SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL September 26, 2012

 

If there is a subject you would like to see addressed on Wednesday, October 3, please email Loretta Worters at lorettaw@iii.org.

 

The I.I.I. issued this news release on Monday, September 24, hours after the CFA distributed a statement about their recent survey on auto insurance ratings criteria. The Hartford Courant and The Allentown (PA) Morning Call are among the daily newspapers that have stories in the works pegged to the I.I.I. and CFA releases.

Tennessean reporter Duane Marsteller is focusing on the Tennessee Farm Bureau’s receipt of regulatory approval to migrate gradually all of its homeowners policies to actual cash value (ACV) only payouts when it comes to certain roof claims effective October 1, 2012, for new business, and upon renewal thereafter. The New Haven (CT) Register’s Rich Scinto, who covers Milford, Connecticut, will be interviewing the I.I.I.’s Mike Barry on Thursday, September 27, regarding homeowners insurance and ISO’s fire suppression ratings system.

The Washington Post reported on a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) study, which found that credit bureaus provide upwards of one in four consumers with credit scores different from those used by their prospective lenders. The article was published on Tuesday, September 25.

Federal agencies have created a regulatory capital estimation tool to help community banking organizations and other interested parties evaluate recently published regulatory capital proposals, according to this Monday, September 24, news release from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

 

An additional 60,000 Citizens Property Insurance policyholders will be notified of private-sector insurers who want to take over their Citizens policies beginning Monday, October 1. This brings the possible number of takeouts to approximately 300,000 policies this year. These policyholders will then have 30 days to accept or decline the offer. If the policyholder does not respond, they will be “assumed” by the private insurer on Tuesday, November 6, according to this Tuesday, September 25, article in the Sun-Sentinel.

In a Sunday, September 23, editorial, The Palm Beach Post expressed its skepticism about auto insurance premium rate reductions occurring any time soon, given the relatively small percentage of a driver’s total premium impacted by the state’s recently enacted Personal Injury Protection (PIP) reforms.

The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian offered in her Straight Talk blog entry on Wednesday, September 26, an explanation of how the PIP law is being phased in over time.  An I.I.I. news release is being prepared on the issue.

The Times-Picayune had a front page story in its Sunday, September 23, print edition saying the dividing line for New Orleans residents during Hurricane Isaac was clear: properties situated outside the Army Corps of Engineers’ new $14.6 billion flood protection system were more likely to be flooded than those located within the system’s confines. 

The Army Corps of Engineers’ budgetary constraints, and whether the federal agency has the resources to finance the construction of tidal surge protection systems in cities such as LaPlace, were discussed at a Tuesday, September 25, U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in Gretna, according to this same-day Times Picayune article.

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney reported that private insurers expect to pay more than $24 million in claims in his state as a result of damage from Hurricane Isaac. The commissioner said Mississippi’s 21 largest insurers have to date received 9,400 claims and paid out $8.6 million, according to this Thursday, September 20, Associated Press article.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the state recorded last year its fewest ever number of traffic fatalities, while seatbelt use hit an all-time high of 84 percent among all drivers and passengers, according to a story from its Monday, September 24 edition.

Governor Chris Gregoire has extended through Sunday, September 30, a burn ban for all counties east of the Cascade crest, prohibiting all outdoor burning. An emergency proclamation declaring a state of emergency remains in effect, and allows continued air support from Washington’s National Guard to help fight ongoing wildfires, according to this gubernatorial news release from Monday, September 24.

 

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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