News Briefs

FLORIDA

Report Shows Car Theft Decreased in Most of Southeast

Across the Southeast in major metropolitan areas auto theft decreas-ed dramatically in 2004, accompan-ied by a slight drop in auto theft nationally, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s annual Hot Spots Report for 2004. These statistics should reflect positively on personal and fleet insurance rates.

The rate matters in such a ranking because the FBI estimates there was a 2.6 percent drop in auto thefts in 2004, compared to the previous year, after four years of increases.

Miami, which announced recently it had eliminated its police department’s Auto Fraud Unit, dropped from No. 8 to No. 13 on the list. Data released for other Florida metros was also positive: Orlando, from No. 63 to No. 70; Jacksonville, from No. 81 to No. 80; and Tampa/St. Petersburg, from No. 53 to No. 62.

The statistics increased, however, in some of Florida’s smaller cities: Ft. Myers, from No. 131 to No. 75; Punta Gorda, from No. 216 to No. 194; and Sarasota/Bradenton, from No. 160 to No. 146.

Other Southeast states statistics include:

Alabama: Birmingham, No. 59 from No. 54; Mobile, No. 90 from No. 102; and Montgomery, No. 115 from 75.

Georgia: Atlanta, No. 26 from No. 28.

Kentucky: Lexington, No. 164
from 175; and Louisville, No. 95 from No. 101.

Mississippi: Jackson, No. 35 from No. 17.

North Carolina: Charlotte, No. 41 from No. 45; and Raleigh/Durham, No. 132 from 121.

South Carolina: Charleston, No. 103 from No. 74; and Greenville, No. 100 from No. 122.

Tennessee: Chattanooga, No. 109 from No. 111; Nashville, No. 125 from No. 108; and Memphis, No. 38 from No. 32.

West Virginia: Charleston, No. 140 from No. 145; Parkersburg, No. 325 from 322; and Wheeling, No. 304 from No. 298.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau each year gathers auto theft data on 336 metropolitan areas from the National Crime Information Center. The rate is determined by the number of vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 inhabitants using Census 2000 population figures.

“The small reduction in auto thefts is good news for our member companies and the general public,” Robert M. Bryant, NICB president and CEO said. “NICB has attacked this problem through expanded efforts with our member companies and law enforcement and by embarking on an aggressive public awareness campaign to educate and inform consumers of the many ways in which they can help prevent auto theft.”

TV Ad Response to ‘Free Quote Offer’ Overwhelms First Heritage

Television advertising offering a free quote for hurricane coverage resulted in an overload of business for First Heritage Insurance Services of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Independent insurance agent Chris Wandembergh told the St. Petersburg Times she merely wanted to “drum up business” for First Heritage her fledgling company. But her TV ads offering a free quote for hurricane coverage tapped a bigger vein than she expected.

Wandembergh had to temporarily discontinue the TV spot at the beginning of August after she was swamped with more requests than she could handle-and from many people she couldn’t help.

“It was a way for me to get my name out there,” Wandembergh told the Times.

She acknowledged the pitch was also a way to bring in potential customers for auto insurance and other lines.

“It doesn’t mean I can write everything” in homeowners, she added.

Indeed, for owners of homes more than 20 years old, the news was the same as they heard from other brokers: That only the state-run Citizens Property Insurance will write coverage for them.

Citizens has swelled by the thousands in the bay area in the past several years. By state law, the insurer’s rates are set higher than the marketplace to assure that it’s used only by homeowners who cannot find private companies to write their policies.

The situation is only getting tenser as big players such as Allstate and Nationwide recently decided to cut back on their policy count or not write any new policies. Some insurers have pulled out of Florida.

After their brief hiatus, First Heritage’s ads are supposed to reappear on the air
soon.

Medical Examiners Indicate 135 of 306 Funerals FEMA Paid for Were Justified

Florida Medical Examiners meeting in Key Biscayne, Fla., say their autopsies and investigations show that no more than 135 deaths in Florida were hurricane-related, while FEMA the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid benefits for 306 funerals. The examiners said they were sure 240 of the funerals were not hurricane-
related.

That number could change. Several Panhandle counties, including Escambia and Santa Rosa, have not yet completed their tabulations-so the numbers could rise.

The medical examiners’ told the

South Florida Sun-Sentinel they have requested more information from FEMA, but
have gotten no response so far. They particularly want to find out what criteria FEMA used in the classifying the deaths hurricane related.

FEMA paid for hundreds of funerals last year of Floridians whose deaths had nothing to do with the four hurricanes that hit the state, according to an already published Sun-Sentinel report.

FEMA approved funeral claims in Florida for $1.3 million, though an agency spokeswoman said it actually turned down more applications than it approved.

