Penn. Regulators Urge Consumers to Consider Buying Flood Insurance

March 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department is encouraging homeowners to consider buying flood insurance to help protect against potential spring floods.

Winter ice and snow increases the chance of spring flooding, Pennsylvania regulators warned. Further, Pennsylvania is one of the most flood-prone states in the nation and flooding can occur at any time of year.

Pennsylvania residents must carry flood insurance if they live in a designated flood zone, but flooding can happen inland and away from major waterways. Homes that could be flooded by an overflowing creek or pond, water running down a steep hill or melting snow are at risk for flood damage.

Regulators stressed that homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood damage. Also, it takes 30 days for newly purchased flood insurance policies to go into effect, so the ideal time to buy a policy is long before flooding is forecast.

Other flood insurance facts include:

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Penn. Man Faces Jail Term for Setting House Fire for Insurance

January 8, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A western Pennsylvania man faces up to 16 years in prison when he’s sentenced in April for setting his house on fire for the insurance money.

Forty-four-year-old John Albert Picardi, of Kittanning, acknowledged putting a sheet over a basement heater in hopes it would catch fire on Feb. 25, 2010.

Fire investigators originally blamed the fire on the supposedly faulty heater and ruled it accidental, but their investigation was reopened after Picardi’s live-in girlfriend told police he purposely put the sheet on the heater in hopes of collecting insurance money. The couple and their two children weren’t home when the fire started.

Picardi told an Armstrong County judge on Jan. 4 that he’s making arrangements to repay the money to Erie Insurance Co. and that he regrets setting the fire.

 

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: Erie Insurance, homeowners insurance, insurance fraudHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Penn. Doc Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Overprescribing Drugs

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A federal judge in Pittsburgh has sentenced a physician to more than 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $700,000 to two insurance companies in connection with charges that he overprescribed painkillers to dozens of patients.

Physician Oliver Herndon pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced Monday.

Federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided his palliative care practice in upscale Peters Township earlier this year. That came after 87 of 128 area pharmacies told investigators they were refusing to fill prescriptions from Herndon because they questioned whether the large-scale painkiller prescriptions were medically necessary.

Herndon was ordered to repay the insurance companies $700,000 for covering the unnecessary drugs.

 

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

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FEMA OKs Additional $5.5M for Buying Flood-Prone Properties in Penn.

May 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Thursday approved more than $5.5 million in additional federal funding for property acquisitions in Pennsylvania that will permanently remove flood-prone properties from harm’s way. Additional projects continue to be approved as the application process moves ahead and program requirements are met.

An estimated $66 million is expected to be available to Pennsylvania for the property acquisition program as a result of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

According to the FEMA announcement, the funds are being obligated through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).


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