FEMA: $2.7B Paid Out in New Jersey Flood Insurance Claims Post-Sandy

March 15, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has made $2.7 billion in flood insurance payments to New Jersey claimants since Superstorm Sandy hit the state last October.

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DEP Sets Aside Funds for Northern New Jersey Flood Buyouts

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Plans to provide nearly $500,000 in state funds that would help a northern New Jersey town buy eight flood-prone homes have cleared another hurdle.

The state Department of Environmental Protection tells The Record that the funding for Saddle Brook is part of more than $123 million in Green Acres open-space acquisition and recreational development projects that were recently approved by the Garden State Preservation Trust.

But before the town can get the $487,500 it’s due to receive, the state Legislature must include the funding in an appropriations bill and Gov. Chris Christie would have to sign the measure.

If the money is eventually allocated, it would be provided to Saddle Brook as a matching grant. That means the town also would have to come up with $487,500.

Saddle Brook would use the money to help buy the properties where the homes now stand and demolish the residences, leaving the sites as open space that would likely reduce the impact of flooding. But officials say it will cost about $3.5 million overall to make the purchases.

Saddle Brook Mayor Karen Chamberlain, told the newspaper that she was grateful for the grant, but said the state has not done enough to help area communities address the flooding issues.

“I think the state should put in more money,” Chamberlain said. “And if they don’t have it, they should put pressure on the federal government.”

DEP spokesman Bob Considine said the Saddle Brook project got as much funding as it could under the program.

“Applying for grants for Green Acres is a competitive process based on the amount of needs throughout the state, and we try to spread it around as equitably as possible,” Considine told the newspaper.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: flood, New JerseyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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New Jersey Holds Its First Captive Insurance Summit

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

New Jersey regulators held their first captive insurance summit this Wednesday in Somerset, N.J. The event, hosted by the state’s department of banking and insurance, attracted some 50 industry executives.

Regulators took the opportunity to discuss New Jersey’s captive law and regulations, the admission process, and emerging captive trends and issues.

The department of banking and insurance stated that since New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed the captive law into effect in 2011, the department officials have taken an active approach to fostering growth in the captive insurance marketplace.

The Wednesday’s event included two panel discussions. The first panel focused on the specifics of the New Jersey law, the admissions process and what potential applicants can expect when starting a captive insurer. Some of the topics discussed included reviewing the captive structures that fit the needs of an interested party; re-domestications; interactions with the regulators; the application and formation process; choosing service providers; timing and other expectations; and final approval/certification by the department.

The second panel discussed national issues faced by captive insurers and their owners. Some of the issues discussed at the panel included: employee benefits; international events; reputational risk; the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) and state self-procurement tax; the hardening insurance market; cyber risk coverage; and Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) risk.

Since the state’s captive law was signed into law, four captives have been approved by regulators. Kenneth Kobylowski, acting commissioner of the state department of banking and insurance, said at the event that eight prospective captive insurers are now in the pipeline. “There is no question that this is just the beginning,” he said.

Kobylowski also told attendees that a growing number of companies are thinking about forming captives to gain greater control of their ability to identify, manage, and finance insurable risks.

 

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