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 14, please email me at michaelb@iii.org.
FIRST HURRICANE IN NEARLY 11 YEARS HITS FLORIDA
Hermine made landfall as a Category 1 storm on Friday morning, September 2, near St. Mark’s (Wakulla County), generating several thousand claims and causing power outages in and around Tallahassee.
In Georgia, Hermine delivered a glancing blow to Savannah (Chatham County) and contributed to widespread power outages there as well as in coastal Glynn County.
The I.I.I.’s Steven Weisbart was interviewed by CNBC on the industry’s financial strength and its ability to pay Hermine claims. Karen Clark & Company estimated the hurricane caused $500 million in insured losses.
WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTS LIFE INSURANCE POLICYHOLDERS ARE CONTESTING COST INCREASES
Multiple policyholder lawsuits have been filed in federal courts against life insurers, the WSJ reports, with plaintiffs contending insurers invoked little-used contract provisions to offset low-interest rates.
STORIES IN THE WORKS
The I.I.I.’s Sean Kevelighan is being interviewed today (September 7) by A.M. Best’s D.C. bureau chief Tom Harman on industry trends the I.I.I. is tracking.
The I.I.I.’s Michael Barry spoke with Stateline.org’s Sarah Breitenbach about the basics of no-fault auto insurance. Her piece will focus on recent efforts to modify no-fault in Florida and Michigan.
The Wall Street Journal is readying an article on the latest developments in the 2005 lawsuit then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed against Maurice Greenberg.
CNBC is doing initial research into whether civil in unrest Chicago has impacted the city’s insurance markets.
CAPITOL HILL
FEMA’s Roy Wright is testifying at a Tuesday, September 13, U.S. Senate hearing on mapping recommendations made to the National Flood Insurance Program.
STATES
Arizona
Hurricane Newton’s aftermath is expected to bring heavy rainfall to the communities nearest the Mexican border in the middle of this week.
California
James Lynch, the I.I.I.’s chief actuary, is addressing tomorrow (September 8) the Insurance Disrupted conference in San Francisco on how insurers use data today, and ways they might use it in the future.
Ken Allen is the new Deputy Commissioner of the state Insurance Department’s Rate Regulation Branch. He succeeds Joel Laucher, who was appointed Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner in June 2016.
Iowa
Professor emeritus Joseph Belth of Indiana University is challenging Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart’s refusal to release publicly information about life insurer subsidiaries, the Associated Press reports.
Louisiana
In a letter to President Obama, Governor John Bel Edwards estimated the economic losses from last month’s flooding at $8.7 billion, with more than 55,000 homes and 6,000-plus businesses incurring damage.
The Advocate published an article on the plight of the thousands of Louisianans with flood-damaged vehicles.
The state’s Office of Motor Vehicles announced it would allow the owners of flood-ruined cars and trucks to cancel their license plates online.
Oklahoma
The 5.8-magnitude earthquake which hit Pawnee on Saturday, September 3, caused property damage near its epicenter and was the most significant seismic event in the state since November 2011.
The state’s Corporation Commission is shutting down 37 wells involved in hydraulic fracturing in the wake of last Saturday’s earthquake.
Tulsa World revisited in its Sunday, September 4, edition the debate from earlier this year about the availability and affordability of earthquake insurance statewide.
Texas
A former senior claims examiner at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Worker’s Compensation Program in Dallas was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to taking bribes between 2013 and 2015.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Life Insurance Awareness Month
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month (LIAM), with shareable resources available on LIAM at lifehappens.org. To join the conversation on social, follow the hashtag #LIAM16 and the Twitter handle @lifehappens.
National Preparedness Month
September is also National Preparedness Month. You can find consumer-friendly preparedness resources at Ready.gov and follow the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Twitter at @readygov. In addition, be sure to track the I.I.I. on social as we continue to promote the Know Your Stuff home inventory tool.
Insurance Disrupted Conference
Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA) is holding a two-day Insurance Disrupted Conference this week. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #InsDisrupt and follow the handle @SVIAccelerator on Twitter.
Hermine
A day before the storm made landfall near Tallahassee, the I.I.I. Lynne McChristian wrote a blog post about hurricane awareness and preparedness. You can follow McChristian on Twitter at @InsuringFLA.
Oklahoma Earthquake
To follow the fallout from the Pawnee quake, use the hashtag #okquake. The Oklahoma Insurance Department is on Twitter at @oid411 and the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management is at @okem.
MEDIA MATTERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore on his 30-year anniversary at the Atlanta-based network.
Brit Hume has replaced Greta Van Susteren as host of Fox News Channel’s (FNC) 7 p.m., ET, hour while FNC’s parent company settled a lawsuit filed by former FNC anchor Gretchen Carlson.
New York magazine examined the current turmoil at FNC following the ouster of Roger Ailes.
Houston is now the eighth-largest television market in the U.S. with 2.45 million TV households, according to Nielsen. Boston moved down to ninth and Atlanta to 10th on the list.
The Newspaper Association of America has changed its name to the News Media Alliance.
BuzzFeed’s reorganization was the subject of an in-depth New York Times article this week.
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.
