Declarations

New England Wind

“The barn was completely flattened.”

—Kati King, of Gorham, Maine, where 54 mph winds destroyed her 150-year-old, 40,000-square-feet cow barn. Similar scenes were recorded throughout New England and New York as unusually powerful windstorms battered the region late last month, causing tornadoes in at least three states.

Captive Growth

“Vermont is bucking the trend with a strong first half of the year and it is very encouraging that interest in companies that want to form captives in Vermont continues to be robust.”

—Dan Towle, director of Financial Services for the State of Vermont, where 17 captive insurers were formed in the first half of the year. That number puts the state on pace to have one of the best years in its history in terms of number of newly formed captive insurers.

Acceleration Probe

“It’s important to allow others… to complete their investigations without our findings providing any sort of influence.”

—Toyota Spokesman Mike Michels, who said the company is “not anywhere near close” to drawing firm conclusions from its probe of unintended acceleration reports and doesn’t plan to disclose its findings until the government finishes its own investigation.

Contingent Turnaround

“Our firm’s focus has been and will always be on doing what is right to serve the best interests of our clients.”

—Steve McGill, chairman and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Aon Risk Solutions, which said it would begin taking contingent commissions, reversing a policy in effect since 2005, when the broker agreed to cease taking the commissions as part of legal settlement with several states. The decision has drawn fire from Willis, as well as risk management groups.

Topics Vermont