SYNOPSIS – ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL September 4, 2013

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, September 11, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.

The I.I.I.’s Jeanne Salvatore delivered the attached PowerPoint presentation at the Wednesday, September 4, meeting, which was attended both in-person and via teleconference by communicators from I.I.I. member companies, insurance advocacy trade groups and other industry-supported organizations, such as FLASH and IBHS.

 

Gabrielle was about 70 miles south of Ponce, Puerto Rico, when it was declared a tropical storm. Early the next day, Gabrielle was downgraded to a tropical depression, Eqecat reported.

 

Elizabeth Barnes, a Colorado State University climate scientist, is the lead author of a new study that suggests the path of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon, according to this Tuesday, September 3, USA Today article.

CR’s editorial content was posted in late August and the I.I.I.’s Bob Hartwig sent a letter to CR’s editor, setting the record straight on what a standard homeowners policy covers (e.g., the article says coverage for hurricane-caused damage usually“costs extra”) and the difference between a home’s market and insured value. On the upside, Consumer Reports touted the I.I.I.’s Know Your Stuff home inventory app, something the I.I.I. also acknowledged in its letter.

Kate Ashford of All You magazine spoke with the I.I.I.’s Mike Barry for a story she is writing for the publication’s December 2013 edition on how to cut your auto insurance premium….A.M .Best’s Mike Buck is interviewing the I.I.I.’s Hartwig on Wednesday, September 18, for a one-year Sandy anniversary story he’s preparing for Best Day Video.

 

NYIA is organizing two events, one on Monday, September 16, in Syracuse, and the other on Wednesday, September 18, in New York City, to provide federal and state officials as well as insurance industry representatives with an opportunity to discuss the current and future state of affairs in New York related to disaster preparedness and flood readiness.

The I.I.I.’s Hartwig will conduct have an in-depth discussion with U.S. Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs committee staff on Monday, September 9, regarding the extension of 2007’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA). The call was initiated by representatives of the committee’s chairman, U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota). Senator Johnson is expected to convene a public hearing later this month or in October to discuss TRIPRA, as the law expires on December 31, 2014.

The Rim Fire is the fourth largest wildfire in the state’s history, in terms of acres (235,000-plus) burned, according to this Tuesday, September 3, Los Angeles Times article.

 

San Diego County should pay the monies needed to operate the air traffic control tower at Ramona Airport—home to Cal Fire’s Ramona Air Attack base—if the airport closes on Monday, September 30, because of the federal government’s sequestration, according to this Wednesday, August 28, San Diego Union-Tribune editorial.

 

The Baton Rouge Advocate’s editorial page praised U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter on Sunday, September 1, for challenging FEMA’s flood maps as a way of keeping National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) rates reasonable for Louisianans and others residing in coastal states nationwide.

 

This is the first year since 2002 that Louisiana has not been impacted by a hurricane by the end of August, a scientist quoted in this Baton Rouge Advocate story states.

The Mississippi Collision Repair Association filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, August 28, in Hinds County Chancery Court, claiming consumers would be at risk if State Farm were to require auto body repair shops in the state to use PartsTrader, an online marketplace, to find the least expensive parts available to do repairs, this same-day Associated Press story reports.

Legislators are returning to the state Capitol on Wednesday, September 11, and may vote at that time to override Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of a law which would keep, in most instances, uninsured motorists from collecting non-economic damages (e.g., pain and suffering) if they were in an accident with an insured driver who was the at-fault party, the Associated Press reports.

 

The state’s Insurance Department affirmed that a sinkhole exclusion applies to standard homeowners policy, even if the loss was incurred out-of-state, Boston’s CBS affiliate reported, on Friday evening, August 30. The policyholder in question was residing at Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, Florida, when a sinkhole hit the property on Sunday, August 11.

 

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the issuance of $13.6 million in state aid checks to 1,206 businesses, homeowners, farmers and renters affected by the July 2013 flooding in five upstate counties. This Thursday, August 29, news release notes FEMA’s decision to deny recovery funding to homeowners impacted by these same floods.

 

The May 2013 El Reno tornado was downgraded to an EF-3 from an EF-5 by the National Weather Service, according to this Friday, August 30, segment on Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate.

 

The Insurance Council of Texas’ Mark Hanna was interviewed for this Thursday, August 29, segment on the importance of having the right coverage as the Texas Department of Insurance and the National Weather Service touted the importance of hurricane preparedness. The story was broadcast by Corpus Christi’s ABC affiliate.

 

Commissioner Susan Donegan, head of the state’s Department of Financial Regulation, said property and casualty insurance rates in Vermont have, since 2011’s Hurricane Irene, reflected normal inflationary cost increases, the Montpelier-based VTDigger.org reported, in this Wednesday, August 28, article.

This segment will return to the weekly call agenda on Wednesday, September 18.

News Corporation announced on Tuesday, September 3, that it was selling Dow Jones Local Media Group to an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group, LLC. The daily newspapers involved in the transaction included The Times Herald Record of Middletown, NY, the Cape Cod Times of Hyannis, MA, and The Pocono Record of Stroudsburg, PA.

 

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