Panama City Adopts Flood Insurance Reporting Tool

Jan. 16– New York State will send engineers, power experts and mental health professionals to earthquake-ravaged Puerto Rico, Gov. Cuomo announced Wednesday. “The people of Puerto Rico have been through hell, and while the federal administration abdicated its responsibility to help American citizens during difficult times, New York is continuing to step up to…

Thom Tillis, R- North Carolina, issued the following news release:. This allocation is in addition to yesterday's announcement of a $321 million investment in North Carolina for storm damage reduction projects in Surf City/ North Topsail Beach, Carteret County, and Princeville, N.C.. Last year, Senators Tillis and Burr sent a letter to the Corps of Engineers urging…

Jan. 14– Members of Virginia and Maryland's congressional delegations are demanding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency live up to its obligation to enforce cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and U.S. Reps. Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are the biggest polluters of the bay.

Segments of the mile-long pedestrian path from the entrance on Old Cutler Road through the mangroves to Biscayne Bay are flooded or covered with black goo and seaweed, and plastic debris has washed up on the roots. Red Fish Grill, one of Miami's rare waterfront restaurants, is still under repair. Matheson Hammock is a gem, a natural haven that should have vanished…

“It's great to see another strong year of growth for Vermont's captive insurance industry,” said Governor Scott. New and notable companies include Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, KPMG LLP, University of Vermont Health Network Inc., Stamford Health, RELX Inc., and Fortive Corporation. Six of Vermont's 22 new captives were redomestications from…

Coastal infrastructure is the most relevant concern for cities like New York, as water surges from intensified storms have the potential to displace communities, damage property, and prevent transportation. When Hurricane Sandy hit New York, as a 12- year-old, I volunteered with the fire department to help the thousands of displaced families receive food and…

Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that explains how distracted driving can affect car insurance rates. For more info and free car insurance quotes online, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/distracted-driving-and-car-insurance-rates/. Distracted driving comes in numerous forms.

Texas counted 50 natural disasters- floods, droughts, wildfires, severe storms and hurricanes- between 1980 and 1999, according Federal Emergency Management Agency data. Between 2000 and 2017, that number jumped to 172, placing Texas alongside Oklahoma and California as states leading the nation in natural disasters, with wildfires being the primary…

A dwelling-insurance settlement reached by the state's insurance commissioner and the N.C. Rate Bureau will not result in an increase for customers in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina. On Aug. 28, the bureau filed a request for a statewide average rate increase of 19.2%, to go into effect July 1. Mike Causey, the state's insurance commissioner, rejected the…

The Hartford, which posted about $19 billion in revenue in 2018, joins other insurance companies that are limiting or dropping coverage of energy companies that rely on fossil fuels. The Hartford made exceptions for business lines that cover employees, such as disability, life and other products offered by the insurer’ s group benefits division that provides…

—California regulators said Tuesday that they have streamlined the state's permit process to make it faster to approve tree-thinning projects designed to slow massive wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years. The state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved a vegetation management program based on more than a decade of…

Dec. 31– Clean, still water in Manard Bayou displays mirror images of homes along its banks. “Manard Bayou has returned to normal,” said Dorian Steeber, who owns two of those homes. Flood recovery around Fort Gibson has been slow.

Plus, I have been following the California Public Utilities Commission for some years– largely since regulators shifted billions of dollars in closure costs from the failed San Onofre nuclear plant from Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas& Electric shareholders to ratepayers– and I have learned that utilities tend to prevail in proceedings before…

Dec. 20– LOS ANGELES– Environmental issues took center stage at Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles, with 2020 candidates highlighting the toll of California's wildfires and debating the federal government's role in relocating victims after natural disasters. Amy Klobuchar cited the deadly Camp Fire that killed 85 people in the…

Allstate announced Thursday it will get rid of its Esurance brand next year as part of a“ transformative growth plan, “an effort to streamline business operations and focus on the company’ s name brand. The company is also consolidating Encompass Insurance, a subsidiary that sells personal property and casualty insurance, and Answer Financial, a website that…

Updated federal maps effective Dec. 20 show an increased chance of flooding for about 1,250 coastal properties in Oceanside, a city engineer said this week. The maps released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency show a greater threat than previously for low-lying properties that are mostly west of Coast Highway in areas such as The Strand in northern…

—More than a million California homes are now protected under a new law that temporarily bans insurance companies from dropping customers in areas affected by recent wildfires, officials announced Wednesday. Lara extended those protections this week to more than 200,000 additional homes in burn areas in San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Solana and Contra…

A lawyer the embattled utility, appearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, urged Judge Dennis Montali to approve a crucial element of PG&E's bankruptcy plan: a $13.5 billion settlement agreement with lawyers for victims of the 2017 wine country fires and 2018 Camp Fire. The lawyer, Stephen Karotkin, said he believes PG&E can find a way to satisfy Newsom's myriad…

Dec. 17– GUNTOWN– The day after a regional storm hit northern Lee County with a tornado, victims picked through the debris on a cold and overcast morning while volunteers and government officials lent a helping hand and took stock of the damage. Brad Poynor stepped carefully over splintered boards and dangling wires as he gingerly opened the back door of the home…

The National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) and Garnet Casualty Insurance Corporation (Garnet) have announced a partnership that organizers say will bring normalcy to the nation’s cannabis insurance market.

