To recap the issues raised during today’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, October 23, please email Loretta Worters at lorettaw@iii.org.
I.I.I. POSTS BRIEFING MEMO ANALYZING IMPACT OF THE FEDERAL SHUTDOWN AND DEBT CEILING ISSUE ON INSURANCE INDUSTRY
I.I.I. chief economist Steven Weisbart’s analysis of the government situation was posted on Friday, October 11, and the I.I.I. has handled a number of media inquiries on these issues, including one from The Wall Street Journal, persuasively arguing that any impacts from the crisis are likely to be minimal. Federal lawmakers reached on accord on Wednesday, October 16.
I.I.I. PARTICIPATES IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION’S (IICF) WEEK OF GIVING (OCTOBER 12-19)
The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters provided an overview of the I.I.I. volunteer project on Tuesday, October 15. She was joined by four other staffers—Mike Barry, Andréa Basora, Carol Liesch and Diane Portantiere—in Staten Island, New York, where the group served as a demolition crew for a Sandy-damaged home. The project was coordinated by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
STATE INSURANCE TRADE ASSOCIATIONS (SITA) CONVENING IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, BETWEEN OCTOBER 20-23
SITA’s annual gathering kicks off on Sunday evening, October 20, at The Mirage Hotel, and concludes on Wednesday morning, October 23. More details are available in this news release.
NEW YORK TIMES HAD MAJOR STORY IN ITS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, PRINT EDITION ON BIGGERT-WATERS FLOOD INSURANCE ACT’S IMPACT
Coastal homeowners from Hawaii to New England are having trouble handling the sharp rate increases for federal flood insurance, the Sunday, October 13, New York Times reported.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore left a message with the Associated Press’ Wayne Parry after he wrote a story that failed to distinguish between a homeowner’s policy and one issued by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, hoping to explain the difference. ‘Normalcy eludes many a year after Sandy hit NJ’ hit the Associated Press wire on Sunday, October 13.
The I.I.I.’s Barry gave an interview to Nick DiUlio of InsuranceQuotes.com on auto insurer use of credit-based insurance scores. DiUlio said InsuranceQuotes.com retained Quadrant, a vendor it has used previously as the basis of stories, to assess the link between a person’s credit-based insurance score and what they pay for auto insurance. FICO was also interviewed.
The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig was interviewed by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) e-newsletter editor for a story the Big ‘I’ is writing on the growth of insurance policy sales through digital channels; the news peg was this Monday, October 14, Accenture release on how technology is changing Europe’s insurance distribution models.
CAPITOL HILL
The Congressional agreement to re-open fully the federal government is chronicled in this Wednesday, October 16, National Journal article.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, was elected on Wednesday, October 16, to serve the balance of the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg’s term.
STATES
Alabama
The Coastal Alabama Partnership, an advocacy group, sponsored a Thursday, October 17, public forum in Mobile to discuss what the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 is going to mean for the region’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders. The Mobile Press-Register had a story previewing the meeting in its Friday, October 11, edition.
Fighting for a vacant Mobile County state House seat where property insurance issues are a hot topic, Susan Hightower will face Marge Wilcox in a Tuesday, December 3, Republican primary run-off. The general election is being held in January 2014 because District 104’s previous House Representative resigned in August 2013.
California
Because the Los Angeles City Council backed away under pressure from mandating widespread seismic building retrofits after 1994’s Northridge earthquake, only some downtown LA building owners have retrofitted their old concrete buildings while others have not, according to this Los Angeles Times article, which was posted on Tuesday, October 16.
Two workers have died in construction accidents over the past four months at the Santa Clara site where a new stadium is being built for the San Francisco 49ers, according to this segment broadcast on the NBC affiliate in San Jose. The most recent death was on Monday, October 14.
Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill on Sunday, October 13, that would have made it illegal for teen drivers to get behind the wheel between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., and called for requiring teenagers to have a learners permit for nine months, rather than six, before getting a license, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Colorado
The Colorado Springs Fire Department and the city’s Office of Emergency Management are set to receive a combined budget increase of $5.6 million in 2014 in the wake of the region’s wildfires and flooding over the past year, according to this Tuesday, October 15, article in The Colorado Springs Gazette.
Florida
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jeff Atwater announced on Tuesday, October 15, the conviction of a 46-year-old Tampa clinic owner who was found guilty of orchestrating large-scale personal injury protection (PIP) fraud schemes in Tampa and Jacksonville, according to this news release. The clinic owner will be sentenced in November 2013.
If the state’s 2012 no-fault reform law (House Bill 119) is found to be unconstitutional—an appeals court is currently weighing whether that is the case—CFO Atwater would favor getting rid of no-fault auto insurance in Florida, according to this Tuesday, October 15, St. Petersburg blog item.
The 40-year-old man arrested last week for filing a fraudulent insurance claim after claiming his 2004 Jaguar was stolen during a carjacking, is running for the at-large Group 1 City Council seat in Jacksonville, according to this Friday, October 11, Florida Times-Union article.
Louisiana
Insurance Commissioner James Donelon said his state will either join Mississippi or file its own lawsuit to block or delay the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act from taking effect, this Friday, October 11, story at New Orleans’ Fox TV affiliate explains. Florida has also indicated it may join Mississippi in its legal efforts in this regard.
Michigan
The Citizens Research Council of Michigan issued a study on Monday, October 14, saying auto insurers and state lawmakers can lower auto insurance premiums without making major changes to the state’s no-fault system, and the Council’s findings were chronicled in a same-day Associated Press story. The Detroit News also covered the Council’s report.
Ann Flood will become the Department of Insurance and Financial Services’ (DIFS) next director effective Friday, November 1, Governor Rick Snyder announced on Tuesday, October 15.
New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie said 95 percent of Sandy insurance claims have been settled, when asked by state Senator Barbara Buono, his Democratic challenger, why the governor has not “taken on” insurers, post-Sandy, in the same way governors of other states have, according to this New York City CBS affiliate account of their Tuesday, October 15, debate.
New York
A 53-year-old Huntington Station, Long Island, man was sentenced to a minimum of two and one-half years and a maximum of six years in prison after being convicted of 22 felonies, all of them tied to commercial auto insurance fraud schemes, according to a Friday, October 11, news release issued by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
The federal government’s partial shutdown and budget impasse dominated the headlines early this week. The most popular topic was the debt ceiling issue. Competing parties and their supporters were tweeting their positions non-stop.
Another issue getting traction on social media is Superstorm Sandy’s upcoming one-year anniversary. It will be marked on Tuesday, October 29. Local newspapers, such as Long Island’s Newsday, and citizens are tweeting about commemorative ceremonies, or informal gatherings, happening on that day in Sandy-impacted communities.
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s Week of Giving, which continues through Saturday, October 19, included an I.I.I. excursion—now documented on Facebook—to Staten Island to repair a Sandy-damaged home.
MEDIA MATTERS
The Pew Research Center’s analysis of Nielsen data found that television remains the dominant way Americans get their news at home. And, while the largest TV audiences tune into local and national broadcast news, it is national cable news that commands the most attention from its viewers, the study says. Pew released its findings on Friday, October 11.
ABC’s Bill Weir is moving to CNN, according to this Friday, October 11, Deadline article. Weir filed a story this summer on Sandy-damaged salvage vehicles for ABC’s The Lookout.
Arianna Huffington earned about $21 million after selling the Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million, The Smoking Gun revealed.
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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