SYNOPSIS ALL INDUSTRY CONFERENCE CALL September 8, 2010

More than 50 of those structures are believed to be homes, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.  Carole Walker, the RMIIA’s executive director, has been giving numerous media interviews on the Fourmile Canyon fire’s insurance implications, such as this one to Denver’s NBC affiliate.   That same station offered details as to the street addresses impacted.  The I.I.I. issued a media advisory on Tuesday, September 7, and a claims-filing related news release, as well.  Both I.I.I. statements cited the Colorado wildfires.

Fitch’s announcement came on Tuesday, September 7, and was for both commercial and personal lines insurers, according to this Associated Press story.

Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) generated renewed trade press interest in the topic with this Thursday, September 2, news release.

The hearing notice also makes mention of the recent outbreak of salmonella associated with eggs from Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is convening next Tuesday, September 14, at 11 a.m. in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury are conducting a joint hearing on Tuesday, September 14, and Wednesday, September 15, to discuss this issue.  Both sessions will begin at 9 a.m., EST, in the plaza auditorium of the U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The list of speakers can be found in the hearing agenda; the hearing notice offers additional details.

The rise in these claims has contributed to Citizens’ request for an average statewide 8.4 percent premium rate hike in 2011, according to this Wednesday, September 8, Herald article. Citizens took in about $19.6 million in premiums for sinkhole coverage in 2009 and paid out about $97 million, the story notes. None of the sinkhole claims received by Citizens have been for catastrophic damage but instead have been for losses incurred by cracks in driveways and other parts of houses. Since the call, the I.I.I.’s Lynne McChristian gave a taped interview on the issue to Kenny Malone, a Miami-based National Public Radio reporter.

Wall Street Journal preparing Florida sinkhole story, as well:

The WSJ’s Leslie Scism spoke with the I.I.I. on Wednesday afternoon, September 8, for an upcoming piece on sinkholes.

Former Mississippi insurance commissioner’s current ties to private-sector insurer scrutinized:

The Biloxi Sun Herald highlighted in a Saturday, September 4, article Allstate’s decision to retain a national law firm which employs former Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale. 

Texas Watch commissioned poll finds strong support for return of prior approval in Texas homeowners insurance market:

The poll question was worded as follows: “The state legislature will be meeting next year in Austin, and is likely to discuss homeowners’ insurance rates and regulations.  Based only on what you know right now, would you approve strongly, approve somewhat, disapprove somewhat, or disapprove strongly the following proposals that may be considered by the legislature….”  When asked if they would favor ‘Prior Approval,’ which would “require insurance companies submit and justify rate increases for review by the Texas Department of Insurance before they could go into effect, not after,” the results were: approve strongly (51 percent); approve somewhat (23 percent); disapprove somewhat (9 percent); disapprove strongly (8 percent).  The balance were either unsure or refused to answer.

BacktoBasics.org released this advertisement on Wednesday, September 8.

Dallas Morning News reports Texas insurance commissioner is reluctant to reduce department’s budget by 10 percent:

Commissioner Mike Geeslin believes a $2.9 million cut in the Texas Department of Insurance’s (TDI) budget would adversely impact the TDI’s ability to regulate the industry, according to this Friday, September 3, Dallas Morning News article.

The NFIP has paid flood claims for a commercial property in Davidson County, Tennessee, 18 times in the past 32 years, according to a Monday, September 6, front page story in the Tennessean.  The Davidson property  is valued at $750,912 but the cumulative flood claim payments were in excess of $1.6 million, the article states. The NFIP has paid claims on thousands of properties nationally with repeated flood losses, including hundreds in middle Tennessee, causing critics to question the fiscal soundness of the flood coverage program, the reporter notes.  The May 2010 flooding in Nashville is also referenced in the piece.

Commissioner Jane Cline told the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce that a 2.9 percent workers compensation insurance premium rate decrease will take effect on November 1, 2010, but the commissioner added it might have gone down 5.8 percent if not for the so-called Byrd Amendment, according to this Monday, September 6, article in the Charleston Daily Mail.  Named after the late U.S. Senator from West Virginia, the amendment in the recently passed healthcare reform bill makes it easier for black lung claimants to apply for workers compensation benefits, the story explains. The number of black lung claims filed in West Virginia has doubled this year to 40 from 20 a month, according to Commissioner Cline.

California’s Republican Party issued this statement on Tuesday, September 7, on behalf of Insurance Commissioner Steven Poizner.  The commissioner “did not offer any praise for Whitman,” the Associated Press story on the announcement noted.

SmartMoney.com prepping piece on the homeowners insurance basics:

The I.I.I.’s Loretta Worters has been working with AnnaMaria Andriotis, a Smart Money reporter who usually covers real estate, on the story.