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 10, please email Mike Barry at michaelb@iii.org.
SEPTEMBER IS LIFE INSURANCE AWARENESS MONTH
I.I.I.’s life insurance and annuities subcommittee is convened on Tuesday, September 9, at 11 a.m., ET. Life Happens, LIMRA and the I.I.I.’s Steven Weisbart made presentations.
I.I.I. RELEASES THE 2015 EDITION OF ITS ONLINE INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE FACT BOOK
The publication can be accessed on the I.I.I. website here. In addition, the I.I.I. promoted the Fact Book in a news release this week.
I.I.I.’s LORETTA WORTERS IS QUOTED IN TWO NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES OVER THE PAST WEEK
One dealt with earthquake insurance coverage, and appeared in the paper’s Saturday, August 30, print edition. The other focused on renters insurance for college students.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore gave an interview to Consumer Reports’ (CR) Jeff Blyskal on a wide range of auto insurance issues (teen driving, car sharing).
I.I.I.’s Mike Barry spoke previously with Blyskal for a separate story on the importance of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. It will appear in CR’s Money Advisor in November.
New York City’s WPIX-TV interviewed the I.I.I.’s Barry regarding an upcoming lawsuit against the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles on the way DMV assigns license points.
The I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian spoke with InsuranceQuotes.com’s Nick DiUlio on why drivers in certain cities pay more than others for auto insurance.
CAPITOL HILL
Six Republican U.S. House Members sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, challenging the way the Financial Stability Oversight Council assesses the systemic risks insurers pose.
Business Insurance reported in this Sunday, August 31, article that a Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) renewal bill may not be approved by Congress until after the November elections.
STATES
California
The I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig participated in an hour-long, live KQED radio interview on Friday, August 29, about the insurance issues raised by the South Napa earthquake.
Governor Jerry Brown is calling for a federal disaster declaration in light of the damage caused by the Sunday, August 24, earthquake that hit Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
State Senator Alex Padilla had an op-ed published in The San Jose Mercury News calling for lawmakers to fund fully a statewide earthquake early-warning system.
The Happy Camp Complex Fire has prompted mandatory evacuations, and consumed 60,000-plus acres in Siskiyou County. More than 700 structures are threatened, FEMA estimates.
Florida
The I.I.I.’s McChristian appeared in this Tuesday, September 2, Tampa Fox affiliate segment on the regulatory hurdles Uber and Lyft are facing in Hillsborough County.
Effective Tuesday, September 2, Citizens policyholders will be automatically re-routed to a private insurer, if that company is offering coverage priced the same, or less.
Louisiana
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon issued a news release pegged to the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The Baton Rouge Advocate reports the number of crashes statewide involving distracted, teenaged drivers dropped to 6,956 in 2013 from 7,166 in 2012.
Halliburton Co. has reached a $1.1 billion settlement involving most of the lawsuits filed against the firm for the role it played in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Massachusetts
The Boston Globe chronicled the damage incurred in Worcester after an EF-O tornado touched down in that community on Sunday night, August 31.
New Jersey
Tom MacArthur, a former insurance executive running for an open U.S. House seat, is having his insurance background challenged in a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad.
New York
Matt Anderson, spokesman for the Department of Financial Services, is being temporarily assigned to the governor’s press office, Capital New York reports (see third paragraph).
SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT
California’s Happy Camp Complex Wildfire is only 15 percent contained while evacuations continue. News outlets have posted fire updates as well as pictures of the damage.
The I.I.I. will be engaged in social media campaigns, such as those launched by Life Happens, during September’s Life Insurance Awareness Month. Boomer Esiason – a retired NFL quarterback – is the national spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month for the second year in a row.
With the National Football League (NFL) starting its season tomorrow (September 4), the I.I.I. will also post editorial content relating to sports injuries and social host liability.
One of Labor Day weekend’s most widely shared articles was in The Washington Post. A single-earner in D.C. must earn $28.25 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, it said.
MEDIA MATTERS
Julie Martin, who has been with The Weather Channel (TWC) since 2006, is leaving TWC effective Tuesday, Sept. 30 to join Atlanta’s NBC affiliate.
Phil Gusman’s final day at National Underwriter was Thursday, September 4. He’s joining Liberty Travel’s parent company but still hopes to write about insurance on a freelance basis.
David Muir made his debut as the anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight on Monday, Sept. 1.
Frederick J. Ryan Jr., founding CEO of Politico, was named the new publisher of The Washington Post, and will assume his new post on Wednesday, October 1.
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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