Declarations

Consumer Beware

“So often these entities will pop back up with a new name and take advantage of a new group of consumers. This is why we urge consumers to contact us before purchasing coverage to be sure the entity is properly licensed.”

—Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon P. Clark, after ordering to the Global Healing Society, of Puyallup, Wash., to pay a $30,000 civil penalty and cease operating its unauthorized insurance business.

Hit the Beach

“We want to prevent a serious problem that could spell financial disaster for the state and its citizens. The (North Carolina) Legislature has taken an important first step by convening this study committee.”

—Robert Herlong of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, as North Carolina lawmakers began hearings last month on the financial health of the state’s Insurance Underwriting Association, a.k.a. the Beach Plan.

Georgia Green

“We hope this will encourage and promote people to be green in their homes.”

—Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine at a news conference at one of Atlanta’s houses with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The insurance commissioner’s office approved the first-ever green homeowners’ insurance policies in Georgia. The program — for customers of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. — guarantees that environmentally friendly homes will be rebuilt in the same way if they’re damaged or destroyed.

Bridge to Ohio

“The truck ban is a conservative and precautionary step. We believe the bridge to be safe to travel otherwise, or else it would be closed.”

—Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman Chuck Wolfe, after inspectors discovered a crack in the eastbound Interstate 275 bridge in northern Kentucky, prompting the state Transportation Cabinet to ban truck traffic from the span. Eastbound traffic on the 29-year-old Combs-Hehl Bridge crosses the Ohio River at Highland Heights and enters Ohio about five miles east of Cincinnati.

Endangered Portfolio

“I want somebody to pay. It’s outrageous. We should be looking at the people who walked away with the money.”

—West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, as the state considered suing investment firms at the center of the national financial crisis to recoup millions of dollars in losses to the state’s multibillion-dollar portfolio. Manchin asked his staff to research possible legal action following a September briefing from the state’s the Investment Management Board.

Topics Ohio Georgia Kentucky