Insurers Brace for Another ‘Above Average’ Hurricane Season, Fitch Reports

Pumpkin Pet Insurance is betting big on earned media to increase website traffic and sales after seeing initial success with its brand launch last year.

More than one-quarter of parents surveyed said they don’t enforce all teen driving laws for their children. That may put…

ARLINGTON, VA, June 8, 2021 — U.S. commercial insurance prices increased again during the first quarter of 2021, according to…

The New Jersey Assembly committee moved a bill last week that would allow insurance companies to offer coverage add-ons that…

Jun. 3— The federal government began accepting disaster recovery claims Thursday for residents and business owners who suffered property damage following torrential rain that washed across Louisiana last month. President Joe Biden approved the state's request for federal support late Wednesday in response to a mid-May deluge that impacted nearly 3,000…

—Officials from California, New York and other states urged the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to allow California to set its own automobile tailpipe pollution standards, an action that would reverse a Trump administration policy and could help usher in stricter emissions standards for new passenger vehicles nationwide.

SafeAuto, one of the largest players in the so-called nonstandard auto insurance market, will be folded into Allstate subsidiary National General Holdings. Northbrook- based Allstate acquired National General, formerly known as GMAC Insurance, for $4 billion in early January. Founded in 1993, Columbus, Ohio- based SafeAuto provides state-minimum auto…

–SafeAuto has agreed to be acquired by The Allstate Corporation through Allstate subsidiary National General. SafeAuto will add capabilities and distribution with its 24 hour, 7 days a week customer contact centers at 1-800- SafeAuto and its website. Ari Deshe, Co-Founder and Chairman of SafeAuto said, “I am confident that combining forces with National…

—Residents of the East Aldine neighborhood of Houston are tired of their homes flooding during hurricanes and of worrying every time it rains because their streets and waterways don't drain well. Like the rest of the Houston area, East Aldine was hammered in 2017 by Hurricane Harvey, which caused an estimated $125 billion in damage throughout the state but…

The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have thinned by hand, machines and prescribed burns about 1.8 million acres of forest and brushland since last season, officials from the agencies told The Associated Press. The federal government owns roughly 640 million acres in the U.S. All but 4% of it lies in the West, including Alaska, with some of it…

Anderson, Fayette, Jessamine, Laurel, Madison, Warren and Woodford counties were added to the disaster declaration, and residents in those counties are now able to apply for assistance. Households in Boyd, Clark, Franklin, Greenup, Jackson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lincoln, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties also are now eligible for…

May 27— It's not every day that a mayor of a medium-sized city in Louisiana hears the words, “Hold for the President.” But that happened to Nic Hunter, mayor of Lake Charles, where President Joe Biden had visited to call for investment in both hurricane recovery and long-term infrastructure investment. Louisiana's delegation in Congress is working to see Biden's…

A PG&E representative told the council that residents who want to report an outage or who have questions about service can call the utility and file a “ticket,” the term that the utility uses for logging a problem or complaint, for PG&E to follow up on. The issue came up during a special council meeting on wildfires, when Councilwoman Gina Dawson noted that faulty…

May 27— An Indiana woman has been awarded an out-of-court settlement of $1 million following a May 2019 crash in Olympia Fields stemming from a road rage incident that has left her “deathly afraid” of being in a vehicle, her attorney said Wednesday. Melanie Pryor, 59, of Schererville, has not physically been able to drive since the crash due to injuries she suffered,…

NOAA predicts a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a “near-normal” season and unfortunately, only a 10% chance of a season that is below normal. “In summary, conditions as of now favor another season of above-normal activity, but unlikely to reach last year's level of record activity,” NOAA's Meteorologist Tony Hurt told the Highlands News-Sun.

“It's very important for everyone to fill out the online Damage Assessment Survey,” said city-parish spokesman Mark Armstrong. Some 13 inches of rain fell in parts of Baton Rouge overnight. There, they'll find a link to the statewide Disaster Damage Self-Report Survey, located at damage.la.gov.

