It Figures

$1.1 Billion
The amount the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that deer-vehicle crashes rack up in property damages each year, in addition to tens of thousands of injuries, and more than 200 deaths every year. ERIE Insurance Company, which tracks deer/vehicle claims saw a 6 percent decline in deer claim frequency over the past year. The company said it is the fourth consecutive year that deer claim frequency declined, and the second straight year that the actual number of deer claims declined. In ERIE’s operating states for 2005, there were 10 deer claims for every 1,000 vehicles the company insured. The company maintains that deer pose a serious and ever-present threat to drivers. ERIE’s paid losses from deer collision claims totaled $54.6 million in the company’s marketing territory for 2005, and that was nearly $2 million lower than in 2004. The average cost of a deer claim increased by 4 percent to $2,200, but the there was a 9 percent company-wide decline in the number of deer claims during the peak months of October through December.

Source: Erie Insurance

$500,000
Louisiana’s cap on medical malpractice damages, set in 1975, that the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Lake Charles recently ruled unconstitutional in a 3-2 decision. The court said the amount no longer provides an adequate remedy to patients. A $500,000 award would be worth about $160,000 today, the court said in its opinion. The court said evidence indicates the cap would have to be raised to $1.6 million or $1.7 million to provide the same protection as it did 31 years ago. The opinion was written by Judge Elizabeth Pickett, who was joined by Judges Billy Howard Ezell, and James T. Genovese. Dissenting were Judges Sylvia Cooks and Oswald Decuir. Sue Chopin, a spokeswoman for Lammico, the state’s largest medical malpractice company, said the ruling could harm the state’s post-hurricane recovery by discouraging doctors and insurance companies from doing business in the state. Dr. Floyd Bu-ras, president of the Louisiana State Medical Society, said the 3rd Circuit’s ruling appears to ad-dress only the dollar amount of the medical malpractice cap and does not eliminate it altogether.

Source: AP

9,778
The number of emergency housing trailers in Hope, Ark., that were intended to be sent to the Gulf Coast to help Hurricane Katrina victims that have been freed up for other uses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency parked the trailers at Hope Municipal Airport in the months following the hurricane. The agency came under criticism when the trailers sat empty, but officials said regulations against placing the homes in flood plains prevented their use on the Gulf Coast. On Sept. 29, Congress approved a homeland security spending bill that included a provision allowing FEMA to sell or donate the trailers to municipalities, nonprofit groups or American Indian tribes. FEMA was directed to work with the Department of Interior to transfer the trailers to tribes, depending on need. Indian housing has been a problem for decades. According to a 2003 survey, an estimated 200,000 housing units are needed immediately in Indian country and approximately 90,000 Indian families are homeless or “under-housed.”

Source: AP

$14 million
The amount in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds the Louisiana Recovery Auth-ority’s (LRA) plans to provide to local governments as they implement the new statewide building code enacted in November 2005. A state legislative panel recently approved the amount, which would include: $3.6 million to assist the 11 parishes already enforcing the code with certified inspectors from IBTS (Institute for Building and Technology Safety); $500,000 for training to certify inspectors to fill long-term needs; $9.4 million for initial office setup of code offices and training in seven regional areas, or to use existing large municipality code offices and expand technology and the amount of certified staff; and, $500,000 for the Fire Marshall to hire additional commercial plan reviewers for code. Should it pass the full Legislature, which is expected to consider the measure by mail ballot, the LRA will work closely with the Louisiana Municipal Association and the Louisiana Policy Jury Associations to implement the new code.

Source: American Insurance Association