Declarations

Huge Problem

“Auto theft along the Texas/Mexico border is a huge problem and we welcome any crime prevention program that could help put a stop to this illegal activity.”

—Charles Caldwell, interim director for the Texas Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority, said a program of theft prevention being implemented by his organization, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT), and the Del Rio, Laredo and Brownville Police Departments works. The program involves the creation and distribution of signs that read: “LOCK your car, TAKE your keys and HIDE your belongings.” ICT initially started the crime prevention program in Austin on March 2, 2005, and has since begun similar programs in Round Rock, Garland, Mesquite, Frisco, Celina and Houston. Each city receives 100 of the red, white, black and yellow signs. The program was so successful in Austin that the city purchased and distributed another 3,000 LOCK, TAKE AND HIDE signs. The signs are placed in large public and private parking areas such as shopping malls, city parks, apartment complexes, restaurants and other areas where there is parking congestion.

Legal Tsunami

“We are clearly in the midst of a legal tsunami.”

—Thomas Hall, a partner at law firm Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York, comments on the possibility that financial market woes could help boost business for big corporate law firms whose mergers and acquisitions practices have been hard hit by the economic crisis. Reuters reported that U.S. law firms, anticipating a huge rise in lawsuits and other legal work spurred by the economic crisis, are creating task forces to advise financial firms, investment funds and local governments to deal with the turmoil. Bankruptcy, restructuring and white-collar criminal defense experts also are likely to be in demand as companies grapple with an array of problems. “The legal issues flowing from the financial crisis are staggering and multidimensional,” Hall said.

Rocky Quarter

“It was a rocky third quarter for insurers, but risk managers still saw prices improve on average,”

—John R. Phelps, member of Risk and Insurance Management Society board of directors and director of business risk solutions at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc., comments on a survey noting a drop in commercial property casualty insurance pricing. According to RIMS Benchmark Survey, an industry survey of policy renewal prices as reported by North American corporate risk managers, property insurance premium decreased 8.5 percent on average and general liability fell 9.6 percent in the third quarter. The average property premium fell sharply despite as much as $20 billion in insured losses from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The 9.6 percent decrease in average general liability premium is the largest single quarterly drop since 2005. RMS says lower insurance industry net income may signal a coming turn in the insurance pricing cycle. “It is increasingly clear … that premiums cannot continue to fall at this pace, especially with the global economy in chaos,” Phelps noted.

Topics Texas