Declarations

Sometimes a plaintiff

“While the state is often a defendant in civil cases, and we welcome reform efforts in many regards, it is important to remember that the state is sometimes a plaintiff. … Our ability to pursue actions on behalf of the state or the people of the state will be severely crippled if this bill becomes law.

— Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, calling upon Gov. Brad Henry to veto Senate Bill 507, which makes massive changes in the way lawsuits are tried in court. Edmondson said while the bill aims for tort reform, the parts pertaining to actions by the state are not reform at all and would severely hamper the state in its litigation. Henry vetoed the bill on April 28.

A horror story for all

“Almost everybody has some kind of horror story either about the insurance company or about the contract.”

— Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, commenting on complaints from homeowners regarding their experiences with insurers in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Foti is hosting a series of meetings in hurricane-ravaged parts of the state to hear from homeowners about how insurers handled their claims. Louisiana lawmakers are poised to consider legislation that would give Foti more authority to deal with the insurance industry. State Sen. Julie Quinn, a Metairie Republican who chairs the Property Insurance Task Force, filed SB 185, which would create a position in Foti’s office for an insurance consumer protection officer. Source: AP

Rates continue to fall

“A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina, companies with properties in catastrophe-exposed regions are still seeing premiums rise, but trends continue to be quite favorable in other regions and other lines of insurance.”

—Joseph Restoule, Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) secretary and member of the board of directors, announcing the results of the latest RIMS Benchmark Survey. Workers’ compensation, directors and officers liability, and general liability premiums have been decreasing for the last two quarters, the study found, and falling premiums show no sign of abating. Property insurance was the only line of business that increased in the first quarter, with rates reflecting a 0.8 percent increase.

The long and the short of it

“While TRIA has increased the availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance, the marketplace is still tenuous. Insurers still have limited capital to cover terrorism losses alone and without federal assistance.”

—Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, chair of a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee considering extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). At an April 24 hearing in Washington, D.C., Kanjorski asserted that the act should be extended for a period of six to eight years. He said that length of time would be “long enough to provide greater certainty to the marketplace and short enough to encourage the private sector to develop its own solutions.”

Topics Catastrophe