In a letter he sent to the CEOs of insurance companies doing business in California, Jones encouraged insurers to place part of their $4 trillion in investments into COIN – the California Organization Investment Network, administered by the California Department of Insurance (CDI).

Every year, the DOI (Department of Insurance) allocates $2 million in tax credits to support community development investments in the amount of $10 million. Because this program has not been fully exploited in recent years, CDI’s COIN program currently has $4.67 million available tax credits to support $23.7 million in community development investments. There is a deadline of July 1, 2011 to place investments into the program; after that other investors also have access to the pool of tax credits.

Under the COIN program, insurers put at least $50,000 on deposit with a designated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) for five years at zero percent interest. In exchange, the investor receives a state tax credit of 20% with an annual percentage rate of return of roughly 4.5 percent.

In turn, the CDFI’s then provide loans to non-profit organizations and small businesses that serve economically disadvantaged communities. The CDFIs serve as a bridge across the ever-expanding gap between loans and services available to those who are “economically mainstream” and those people and communities who are considered low-income. These loans help provide development services and technical assistance in these communities, as well as the money from the loans themselves.

These CDFIs include community development loan funds, credit unions, banks, microenterprise funds, corporation-based lenders and venture funds.

In a statement, Commissioner Jones said, “This is a critical program that benefits some of California’s most underserved communities, and so I want to encourage insurance companies to give back by investing in these communities. The state tax credit to encourage these investments has been underutilized in recent years, and it is long overdue that we get this program back on track. I call on all California insurers to examine their investment portfolios and invest in this program before June 30.”

Since 1997, 81 CDFIs have been certified by COIN as eligible for the tax credit program. Some of their investments in the past fourteen years include:

• A mortgage loan for a nonprofit residential alcohol treatment facility;

• Micro-loans of $500 to $5,000 to self-employed business owners;

• Loans for six childcare centers to serve 500 low-income children;

• Pre-development loans to Habitat for Humanity to construct affordable homes;

• A loan to a church to build a child care center for lower income residents;

• A loan for 953 water hook-ups in two small, rural communities; and

• A short-term loan to close escrow on housing for low-income foster youth.

The bill was sponsored the earlier this week by Rhode Island state Senator John J. Tassoni, Jr. (D-Smithfield) who says that the point of it is to “level the playing field” between reputable, upstanding landscaping companies and “fly-by-night” companies that don’t pay taxes. He also claims that since the latter sort of landscaper has no overhead they have a big advantage.

Tassoni also said his state is losing a lot of revenue from income and sales taxes.

A spokeswoman for a taxpayer and business advocacy group known as the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition said that she was concerned that smaller landscaping businesses could be hurt by the bill’s requirements.

What I want to know is, what are they defining as a “landscaping business?” Will the teenager who mows someone’s lawn for $20 have to find the cash to buy $100,000 in insurance if this bill passes?

Ray Royse, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association in central Florida, said, “There was definitely some damage,” and added, “We did have some areas that had damage last night.” He continued, saying, “It’s too early to tell whether or not we’ll have significant fruit drop but certainly we’re going to have juice loss within some fruit in some areas.”

On Tuesday night, overnight temperatures in Highlands, the second-largest citrus-producing county in Florida, fell well below freezing. Florida growers are responsible for more than seventy-five percent for the U.S. orange crop, and roughly forty percent of the world’s orange juice supply.

Citrus is fairly fragile where temperature is concerned, and even four hours of temperatures lower than 28 degrees Fahrenheit can cause damage, which, according to Royce, is exactly what happened Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Royce elaborated, “I don’t think it’s to the level of being catastrophic tree killing cold anywhere, but we certainly are going to see some damage coming out of last night. It is not fruit frozen in every single grove. It is not small twig damage everywhere, but there’s definitely some blocks that are going to have damaged fruit.”

Highlands County Growers Association represents 185 members in the geographic center of Florida’s world-renowned citrus region.

Royce said his damage assessment, while still early, was based on contacting growers scattered across some 40,000 acres of orange groves across the region.

Most commercial citrus growers carry some kind of insurance on their crops, but even if their finances are relatively secure, it means the cost of orange juice may increase this year.

As reported in the Sacramento Bee, Mike Aberle, a commercial insurance agent with the firm – Statewide Insurance – and the national director of its new Medical Marijuana Specialty Division said, “Given the growth in the industry, I think it’s only a matter of time” before other states allow medical marijuana. Now that we can offer (services) in all 50 states, we can start the minute they go legal, without delay.”

According to Aberle, the program covers all of the various aspects of the medical cannabis industry, including dispensaries, general liability, workers’ compensation, equipment breakdown/damage, property/product loss (including pot spoilage), auto insurance (for vehicles that transport medical marijuana) and other related operations.

It was California voters who took the first steps into medical marijuana as an industry back in 1996 when they initially approved Proposition 215, which allows physicians to recommend cannabis for the treatment of cancer, chronic pain, AIDS, glaucoma, and other chronic illnesses which could benefit from treatment with cannabis. It’s estimated that there are now over 2,000 dispensaries in that state.

Aberle began forming Statewide’s Medical Marijuana Division (MMD) in 2007, and since then it has provided insurance to clients in California, Colorado, New Mexico and Rhode Island. Last year, he began expanding the national program. Premiums, he said, range from $650 – $25,000 a year, with different variables affecting the cost. A typical policy has premiums between $1,000 and $4,000.

