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, September 23, please email Loretta Worters at lorettaw@iii.org.
U.S. Labor Department reports 4.7 percent year-to-year increase in auto insurance premium prices:
The federal government arrived at that figure for the year ending August 2009 when calculating the consumer price index (CPI).
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sets up task force to examine life insurance settlement industry:
Last month, the SEC established an agency-wide task force to examine the life insurance settlement industry, assigning staff from several divisions “to get a better handle on the breadth of the market and how the products are marketed and sold to investors,” according to a Wednesday, September 16, Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).
ACLI president responds to New York Times’ front page story on life settlement securitization:
Frank Keating, president of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), had a letter published in the Monday, September 14, New York Times in response to the paper’s Sunday, September 6, front page article on Wall Street’s interest in securitizing life insurance settlement policies. Keating writes that securitization of life insurance policies transferred to third parties is “not necessarily a bad thing.
KHOU-TV sends reporter to Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) board meeting:
The Houston television station has been closely tracking TWIA’s Hurricane Ike-related claims handling, and covered the TWIA board’s Tuesday, September 15, meeting in Austin, the Southwestern Insurance Information Service said.
North Carolina Beach Plan reforms prominently covered in Wall Street Journal:
WSJ reporter Leslie Scism examined the new law governing the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association’s Beach Plan, the property insurer of last resort for the state’s coastal communities, in a Wednesday, September 16, article (subscription required). The measure went into effect on August 26, 2009, and the Beach Plan name is being retired in favor of the Coastal Property Insurance Pool. The I.I.I. worked closely with Scism on the North Carolina story but was not mentioned in the article. An aside: WSJ insurance reporter Scism now reports to Ms. Jamie Heller, the WSJ’s investment editor, rather than to Neal Templin. Heller’s portfolio includes insurance as well as hedge and pension funds, endowments and institutional investing.
IBHS issues study on Gulf Coast’s vulnerability to storm surge; holds groundbreaking in South Carolina:
Hurricane Ike: Nature’s Force vs. Structural Strength, a new study released on Monday, September 14, by the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), reveals that significantly more Gulf Coast homes and businesses are imperiled by disastrous flooding from storm surge than previously recognized by property owners or policymakers. IBHS also made news on Wednesday, September 16, with a groundbreaking ceremony for its disaster safety Research Center in Chester County, South Carolina.
Seattle’s WaMu Center building to be renamed Russell Investments Center:
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Milwaukee, parent company of Russell Investments, the investment management firm, paid J.P. Morgan Chase $115 million in cash for “most of the largely empty 42-story office complex that once housed the headquarters of Washington Mutual, the collapsed Seattle thrift,” according to a Wednesday, September 16, Wall Street Journal article (subscription required).
Lava risk keeping some insurers away from part of Hawaii’s Big Island:
Homeowners insurers have increased premium rates or completely withdrawn from Puna, an area in the southern corner of the Big Island where lava hazard risks are highest, according to an Associated Press story which cites the I.I.I. and was published this week in the Maui News and the Boston Globe. The U.S. Geological Survey compiled Hawaii lava danger zone maps 35 years ago for scientific and planning purposes but they are also used as a risk assessment tool by insurers, the article explains.
U.S. House of Representatives passes the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2009:
U.S. Representative Scott Garrett’s (R-New Jersey) Web site offers details on the Wednesday, September 9, House passage of what is known as the Surplus Lines Bill (House Resolution 2571).
Florida’s chief financial officer (CFO) offers negative assessment of credit-based insurance scoring:
“People whose credit is reduced or who have been hit hard financially could see their auto insurance rates jacked up or find they are not even able to get coverage—and that’s just wrong,” CFO Alex Sink is quoted as saying, in a Tuesday, September 15, Orlando Sentinel story exploring the link between credit scores and the cost of insurance. “We should not be kicking Floridians when they are down.” Sink has announced she is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida in 2010.
Wisconsin and Iowa hold public hearings on credit-based insurance scoring:
The Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner’s Monday, September 14, hearing was open to the public in Madison, Wisconsin, but testimony was delivered by invitation only, according to a Wednesday, September 9, media advisory. The Insurance Consumer Advocate for the Iowa Insurance Division convened a public hearing on Wednesday, September 16, in Des Moines, Iowa, to discuss the same issue. Ms. Angel Robinson, the state’s Insurance Consumer Advocate, is working to develop a study on credit-based insurance scoring along with St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, according to a Friday, September 11, press release.
Dallas Morning News says region’s residents are facing auto, homeowner premium rate increases:
Dallas area drivers have seen auto insurance premium rate increases of 10 percent over the past year while homeowners within this same timeframe have seen increases of around 5 percent, according to a Monday, September 14, Dallas Morning News story.
