Out of the FIRE Blog

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Out Of The FIRE Blog

A new editorial in the Weekly Standard by Eli Lehrer argues that there are many features of pet insurance that are highly desirable in human health care and that could serve as a model for the future, but it isn’t perfect.

The successful placement amply demonstrate private sector interest in catastrophe risk, and it comes at a good time for Citizens, which is losing some of its power to lay “hurricane taxes” on the private market.

Mississippi wind pool buys $815 million of reinsurance

by R.J. Lehmann on May 1, 2012 · View Comments

The Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, which has not raised wind pool rates since 2006, is retaining $71.5 million of risk this year, up from $51.5 million in 2011.

According to TWIA’s own actuaries, there is a 27 percent chance it would not be able to cover all of its liabilities during the 2012 hurricane season if it doesn’t move to raise rates.

Okla. bill for voluntary workers’ comp goes down to defeat

by R.J. Lehmann on April 30, 2012 · View Comments

Bill sponsor Rep. Fred Jordan has held the bill for reconsideration, meaning it could still come back to the House floor.

The issue of extending and reforming the National Flood Insurance Program continues to stall in Congress. While the U.S. House version of a reauthorization bill passed in July 2011 by a significant margin, the bill has yet to get a floor vote in the U.S. Senate. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sponsor of a five-year extension [...]

Anyone who has ever been involved in an automobile accident knows that one of the most important components of the claims process is the accident report police file on the incident. How these reports are worded can make a huge difference in how an insurance company will respond to the claim. Given the important role [...]

In other flood insurance news, Sen. David Vitter’s bill to extend the flood program through Dec. 31 may get a vote in the Senate the first week of May.

Making homeowners’ insurance affordable in coastal areas is a problem that continues to plague both legislators and homeowners. In Florida, where the risk from windstorms is the highest, the issue is magnified even more. The state run-insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and state-run reinsurer, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, have grown substantially over the last [...]

The state-run insurer has asked staff to review whether it is allowed to charge full actuarial rates to new policyholders, while continuing to be bound by a 10% rate cap on renewal business.