A lobbyist with California Capitol Solutions in Sacramento told the Bee that Statewide’s MMD program is a “milestone in an industry that needs insurance protections for everyone in the distribution chain, from growers of the product to those that use it. He also said, “It’s very big, especially right now with public safety. Safety protocols need to be put into place.”

Del Real said that he represents medical cannabis dispensaries and other segments of the medical marijuana industry throughout California. He also said that the group with the fewest protections is the growers, asking, “How do we move out of residential areas and into commercial and industrial space?” He continued, “A lot of people are trying to get their minds around the cultivation of medical marijuana.”

According to Del Real, governments throughout California have decided numerous issues like whether insurance for dispensaries will be required. He said that there was, “… a big thing of catching up going on. Each community is passing its own laws, and that becomes problematic.”

The petroleum company released those numbers among other updated figures earlier this week, and said that the largest chunk of money, roughly $420 million, went directly to individuals and businesses filing claims.

According to BP, almost $127 million was paid to people working in the Vessels of Oppurtunity program, in which boat captains and commercial fishermen helped recover the oil from the water. The company also said that $22 million was used to help the tourism industry in Alabama.

Last Friday, however, the head of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach tourism said that Baldwin County’s lodging revenues had fallen by 33%, costing them roughly $58 million.

Alabama governor Bob Riley recently chastised BP for its claims fund process, stating that it speeds up when a meeting is called to air complaints, but slows down again just after.

BP has not commented on the governor’s opinion.

According to the bulletin it released, the corporate office at has determined that, “…a dedicated country manager will enable Lloyd’s to better understand and explore opportunities in the Russian market; however the office will not be a base for underwriting.”

Expanding upon this, Jose Ribeiro, Director of International Markets for Lloyd’s added, “Now is the right time to develop a small presence in Moscow. The new Russia country manager will be well placed to make informed decisions on behalf of the Lloyd’s market as well as promoting and explaining it to local insurers and brokers.”

Subject to regulatory approvals, the Lloyd’s Russia office is expected to open around the middle of next year.

A company offering weather insurance products recently opened in Lakeville, MN.

The insurer in question, Milltown Insurance Group, specializes in “…niche property and casualty program business and provides solutions for smoothing revenues, locking in profits and increasing sales through the use of weather insurance products for virtually any type of business, event or promotion.”

The company was opened by Dana D’Arrigo

Milltown says their weather products are extremely customizable as well as being affordable additions to existing insurance and/or marketing programs.

Global insurance broker, Marsh, issued a statement via its website explaining that insurers are saying that the 80-day notice provisions in their policies will be strictly interpreted. For this reason, policyholders should consider April 20, 2010, the date of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, as the start date for calculating such a notice provision.

Marsh advised, “This week, several carriers indicated that they will enforce these time limits strictly, without any weight given to the date the insured first became aware that they faced potential exposure. Therefore, if not already in process, it is important that clients and their legal counsel analyze the potential exposure to damages arising from the Deepwater Event and review all of their current excess and primary policies in order to comply with notice provisions.”

The broker also added that some excess liability carriers are planning to add “…broadly worded, event-specific exclusions to their 2010-2011 policies to prospectively eliminate coverage for the Deepwater Event.”

This means that even if a poilicyholder files a notice in compliance with the time limit, “…it is likely that the carrier will attempt to limit its exposure prospectively via an endorsement that excludes the Deepwater Event,” according to Marsh.

Clients who opt not to notice the BP event at this time may face strictly enforced time deadlines from their insurance carriers even if all damage has not been established, or potential exposures have not been clarified.

Marsh said it is urging carriers to withdraw – or at least narrow – these exclusions, but warns that “…this is an emerging market trend that raises concerns…” with respect to 2009-2010 policies and raises questions about whether circumstances or claims should be notified now.

According to the Insurance Journal, Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington signed into law this week, legislation that requires financial institutions to comply with existing data security recommendations, or face potential liability if there should be a data breach.

According to the tect of the bill, HB 1149:

“Protecting Consumers from Breaches of Security,” the state recognizes that breaches of credit and debit card information can contribute to identity theft and fraud, and can be costly to consumers. “The legislature also recognizes that when a breach occurs, remedial measures such as re-issuance of credit or debit cards affected by the breach can help to reduce the incidence of identity theft and associated costs to consumers,” the bill text states. Consequently, the new law encourages the re-issuance of credit and debit cards, when appropriate, and allows financial institutions to recoup data breach costs associated with the the re-issuance from large businesses and card processors who are “negligent in maintaining or transmitting card data.”

If a business or data processor doesn’t take “reasonable care” to prevent data breaches, it can be liable to the financial institution for “reimbursement of reasonable costs,” even if no physical injuries occur. Further, a financial institution can ALSO recover attorneys fees and costs of legal action, so long as they are not excessive.

The law will take effect on July 1, 2010.

The specific coverage includes a crisis management response costs endorsement, which provides a sub-limit of $250,000 for response costs to a company wide crisis, no matter who is deemed to be at fault. Such costs include funeral expenses, medical expenses, psychological counseling, security expenses, travel expenses, and temporary living expenses. In addition there is a loss coverage element of the product which provides $50,000 over the written policy limit in order to cover fees and expenses incurred by a public relations or crisis management firm, as well as any costs for the printing, mailing, or advertising of material, and any required travel.

What’s an example of a covered crisis? An airline, for example, could use such a policy to help reclaim their brand after a plane crash.

Clients purchasing property coverage or umbrella policies from Fireman’s Fund are eligible to purchase the crisis management coverage.