The EF4 tornado that roared across Montgomery County on Memorial Day ended its 32- minute, 18- mile rampage with one last gust of destruction east of the Mad River before dissipating in Riverside. Before it got there, it leveled businesses on Springfield Street in Dayton and hit hard a large World War II-era housing complex by the Air Force museum.

WILMINGTON- After the Select Board last week voted 4-0 to reject zoning updates aimed at flood resiliency but seen as too restrictive by property owners, the Planning Commission will shelve its proposal for a few months. “So I think that we should take a little break,” commission member Meg Staloff said during a meeting Monday, “have a little cooling-off period for…

The new United States- Mexico- Canada trade agreement reached Tuesday commits the federal government to provide $300 million for the Border Water Infrastructure Program to address pollution on the U.S.- Mexico border, including the Tijuana River Valley region, where millions of gallons of raw sewage, heavy metals and other contaminants regularly flow from…

With children and young people increasingly at risk from extreme weather and out in the streets demanding faster action on global warming, efforts to respect and promote their rights in climate policy need to step up, U.N officials said on Monday. On the sidelines of U.N. climate negotiations in Madrid, the U.N. children's agency and former Irish President Mary…

Unscrupulous or unresponsive contractors have been an obstacle for property owners rebuilding after the Memorial Day tornadoes, including one who faces criminal charges, a Dayton Daily News investigation found. The Ohio Attorney General's Office has received 55 reports from Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties about home improvement contractors…

Dec. 4– Nearly 18 months after Michigan State University sued about a dozen insurance companies in an effort to get them to pay a record-setting settlement with survivors of Larry Nassar's sexual assault, the case remains on hold. “MSU strongly believes it is entitled to be reimbursed by the insurance companies to whom it paid millions in premiums for many years,”…

Such storms pose a particular threat in San Diego County, where the columns of moisture flow up and along the side of the region's mountains, condense, then fall as heavy rain. Atmospheric rivers “have been identified as the primary source of hydrologic flooding in the western United States, yet their costs remain largely unquantified,” says the research paper,…

–Esurance is on a mission to make insurance surprisingly painless, which means constantly checking in with consumers on what's causing them pain. Today the direct-to-consumer insurance company unveiled the results of its 2019 Consumer Insurance Aches& Pains report a study dedicated to exploring how people really feel about the insurance industry.

Population growth, more intense rainfall and melting ice are likely to cause more frequent and severe floods. That would be five times the average of 10 million displaced a year from the mid-1970s to 2005, and would happen as populations grow and as rainfall intensifies and ice melts on a warmer planet, causing more frequent and severe floods, said study author…

–The global insurance fraud detection market size is expected to reach USD 9.7 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 13.7% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Detecting and preventing fraudulent activities is a global challenge for insurers. As per a research conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the…

A bipartisan cadre of New York's federal lawmakers is calling on President Donald Trump to approve a disaster declaration after devastating flooding on Halloween. FEMA should approve New York State's request for a disaster declaration as soon as possible, so that counties across the state can continue recovering and rebuilding. ” Andrew Cuomo requested a…

Dec. 2– Washington residents would be asked to pay an additional $5 surcharge on home and auto insurance policies to combat the growing threat of wildfires, under a proposed bill by Hilary Franz. The bill, which is anticipated to raise $63 million annually, is intended to provide the Department of Natural Resources with guaranteed funding to hire more…

Almost 2.5 million New Englanders are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, the highest number in more than a decade, the AAA says. “A strong economy is driving the increase in Thanksgiving travel again this year,” says Amy Parmenter, spokeswoman for AAA in Greater Hartford.“ And gas prices across Connecticut and much of the region are a solid 20 cents less per gallon…

As farmers work the fields to remove crops, it is also archery season in Ohio and firearm season in Michigan, so this dramatic increase in outdoor activity and human presence gets deer moving. “We know there is an increased risk of collision with deer around dawn and dusk, and also during the October-December breeding season,” said Chris Mullen, the former director…

Nov. 22– State prosecutors in the criminal trial of local insurance agent and Glynn County Commissioner Bob Coleman leaned heavily on a recording of an interview between Coleman and Doug Williams, a criminal investigator for the State Board of Workers' Compensation, as the jury trial continued through Thursday. Both Bob Coleman and his wife, Sherry, were charged…

Nov. 21– A jury heard opening statements from attorneys and cross-examination of witnesses Wednesday in the first day of the criminal trial of local insurance agent and Glynn County Commissioner Bob Coleman. Both Bob Coleman and his wife, Sherry, were charged by a Glynn County grand jury in January with 15 counts of felony violation of the Georgia Insurance Code–…

