Archive for June, 2010

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Wet Winter Plus Dry Spring Means More Wildfires Likely

June 10th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in fire insurance, homeowners insurance

If you live in the Southwest, it’s time to make sure you have adequate homeowners (hazard) insurance. Why? because AccuWeather is reporting that this season, and especially the next few days, could lead to a “particularly troubling” fire season. The company explained that the heavy moisture caused by intense winter storms spurred greater than usual growth of brush and foliage this spring. Now that summery temperatures and bright sunshine are causing things to dry out, such growth is more likely to become fuel for wildfires caused by lightning.

AccuWeather stresses that not every summer day holds the same risk of fire danger. Days with low humidity are fairly common, for example, but days with low humidity and gusty breezes – the necessary combination to exacerbate fire danger – are comparatively rare.

Explained a representative of the company, “While a cooldown is in store for the Southwest beginning Friday and lasting through the weekend, gusty winds and low humidity levels will raise the fire danger the next few days. Any fire that gets going could spread rapidly.”

Despite the fact that this year has seen fewer wildfires (so far) than the average, the potential always exists for that to change, especially with building drought conditions in the Southwest, which had its wettest early and middle winter in years. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, this year through June 10, there have been about 970,000 wildfires nationally. During 2009 through June 10, due to very dry conditions throughout the winter and spring, there were nearly 1.6 million wildfires across the nation.

So far, however, prevailing wet conditions in much of the Northwest, Northeast and Southeast have resulted in fewer than average wildfires. However, an abrupt and early end to spring rains mean that foliage and brush may reach their driest conditions sooner rather than later.

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No Driving Record Fee in Ohio

June 9th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in auto insurance, insurance news

Auto insurance companies in Ohio can breathe a bit easier today. A judge struck down a proposed higher motor vehicle fee that was being charged to trucking companies and vehicle insurance companies, on the grounds that it violates the state constitution.

Last year, Ohio legislators raised the fee being charged for certified copies of driving records from $2 to $5, with the intent to use the funds to generate $10 million for homeland security and emergency medical services, but Franklin County common pleas judge Richard Frye ruled that the state constitution doesn’t allow for such a diversion of funds; they must go toward highway construction and safety.

Trucking companies and insurance agents, who banded together to file the lawsuit, and who pay the fees to verify licenses and driving records, see the ruling as a victory, though it will probably be appealed by state officials.

On June 18, Jude Frye will hear arguments on whether such fees collected over the last eleven months should be refunded.

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State Farm to Stay Out of Flood Insurance Business

June 8th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, insurance news

State Farm Insurance Co. decided recently that it will no longer write new flood insurance policies with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but that it will continue to service existing policies, and its agents will go on helping their customers obtain flood coverage via the NFIP’s direct distribution channel.

According to a report in the Insurance Journal, Phil Supple, a State Farm spokesman, explained that recent disruptions in the federally-backed flood insurance plan were factors in the decision, but that there were other reasons, as well.

Specifically, Supple said, State Farm wants to focus on its core business, the products it actually provides, and on making sure the needs of its policyholders are met. Currently, the insurers has slightly over 800,000 flood policies in place, and the amount of paperwork involved when disruptions – such as the current moratorium on writing new policies – occur with the NFIP is “overwhelming.” Supple went on to say that even if Congress reauthorized the flood program for a significant amount of time, his company would likely not re-enter the market because the program pulls resources away from other needs.

“Say we have a catastrophe with hail … $200 million in an afternoon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And you’ve got 50,000 cars, so we’ve got a lot of adjusters there. And then let’s say there’s a flood on the Mississippi somewhere. Then we’ve got to take people off of that and send them somewhere else. That’s another piece of the puzzle, but not the only one,” Supple said. “Moving these policies to NFIP Direct will let us concentrate on our customers needs, on our products,” he added.

Louisiana Officials Concerned About Health of BP Clean-Up Workers

June 7th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in health insurance, medical insurance

Environmental and health officials in Louisiana are requesting that federal safety officials take steps to protect the health of those who are helping with the clean-up of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Insurance Journal reports.

Alan Levine, Health and Hospitals Secretary, and Peggy Hatch, Environmental Quality Secretary, say that daily reports of illness and injuries have them concerned that clean-up workers aren’t getting proper protection. They are worried enough that they’ve asked OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to investigate.

“Reports of injuries and illness among workers hired by British Petroleum and its subcontractors are steadily increasing,” said the letter signed by Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine and Environmental Quality Secretary Peggy Hatch. They continued, “We also are receiving daily reports of other injuries and illnesses that have us concerned that proper protections are not being taken and protocols followed,” but did not provide further details.

BP may bring 3,000 more clean-up workers to their state, the secretaries say, and they want to ensure that every one of them receives the necessary training, supplies, and protective equipment.

In Louisiana hospitals, doctors have reported that some of the workers are seeking treatment for respiratory issues, headaches and nausea. (An unspoken concern is the massive amount of paperwork for health insurance claims.)

The letter to OSHA also said that the Department of Health and Hospitals has begun “an aggressive surveillance and monitoring system to catalog worker-related illnesses and exposure complaints.” It asked for a list of worker complaints made to OSHA and the federal agency’s findings.

Last Friday, June 4th, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed an order to let out-of-state paramedics help with emergency care for oil cleanup workers.

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20% of 2008′s New Life Insurance Policies Came from the Internet

June 4th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance facts, insurance news, life insurance

People shop for car insurance whenever they purchase a new vehicle, or pay off an auto loan. They begin to compare homeowners insurance rates while still looking for their dream home. But how do people begin the search for life insurance?

According to a joint project conducted earlier this year by LIMRA (the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association), roughly 20% of the life insurance policies sold in 2008 – and about 5% of the premium – were sold via direct channels.

In an article posted in a the Life Insurance Blog, last March, Ron Neyer, senior analyst for LIMRA was quoted as saying, “For the first time, we have been able to quantify the amount of individual life insurance sold through direct channels, like the Internet, direct mail and telephone.”

In fact, LIMRA and LIMDA researches estimate that direct channels were the source of more than 2 million individual life insurance policies sold in 2008, and account for a total of $675 million in new premium in the same fiscal year.

Since 2006, the number of consumers using the Internet to purchase life insurance has doubled. The key factors influencing these buyers were convenience, price, and the quality of the website. As technology continues to advance, industry researchers predict that even more consumers – especially those in younger generations – will use direct channels to purchase their coverage over the next five to ten years.

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Pet Insurance Reform?

June 2nd, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, insurance specialists

Pet lovers will be pleased to hear about a new bill that just passed the California State Assembly.

According to the Insurance Journal, the bill, which was sponsored by Dave Jones (D-Sacramento), would require pet health insurers to disclose – on the main pages of their websites – any policy that limits coverage. In addition, insurers would also have to state explicitly whether they deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

Originally, the bill was written with a provision prohibiting pet insurers from denying coverage to animals with pre-existing conditions, but it was subsequently removed.

AB2411 passed the Assembly on a 43-16 vote and now moves to the Senate.

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