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, May 21– The American Property Casualty Insurance Association issued the following news release on May 20, 2021:. “House 6324 would effectively allow the autobody industry to use whatever part invoicing system they want, including several known to be open to potential manipulation, and an insurer would be required to pay without…

Lake Charles once again took the brunt of nature’ s fury in a coastal zone still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes last fall and a deep freeze in February. The National Weather Service said south Lake Charles in western Louisiana saw 12 to 15 inches of rain in a 12- hour period Monday, while elsewhere in the parish as much as 10 inches fell.

The riverbank is eroding just around the bend from Chimney Park, where contractors could be seen Monday working at a furious pace to reconstruct concrete levee wall that had been torn apart for border wall construction under the Trump administration- construction that was subsequently halted by presidential proclamation Jan. 20. Treviño Wright has long…

May 17— SOCASTEE, Osprey Marina— Aboard the Coastal Explorer— a research boat owned and operated by Coastal Carolina University— researchers launched a torpedo-shaped sonar device into the Intracoastal Waterway Monday. Across from the Osprey Marina in Socastee, a team of three state National Guardsmen dove into the Waterway to attach water-quality…

May 14— OELWEIN— The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled against an Oelwein restaurant that was destroyed in a fire in a dispute with its insurance company. A kitchen fire gutted Luigi's Restaurant and Lounge on Frederick Avenue in November 2016, resulting in a total loss. United Fire appealed the verdict, and in a ruling handed down Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court sided…

A 55% decrease in the average number of miles driven and a record 15% unemployment rate sent many auto insurance customers shopping for a new policy after the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

May 9— Many property owners across coastal Beaufort County may see their flood insurance rates decrease this year with the release of new flood maps. Local governments across the nation, including in Beaufort County, updated their Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps this year to better reflect current flooding conditions in the area.

County property owners are being sent a postcard notifying them if their rates are expected to change, FEMA wrote in a statement. To prove that, FEMA said, residents must provide data supporting their claims. The new pricing model, termed “Risk Rating 2.0,” should make premiums more equitable nationwide, FEMA said.

May 7— THOMASVILLE— Police have charged a Thomasville man with arson in a house fire last month that authorities say stemmed from insurance fraud. Donnie Allen Harmon, 33, of Thomasville was arrested Thursday, the Thomasville Police Department said. When Thomasville Fire Department crews arrived at 101 Veach Court on April 11, the house was fully engulfed in…

ROCKLAND— Rockland residents resoundingly rejected new federal flood maps and a proposed mixed-use zoning overlay district during town meeting amid a lack of trust in town officials and false claims about development. Monday's town meeting flew through the four articles on the special town meeting including a $68.7 million operating budget, a special…

May 4— BLUM— Curtis Haley was pacing around the barn, pulling down shades over windows in anticipation of the impending storm, when he saw the dark, spiraling funnel cloud headed his way. He set his half-full bottle of Dos Equis down on the bar, used by guests during wedding receptions held inside the picturesque structure of wood and metal, which has large sliding…

Insurers won a pair of big business interruption lawsuits last week, continuing a mostly successful defense against paying pandemic business claims.

The Florida Legislature passed a bill that will cause insurance rates to rise for Florida motorists, particularly those who buy the minimum required insurance, according to the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida (PIFF).

May 2— PAHOA, Hawaii island— Three years after magma from Kilauea Volcano burst through the ground in Leilani Estates, signaling the start of the historic 2018 eruption, the sights, smells and sounds of the disaster are still vivid to those most impacted by it. Standing outside his former home on Moku Street, Howard Konanui, 66, recalled rushing to his back patio…

Rebecca Bean, owner of STASH on Main Street, said she arrived at her store to find six broken windows. In an AccuWeather report, senior vice president and chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said while tornadoes garner more news coverage, hailstorms produce the most damage resulting in insurance claims when compared with any other type of severe storm.

–When engulfed in the thrill of purchasing a first home, some buyers confess to confusion on an important element of the transaction: home insurance. To help first-time buyers understand their options, Insurance.com releases a robust guide to buying home insurance for the first time. Insurance experts surveyed 997 homeowners in March 2021 to learn which home…

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association issued the following statement:. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association issued the following statement in response to Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's press release reminding insurers of the May 6, 2021 deadline to file new rating plans to comply with his emergency…

The model “provides a structure to strengthen distracted driving laws across the country by establishing a comprehensive hands-free law to curb driver distraction,” NCOIL said in a news release.

