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, October 7, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
INSURANCE INDUSTRY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (IICF) FUNDRAISER TO BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, IN NEW YORK CITY
The details on the IICF’s 9th annual Northeast Benefit Dinner are in the two attachments.
I.I.I. MAKING MEDIA AWARE OF STORM-RELATED INSURANCE COVERAGE ISSUES AS JOAQUIN MOVES NORTHWARD IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
This Thursday, October 1, media advisory, gave reporters the basics on what types of damages are covered under standard auto, business, flood, and home policies.
I.I.I. USES ANNIVERSARY OF ACTOR JAMES DEAN’S DEATH TO HIGHLIGHT YOUTH DRIVING, HIGHWAY SAFETY ADVANCES
James Dean’s fatal crash occurred on September 30, 1955, in southern California.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore is working with CreditCards.com’s Michelle Crouch for a story she’s working on regarding insurance coverage for rental cars.
The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters provided information to Newsday’s Jamie Herzlich (key person insurance), Nerd Wallet’s Barbara Marquand (texting while driving), and Marketplace Radio’s Kimberly Adams (business interruption insurance).
CAPITOL HILL
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) issued on Thursday, October 1, a report on safe vehicles for teenaged drivers.
The Federal Insurance Office (FIO) released its annual report earlier this week.
Different U.S. House subcommittees held insurance-related hearings on Tuesday, September 29. One dealt with The Impact of Domestic Regulatory Standards on the U.S. Insurance Market and the other focused on The Sharing Economy.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) found that heavy equipment thefts nationally increased 1.2 percent in 2014, as compared to 2013.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is hosting on Wednesday, October 14, an all-day forum in Washington, D.C. on Humans and Hardware: Preventing General Aviation Inflight Loss of Control.
STATES
California
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones told Sacramento’s NBC affiliate home insurers are allowed to issue non-renewal notices, even in communities which were not directly impacted by the Butte and Valley Fires. The segment aired on Monday night, September 28.
The I.I.I.’s Janet Ruiz spoke with reporters and lawmakers while attending a post-wildfire Lake County board of supervisors’ meeting on Thursday, September 24. The Valley Fire caused extensive property damage in Middletown, a community in Lake County.
Airbnb has allocated more than $8 million to fight Proposition F in San Francisco. The Tuesday, November 3, ballot initiative calls for restricting the number of nights a person can rent out their home.
Florida
Heritage Property & Casualty announced it will start using credit-based insurance scores to price the home insurance policies of new and existing policyholders. The Office of Financial Regulation says the criterion can be applied only to the non-hurricane portion of the premium.
Fewer than half (47 percent) of Citizens’ customers accepted the company’s offer to switch to a private insurer this year, down from 70 percent a year ago, according to a story in yesterday’s Palm Beach Post (see final item of today’s Daily).
Georgia
The state has amended an existing complaint against former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, adding accusations that Oxendine accepted more than the legal limit from 20 donors during his unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Kansas
The number of earthquakes have dropped in Harper and Sumner counties since March of this year, which is when new hydraulic fracturing restrictions took effect in that part of the state.
New York
USA Today reports New York City flooding — such as what happened during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 — is likely to occur once every 25 years, rather than every 500 years, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Ohio
Lawmakers at a Columbus public hearing generally agreed the state should govern how Uber operates in Ohio.
Oklahoma
Two earthquakes—one a 4.0-magnitude, and the other a 3.4—caused power outages and damaged homes near Cushing on Thursday night, September 24, after striking within an hour of one another. Cushing is 55 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
Rhode Island
Superintendent of Insurance Joseph Torti issued a price optimization bulletin to the state’s personal lines insurers.
South Carolina
An EF-2 tornado caused extensive damage after touching down on Johns Island on Friday, September 25.
Washington
Five people died when an amphibious duck boat collided with a motor coach near Seattle on Thursday, September 24. The NTSB sent an investigative team to the crash site.
MEDIA MATTERS
The Weather Channel’s Wake Up with Al had its final broadcast on Friday, October 2. The show debuted in 2009.
A just-released Gallup poll found 40 percent of Americans say they have “ a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in the mass media’s overall accuracy and fairness. That number is unchanged from 2014.
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.
