. Missouri Insurance Director John Huff said, “this is the largest insurance event in Missouri history.”

The emergence of a rare yet major sinkhole in Georgetown County, South Carolina, and the lack of coverage for this peril in the state, is explained in this Tuesday, November 29, Georgetown Times article.

FEMA and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) disagree about whether state law is applicable when an unlawful act is committed in New York involving the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program, according to this Wednesday, November 30, article in The Albany Times-Union.

 

The state Assembly will receive an update on DFS, nearly two months after the agency opened its doors, at a Thursday, December 1, public hearing in Albany, New York.

 

The Weather Channel sent on-air reporter Jim Cantore to California this week to cover the impact of the intense Santa Ana winds on various parts of the state. The Insurance Information Network of California (IINC) issued a news release on Tuesday, November 29, about the insurance repercussions of high winds.

 

The I.I.I. released this week its updated California edition of A Firm Foundation: How Insurance Supports the Economy.

 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported in its Wednesday, November 30, edition that the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded a $6 million grant which will be split equally between three universities “to improve earthquake early warning systems.”  UC Berkeley, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Washington are the beneficiaries.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in its Saturday, November 26, edition that average annual auto insurance premiums in the state rose 0.7 percent in 2011 as compared to 2010, citing data from the state’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. 

There was a lot of buzz in social media on Cyber Monday (November 28) about protecting yourself from identity theft when making online purchases, especially while using a mobile device for these transactions. The I.I.I.’s Wilkinson had a blog post about the issue that is being tweeted by insurance agents and consumer specialists.

 

Another popular topic this week in social media, relating to the stories about seasonal shopping, is the issue of credit cards and how having a good credit rating can mean paying lower insurance premiums. The issue is appearing on a few consumer focused blogs. 

 

The I.I.I. press release about party host liability, which received some attention before Thanksgiving, is still being shared via Facebook by insurance agents as the U.S. moves into an active holiday party season.

 

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

 

For an I.I.I. Blog search, click here.