Repeal of Helmet Law Results in More Fla. Motorcycle Fatalities

Motorcycle fatalities have risen sharply in Florida since the state repealed its mandatory helmet law, according to two studies,
one by the government and the other by

the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The studies indicate states that repeal
such laws run the risk of increased deaths

and mounting health care costs for injured bikers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that in the three years following Florida’s repeal of its mandatory helmet law in 2000, 933 motorcyclists were killed, an 81 percent increase from the 515 bikers killed from 1997 to 1999.

Even though the state requires helmet use by riders under age 21, fatalities among that group nearly tripled in the three years after the repeal; 45 percent of those killed were not wearing helmets. The cost of hospital care for motorcycle injuries grew from $21 million to $44 million in the 30 months after the law changed; the figures were adjusted for inflation.

The study, conducted by the Connecticut-based Preusser Research Group, mirrored the findings of a 2003 federal review that found that fatalities grew by more than 50 percent in Kentucky and 100 percent in Louisiana after those states struck down their mandatory helmet laws.

“The results are remarkably similar that when you repeal a helmet law, you can expect an increase in fatalities and you can expect an increase in medical costs,” Rae Tyson, NHTSA spokesman said.

The second NIHS study found that
the death rate of motorcyclists from 2001-2002 increased 25 percent compared with

the two years before the repeal of helmet
laws.

The debate has generated legislative struggles during the past decade, with
motorcyclists rumbling through state cap-itals and unleashing torrents of phone

calls and e-mails to lobby for repeals.

Some motorcyclists complain that they should have the choice of wearing a helmet and urge states to focus more on rider
education.

But safety groups contend that less restrictive laws lead to more fatalities and burden society through higher medical costs. They mostly have waged a losing battle since the mid-1990s, when Congress removed federal sanctions against states without helmet laws and a handful of states weakened their statutes.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia require all motorcycle riders to wear protective helmets, a decline from 47 states in 1975, according to the institute, which is funded by the insurance industry.

Nationally, fatalities increased nearly 8 percent to 4,008 in 2004, the first time they have surpassed 4,000 deaths since 1987. Motorcycle deaths have increased seven years in a row.

Florida requires helmet use by riders under the age of 21 or by older riders who do not carry a minimum of $10,000 medical insurance coverage. The state’s climate allows for year-round riding, and Daytona Beach’s Bike Week attracts hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists every March.

In the institute’s report, the motorcyclecrash death rate increased 25 percent in the two years after Florida’s law changed, growing from 30.8 deaths to 38.8 deaths per 1,000 crashes.

Tom Lindsay, a spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association, noted that both studies failed to show the causes of crashes, such as the rider’s behavior, road and weather conditions or the motorcycle.

Citizens President to Speak at Sept. CPCU Meeting

Bob Richter, president of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., will be the featured speaker during the Sept. 12 meeting of the Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society. Carol Ever-hart, a former member of the Depart-ment of Financial Services Task Force that worked on re-structuring Citizens will also attend the event.

Richter’s presentation will provide insight into the vision of Florida’s future with Citizens Insurance Company, followed by a question and answer session at which CPCU audience members will be able to ask questions.

Susan Granata, CPCU’s president, just released the chapter’s 2005-2006 calendar of events, which also features an Oct. 10 presentation on “Insurance Fraud,” by Capt. Mark Sauls, a spokesman for the Division of State, Fire Marshall, Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations for the South Central Region in Tampa. This meeting will also feature a recognition ceremony for the CPCU Society’s Suncoast Chapter’s past presidents.

CPCU’s Suncoast Chapter meets the second Monday of each month, with meetings starting at 6 p.m. at the Westshore Marriott, 1001 N. Westshore Blvd. in Tampa. Members and non-members are
welcome. For reservations contact Granata at (727) 451-3115, or email susan-granata@bouchardinsurance.com., or Robert Magann, (813) 615-5222, ext. 43910, Robert.magann@usaa.com.

NORTH CAROLINA

NAMIC Opposing SB 319

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies sent a letter to the North Carolina House Insurance Committee opposing Senate Bill 319, which would amend provisions of the state’s self-insurance guaranty association. SB 319 has already passed the state Senate.

“NAMIC is concerned the changes will effectively create a situation where smaller self-insured entities could end up being bailed out by the regular insurer’s guaranty fund,” David Reddick, NAMIC’s state affairs manager said. “We are asking the legislators to slow down the bill’s progress, and instead create a task force to study this issue in more detail before implementing any new changes in the present law.”

Reddick also noted that the state’s Court of Appeals decision recently upheld a lower court decision in Bowles v. BCJ Trucking Services Inc., in which the North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association was held liable for the plaintiff’s covered claims when the obligations of his self-insured plan subsequently were assumed by Reliance Insurance, which then became insolvent.

Topics Florida Auto Hurricane North Carolina