To recap the issues raised during this week’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, September 9, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
INSURERS PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNCIL (IPRC) HOLDING ITS FALL CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA ON NOVEMBER 4 – 5, 2015
A visit to The Weather Channel’s headquarters, and an interactive crisis communications seminar, are among the IPRC fall meeting agenda highlights. If you are interested in joining the organization, or attending its Atlanta meeting, contact IPRC president Jay Verner. Verner is public affairs and media relations manager at COUNTRY Financial (Phone: 309-821-2581, email: jay.verner@countryfinancial.com). The IPRC will convene immediately after the I.I.I.’s fall Communications meeting, which is scheduled for November 3-4, at the same Atlanta venue.
I.I.I. CITED IN TWO WALL STREET JOURNAL PRINT EDITION ARTICLES ON MONDAY, AUGUST 31
One focused on the California Earthquake Authority’s (CEA) launch of a multi-million marketing campaign and the other examined natural disaster-caused insured payouts.
I.I.I. POSTS ITS NEW, ANIMATED VIDEO ON LIFE INSURANCE AS INDUSTRY MARKS LIFE INSURANCE AWARENESS MONTH
In an easy-to-follow video, “The I’s on Insurance: It’s About Life,” consumers are briefed on 1) The reasons for buying life insurance; 2) The various types of life insurance; 3) How to find the right type, and amount, of life coverage for their needs and budget.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
WPIX-TV is seeking a New York or New Jersey homeowner who would be willing to have their residence appear on-air as part of a consumer story on the importance of having flood insurance. If you know have a prospective candidate, contact the I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore (jeannes@iii.org).
CAPITOL HILL
The District of Columbia’s insurance regulator issued a price optimization bulletin.
U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote to the three largest litigation funders, demanding information on their businesses, including a full list of cases each has funded from 2009-2014 and how much money the funders earned.
STATES
Alabama
The state is weighing whether to join Indiana as the only other one in the U.S. which does not require the installation of arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCI) in residential dwellings, the Associated Press reports.
California
Nearly half of the 70 homes destroyed or damaged this summer in Lake County’s wildfires were not covered by insurance, according this Santa Rosa Press Democrat article, which quotes I.I.I. president Bob Hartwig.
A former Los Angeles County probation officer was arrested last week for allegedly forging documents to collect disability insurance benefits. The 29-year-old Long Beach resident was already serving probation for another insurance fraud case.
Florida
The state received heavy rainfall in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika on the weekend of August 29-30.
The federal National Flood Insurance Program's rates “are unfairly discriminatory” and would not comply with state law if they were regulated by the state, according to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and the Tampa Bay Times’ editorial board.
Hawaii
Hurricane Ignacio and two other tropical systems generated high surf warnings and heavy rainfall for most of the state’s islands this week.
Idaho
About 300 homes are threatened by the TePee Springs Fire, according to FEMA. The blaze prompted the evacuation of more than 400 people near Riggins (Idaho County).
Indiana
Governor Mike Pence requested on Monday, August 31, a major federal disaster declaration for 19 counties, citing the state’s severe storms, tornadoes and flooding between June 7 and July 29, 2015.
Louisiana
Insurance Commissioner James Donelon, a Republican seeking re-election on Saturday, October 24, has two opponents. Attorney Charlotte McDaniel McGehee of Baton Rouge, a Democrat, and Matt Parker of West Monroe, a Republican who owns a car repair business.
Mississippi
The I.I.I.’s Hartwig and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney were among those quoted in a detailed Biloxi Sun Herald article on the state’s post-Katrina property insurance market. It was posted on Friday, August 28.
New York
FEMA says more than 11,500 Sandy claimants have asked the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to reassess the payout they received.
North Carolina
Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin is urging state lawmakers to restore funding to public schools’ driver education programs, saying it will reduce auto insurance rates for all motorists, Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reported on Tuesday, September 1.
Washington
More than 170 homes, and dozens of other structures, in Okanogan County have been destroyed by the largest wildfires in the state’s history, according to this Tuesday, September 1, Reuters article. The county’s North Star/Tunk Block Fires have burned more than 300,000 acres.
PCI’s Kenton Brine has been named president of the Seattle-based NW Insurance Council. Brine succeeds Karl Newman effective Monday, October 12. Newman has accepted a position as president & CEO of Washington Surveying & Rating Bureau.
MEDIA MATTERS
The Weather Channel has canceled Wake Up With Al. The program will end its six-year-run at the end of September.
Bloomberg’s news division announced this week that it was laying off dozens of journalists.
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.