Alabama’s largest homeowners insurers received rate hike approvals, Mobile Press-Register reports:
The Alabama Insurance Department has authorized State Farm, Alfa and Farmers to increase homeowners insurance premium rates in the state, according to a front page article in the Press-Register’s Friday, September 11, edition. The story notes that Alabama Beach Pool policyholders saw their premiums rise 5.5 percent in July 2009. A follow-up piece, on Saturday, September 12, offered a correction to an earlier report on State Farm’s rates in coastal Alabama counties.
Typical Louisiana Citizens policyholder may see annual premium rate increase of about $180 next year:
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is reviewing two rate filings from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state’s property insurer of last resort. One calls for a 9.8 percent increase and the other a 10 percent hike, according to a story in the Wednesday, September 16, New Orleans Times-Picayune. There are about 125,000 Citizens policyholders statewide and they pay $1,800 each year in premiums. That number could go to either $1,976.40 (9.8 percent) or $1,980 (10 percent) in 2010.
Pew Research study says that the ‘press accuracy rating has hit a two-decade low’:
Only 29 percent of Americans said in 2009 that news organizations “generally get their facts straight” whereas that number stood at 55 percent in 1985, Pew Research reported, in a study they issued on Sunday, September 13.
National Underwriter converting Hartwig speech praising Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) into op-ed piece:
In remarks at IIHS’s 50th anniversary celebration, the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig praised the organization for its extraordinary success in the field of highway and automobile safety, having contributed to a nearly 75 percent reduction in highway fatality rates over the past half century resulting in some 500,000 lives saved. Hartwig also noted that the number of people killed in automobile accidents in 2008 was actually 6 percent less than in 1960, despite a tripling in the number of licensed drivers, a quadrupling in the number of registered vehicles on the road, and a ten-fold increase in miles driven. National Underwriter is repurposing the speech into an op-ed.
I.I.I.’s dog bite liability release gets widespread coverage:
The Los Angeles Times and the Albany (NY) Times Union were among the many outlets which picked up on the I.I.I.’s Monday, September 14, press release on the issue of dog bites and homeowners insurance liability claims.
World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) chief executive resigns; may seek U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut:
Linda McMahon, chief executive officer of the WWE since 1997, stepped down from her post on Wednesday, September 16, in advance of an anticipated 2010 campaign against U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, the American Insurance Association reported. The AP story is here. The New York Post said on Thursday, September 17, that McMahon, a Republican, had thrown her ‘folding chair’ into the ring.
Gennet Purcell named Commissioner of District of Columbia’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB):
Commissioner Purcell, who joined the DISB as a deputy commissioner in December 2008, succeeds Thomas Hampton, an appointee of former Mayor Anthony Williams, who had held the post since May 2006. Her nomination was made by Mayor Adrian Fenty and is subject to confirmation by the D.C. City Council. A Monday, August 31, Washington Business Journal story offers additional insights into the DISB’s high-level personnel changes.
Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner leaving office to join Northeastern University:
The Boston Herald’s editorial board praised outgoing Commissioner Nonnie Burnes in its Monday, September 14, edition for revamping the state’s auto insurance rules, which resulted in 11 new insurers writing coverage in the state since 2007. Burnes, who was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick, is becoming a senior fellow this fall at Northeastern University.
Philadelphia TV station scrutinizes claims made by company which offers ‘parking ticket protection’:
Fox TV’s Philadelphia affiliate offered a harsh assessment on its Monday, September 14, evening broadcast of a company called Ticket Protection which, for $220 a year, claims it will pay the parking tickets of its customers, received from the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Ticket Protection has been placing fliers on the windshields of parked Philadelphia cars to generate new business, which caught the attention of Fox’s consumer affairs reporter.
Media Notes (CNBC, AP, Angie’s List, ABC, Fox News Channel, and Fox Business Network):
Sharon Epperson of CNBC (Phone: 914-260-5085) is looking at auto insurance premium discounts offered to those who successfully complete approved defensive driving courses….The Associated Press has two insurance-related stories in the works: Chicago-based Dave Carpenter (Phone: 312-920-3628) is exploring whether homeowners concerned about melting snow seeping into their basement ought to purchase a flood insurance policy; and New York-based Betsy Vereckey (Phone: 212-621-1897, email: bvereckey@ap.org) is examining the best ways to insure jewelry….Emily Udell of Angie’s List magazine (Phone: 317-803-9218, email: emilyu@angieslist.com) is doing a story on the cost of homeowners insurance and how rates are determined….ABC’s Good Morning America has assigned producer Vanessa Weber (Phone: 212-456-1609, email: Vanessa.Weber@abc.com) to develop its upcoming segment on staged auto accidents….ABC’s John Stossel is leaving ABC to join the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network (FBN), according to a Thursday, September 10, post at TVnewser.com. In other FBN news, the network will simulcast Don Imus’s radio program between 6 and 9 a.m. on weekdays starting Monday, October 5.
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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