Apr. 26— On Tuesday, April 20, the Small Business Administration approved over $100 million in federal disaster relief loans for Texas businesses and residents impacted by the winter storms of Feb. 11-21. Last Tuesday, Tanya N. Garfield, director of SBA's Field Operations Center— West, announced relief funds of $10,365,600 for businesses and $93,195,400 for…

Bill Dodd, D- Napa, would buffer state-certified burn bosses— and private property owners on whose land the fires are set— against personal liability lawsuits if a fire escapes and hurts someone or damages property. There is near-universal agreement from scientists and fire officials that intentionally set “prescribed” fires are critical to restoring the…

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation issued the following news release:. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has established the 2021 personal property insurance rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. The OIR held a virtual public rate hearing on March 15, 2021, to receive testimony from Citizens in support of its rate…

Researchers at North Carolina State University predict an active 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which starts June 1. State researchers say they expect 15 to 18 named storms in the Atlantic basin during the 2021 season, which runs until Nov. 30. The Atlantic basin includes “the entire Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.”

A Gastonia grocery store sold a $1 million winning lottery ticket. Gloria Walls and Gary Daniel of Clover, South Carolina, bought the winner $10 Jumbo Bucks scratch-off ticket at the Harris Teeter on Robinwood Road. They had the choice of taking the $1 million as an annuity of 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000.

Apr. 18— Nearly 300,000 homes and farms in Washington just received an added defense against destructive wildfires, part of a growing national trend intended to reduce the devastation of longer, more intense fire seasons. Wildfire Defense Systems, a Bozeman- based company that deploys trained and certified firefighters to several states in the West, has teamed…

The next few days will determine whether Florida consumers will lose valuable property insurance coverage to insurers’ efforts to fight fraudsters who are driving up costs for everyone. Critics are warning about several insurance industry-backed reform proposals that have already been approved by the state Senate but still face uncertainty in the House.

Apr. 15— Thousands of California victims of wildfires linked to PG&E Corp. have received payments totaling $141.3 million from the utility's bankruptcy— but are being warned that the payout process is proceeding slowly. In a letter to victims filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Fire Victim Trust said this week that it has sent money to 7,547 victims of…

For the season, which begins June 1, meteorologist Phil Klotzbach and other experts from Colorado State University– among the nation's top seasonal hurricane forecasters– predict 17 named tropical storms will form, eight of which will become hurricanes. The group said there's a 69% chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall somewhere in the…

The bad news was highlighted recently in a Tampa Bay Times story and that is Florida's insurance industry is hurting and the future is not bright. There are more than a couple of problems driving the huge losses insurance companies are suffering in Florida. This type of safety net is necessary when a hurricane hits Florida and a company's claims skyrocket.

The ordinance was adopted in March and includes changes made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been updating the floodplain maps throughout the country. Following an informational meeting to inform residents about the changes, council President Todd Houser introduced resolutions regarding regulating construction or development…

WASHINGTON, April 10– The National Association of Insurance Commissioners issued the following news release:. Nearly three quarters of consumers say the most significant threats facing their homes today are weather-related, and 68% are aware of things they can do to protect their properties to reduce risk. From hurricanes to wildfires, almost every area of…

Apr. 7— Assemblyman Marc Levine has authored legislation aimed at giving property owners a break when it comes to insurance coverage. That would include the work of Marin's Wildfire Prevention Authority, which local voters put into action by approving the 2020 Measure C tax proposal. Levine, a Democrat who lives in Greenbrae, has also submitted legislation, AB…

Apr. 6— After another round of devastating floods ravaged Lebanon's downtown square, it refloated a question that gets asked a lot, why does this keep happening? Lebanon's Commissioner of Public Works Jeff Baines said that after the floods in 2010, the city entered discussions with the Army Corps of Engineers on “possible alternatives to mitigate flooding on…

NMG Consulting recently completed its 2021 Study of the US Commercial Lines market, which canvasses more than 1,500 independent producers responsible for more than US $1 bn in gross written premium. “That margin expansion is a big opportunity,” says Mark Prichard, CEO of NMG Consulting. According to Karen Lau, a consultant with NMG in Toronto, the fruits of this…