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 2, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
INSURANCE INDUSTRY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION’S (IICF) WEEK OF GIVING IS OCTOBER 12-19, 2013
The IICF has partnered with Sesame Workshop on a new early literacy program, which will be launched in New York City on Friday, October 11. In addition, in the first half of 2014 the IICF will host four, one-day regional IICF Women’s Forums in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City, building on its successful June 2013 event in Manhattan.
NATIONAL CONSUMERS LEAGUE (NCL) REPORT CRITIQUES TRAVEL INSURANCE INDUSTRY’S TIES TO AIRLINES, TRAVEL AGENTS
Travel insurance policy language should be clarified, and their loss ratios should be reported publicly, an NCL study released on Monday, September 23, stated.
OWNERS OF SUBSIDIZED NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP) POLICIES TO SEE SIGNIFICANT RATE INCREASES STARTING OCTOBER 1
Beginning on Tuesday, October 1, the owners of subsidized NFIP policies on property that has experienced severe or repeated flooding, or on business/non-residential properties in a Special Flood Hazard Area, will see a 25 percent rate increase annually until their rate reflects the true flood risk, according to FEMA’s Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act Fact Sheet.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The New York Times’ City Room said in this Monday, September 16, blog entry that The Times would like to tell the stories of those still recovering from Sandy.
Insurance Quotes.com retained Quadrant Information Services to compile a 50-state analysis, estimating how much a typical homeowner’s premium will likely rise after filing a claim. Quadrant found Minnesotans saw the highest (21 percent) hike after filing one claim while Texans (zero percent) saw the lowest. InsuranceQuotes.com is doing a story on the study.
CAPITOL HILL
I.I.I. president Bob Hartwig testified on the importance of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) program at a Wednesday, September 25, U.S. Senate Banking committee hearing.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is now rating the performance of front crash prevention systems, according to this Friday, September 27, IIHS release.
Missouri Insurance Director John Huff was one of the two dissenting members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) when FSOC affirmed its decision to name Prudential a systemically important financial institution.
The American Meteorological Society held a briefing on Friday, September 27, at 2 p.m., in Room 406, Dirksen Senate Building, D.C., on the “impact of heat waves on our nation’s power grid and public health.” Dr. John Balbus of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Craig Williamson of EnerNOC are the guest speakers.
STATES
California
The Madre Fire has burned at least 200 acres near Azusa, threatening 20-plus homes, according to a Tuesday, September 24, article in The Los Angeles Times. LA’s Fox affiliate reported on evacuations.
Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 135 into law on Tuesday, September 24, requiring the Office of Emergency Services to develop a statewide earthquake early warning system.
Auto design advances, such as collision avoidance systems, are reducing property claim frequency, the LA Times reported, in this Saturday, September 21, article.
Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft received unanimous support from the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, September 19, the Los Angeles Times said.
SafeAuto began selling auto insurance this month through a partnership with SCJ Insurance Services, according to this Sunday, September 15, SafeAuto news release.
Colorado
Vice President Joe Biden, Governor John Hickenlooper, and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate toured flood-damaged parts of the state on Monday, September 23. To date, 1,882 homes are confirmed destroyed, and another 16,101 are believed to be damaged. About 203 commercial structures were destroyed and 765 business properties were damaged, The Denver Post reports.
USA Today posted an article and video focused on the Colorado floods on Wednesday, September 25, with most observers quoted in the piece agreeing that this month’s Front Range flooding was unprecedented.
Governor Hickenlooper’s Task Force on Wildfire Insurance and Forest Health will report its recommendations and findings to state lawmakers no later than Monday, September 30.
Florida
Effective Tuesday, October 1, it is illegal to text while driving in the state of Florida.
Higher flood insurance rates are going to impact adversely real estate sales in the southwestern part of the state, this Sarasota Herald Tribune article reports. The Tampa Tribune found ‘mom and pop’ hotels will have a hard time affording higher flood insurance costs, as well.
Florida’s Congressional delegation should get the NFIP’s annual rate hikes limited to 10 percent per annum, the Tampa Bay Times editorial board argued, on Tuesday, September 17.
Citizens Property Insurance spent more than $16 million for outside legal services between January 2011 and June 2013, according to this Sunday, September 22, Miami Herald article.
Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee against Florida Governor Rick Scott in 2010, said on Friday, September 20, she would not run again for governor in 2014.
Meanwhile, former Governor Charlie Crist has a book coming out in early 2014 called The Party’s Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.
Louisiana
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon warned that “draconian rate increases” for flood insurance would devastate homeowners and businesses. In remarks to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, September 23, Donelon urged Congress to put off for at least a year the rate changes specified under the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, the Times-Picayune reports.
Mississippi
The Biloxi Sun Herald reported on a Friday, September 20, jury verdict which said USAA owed $1.56 million to the estate of a woman who died in 2009. The case dates back to Katrina and damage the late policyholder incurred on her family’s Jackson County home.
New Jersey
The contractor disbursing $780 million in federal money to Sandy victims is facing widespread criticism, according to this Monday, September 23, Wall Street Journal article.
A public adjuster and an insurance broker were fined by the New Jersey insurance regulator for their Sandy-related conduct, the Star-Ledger reported, on Sunday, September 22.
Barbara Buono, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, held a press conference in Little Egg Harbor township with Sandy victims who say they have had trouble receiving help from the state. NBC’s affiliate in Atlantic City broadcast this segment on Friday, September 20, about the event.
Ohio
About 17,000 insurance jobs will be opening up in the state over the next five years, and institutions such as Kent State are preparing the next generation of insurance industry employees, according to this Friday, September 20, Cleveland Plain Dealer article.
Oklahoma
Tulsa World’s editorial board praised in this Monday, September 23, article the state’s new workers comp law, enacted during this month’s special legislative session, stating that workers compensation reform was long overdue. The new w/c law takes full effect on February 1, 2014, and the big shift is moving to administrative hearings matters that were previously heard in court rooms.
MEDIA MATTERS
CNN’s New Day is struggling in the ratings, now ranking fourth in total viewers in the morning behind its cable competitors—Fox News Channel, MSNBC and HLN.
Dr. Sheri Fink’s Five Days at Memorial, the story of a New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was the first selection of MSNBC’s Morning Joe Book Club on Monday, September 23.
The Providence Journal in Rhode Island is looking to eliminate 30 positions through buyouts between now and Monday, October 7.
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.
