Declarations

No Choice

“They (Legislature) will do something because they have no choice.”

—Sam Miller, executive director of the Florida Insurance Council, commenting on the need for the Florida Legislature to include property insurance on its upcoming agenda.

Overexposed

“We’re overexposed. They’ve got to address the CAT fund.”

—Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink in urging legislators to act and noting the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund would be billions of dollars short if a catastrophic hurricane or storms hit Florida.

Blog Immunity

“To say that just because you’re a legislator, you would have carte blanche to lie and defame others is silly. If the court agreed with this defense, they would be giving any of us a license to lie. And I don’t think any citizen ought to have that right.”

—Tennessee Democratic Rep. Henry Fincher, commenting on a case in which a Republican lawmaker asked a judge to dismiss a libel lawsuit against him on the basis that his blog is covered by legislative immunity. Roger Byrge, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate last year, claims Rep. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville falsely wrote on his blog just before the election that Byrge had been arrested several times on drug charges. Campfield’s attorney wrote that Campfield’s “statements would be absolutely privileged and is completely within his legitimate legislative sphere as a Tennessee state representative.” But Byrge’s attorney says no such privilege exists, and that Campfield’s blog post was defamatory and politically motivated.

Hungry Gecko

“As we view GEICO’s current opportunities, Tony (Nicely) and I feel like two hungry mosquitoes in a nudist camp. Juicy targets are everywhere.”

—Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett speaking of GEICO’s CEO in his annual letter. Buffett discusses how his insurance and investment company barely broke even in the fourth quarter because of losses on derivatives contracts tied to the stock market.

D&O Trends

“If the emerging executive liability insurance pricing trends continue, we can expect D&O rates to rise for other [non-financial] industries, especially if we see a reduction in insurer capacity due to consolidation or insolvency.

—Lauri Floresca, senior managing director and author of the Carpenter Moore D&O Benchmarking Report, which shows that the D&O insurance market is clearly hardening for financial services companies. Floresca warned that the pricing may spill over into other D&O segments and that after several straight years of declining premiums, many companies may not be prepared for cost increases.

Topics Florida