U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe said the two former Lynn Haven officials approved false invoices for the two companies, Erosion Control Specialists and Greenleaf Lawn Care, for work they never performed. Those arrested were former Lynn Haven City Manager Michael White, former community services director David Horton, Erosion Control Specialists owner David…

The EPA believes“ the Superfund program’ s existing processes and resources adequately ensure that risks and any adverse effects of severe weather events, that may increase in intensity, duration, or frequency, are woven into risk assessments,” assistant EPA administrator Peter Wright wrote the GAO in response. GAO investigators looked at 1,571 Superfund…

Nov. 15– As more companies refuse to provide fire insurance to homeowners in a state plagued by increasingly destructive blazes, California’s insurance commissioner said Thursday that a plan once meant to be a last resort will be expanded. “I am taking this action after meeting with thousands of California homeowners across the state who are struggling to find…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency has issued the following news release:. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency today announced it will continue to defer accrual of interest for 2019 crop year insurance premiums to help the wide swath of farmers and ranchers affected by extreme weather in 2019.

The grand jury in Lexington indicted Michael McNew on one charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. McNew allegedly worked with others to defraud the federal government, which backs insurance policies for farmers, and ARMtech Insurance Services, a private company. Some initials match those of farmers who have…

U.S. property/casualty insurance and reinsurance companies are using low interest rates to extend their debt maturity profiles and replace higher cost debt with often significantly lower cost alternatives, according to an AM Best report. The total amount of debt outstanding has dropped by approximately 19%, or $42 billion, since year-end 2009, totaling…

Mike Mueller today said a fee reduction announced by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association is a sign that local drivers will save money through the state’s recent car insurance reforms. The MCCA announced it will charge a $100 per-vehicle assessment for the year-long period beginning July 2, 2020. According to the MCCA, the $100 per vehicle…

Homeowners want the peace of mind that their home or business will be able to safely weather the next storm, and the state of Florida should do everything possible to make it easier for them to do so. And when they buy that house in Florida, ensuring it is protected against hurricanes is foremost on their minds. In Florida, PACE offers access to affordable, fixed-cost…

Nov. 13– TOPEKA– Each day, the roughly 150 residents of Lakeside Village drink, cook and bathe with water hauled in by the Kansas National Guard. Months after floodwaters overwhelmed the northeast Kansas community’s well system, trucks are still delivering up to 40,000 gallons of water daily. The new normal for Lakeside Village is just one snapshot of the…

In rulings with grim financial consequences for tens of thousands of homeowners, the state Supreme Court concluded in decisions released late Tuesday that language common to most homeowner policies exempts insurers from having to cover repairs to homes with structural damage caused by crumbling concrete foundations. One expert said the decisions could…

–Risk Strategies, a privately held, rapidly growing national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced that it has acquired Zito Insurance Agency, a full service firm headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland. In addition to its Mentor, OH headquarters, the firm also maintains an office in nearby Rocky River, OH.

Want to buy some Florida swampland? Now consider that of all states, low-lying Florida is at greatest risk for inland flooding and tied with Louisiana for the highest risk of coastal flooding. Florida isn’t the only state where sellers can duck telling buyers about homes that repeatedly flood.

The deadline to file a claim for losses from the Camp Fire and some other wildfires linked to Pacific Gas& Electric Co. has been extended, and more people are likely to be eligible to file than they think. The claims are part of the bankruptcy case against the utility for its suspected role in the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, as well as the 2017 wine country fires and the…

Nov. 5– Several area counties were designated natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture following a disastrous planting season in Ohio that was plagued by excess rains and flooding. Nisonger’s county was one of three locally that the USDA said are primary natural disaster designations because of the excessive rains and flooding in the…

At least 20 people, including children, were displaced from their Thornbury Township homes after the carnage of 120- mph peak winds caused by the EF-2 tornado, merely hours after trick-or-treaters walked the sidewalks of the close-knit community adjacent to the Golf Course at Glen Mills. For Gary Bevilacqua and other homeowners on Chelsea Court affected by…

State Auto Financial Corporation today reported third quarter 2019 net income of $11.5 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to net income of $33.4 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, for the same 2018 period. Net income from operations 1 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2019 was $0.34 versus $0.44 for the same 2018 period. For the first nine…

Oct. 30– Residents whose home and property were damaged by flooding caused by heavy rains in June can now apply for low interest loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration, officials said. Cook County investigators identified about 200 properties in Steger, Park Forest and South Chicago Heights that had sustained some kind of flood damage from rains…

Oct. 29– A couple were sentenced to jail time Tuesday after they pleaded no contest to insurance fraud for filing a false stolen vehicle report and then lying to their insurance company when their son caused a head-on collision, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. Jose Leyva was sentenced to 90 days in jail, and his wife, Leticia, was sentenced to…

Oct. 29– A Lutherville- Timonium resident was convicted by a federal jury Monday for conspiring to defraud insurers of more than $15 million by setting fire to his Baltimore- based business in 2015, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, trial evidence showed that on July 28, 2015, Stavrakis used tape to obscure one…