Tennessee Reconsiders Requiring Concussion Policy for School Sports

February 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

As the nation continues to debate increasing safety in contact sports, Tennessee lawmakers are looking at legislation that would require schools and other organizations conducting youth athletic programs to adopt concussion policies.

The measure was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. A similar proposal failed last year.

Rep. Cameron Sexton is the sponsor of the House version of the bill.

Under the proposal, schools are required to “adopt guidelines … as approved by the department of health to inform and educate coaches, school administrators, youth athletes and their parents or guardians of the nature, risk and symptoms of concussion and head injury, including continuing to play after concussion or head injury.”

Sexton didn’t specify issues with the measure that have been worked out, but he said all parties involved seem to be pleased with the current version, which also appears to have bipartisan support.

“We’ve worked hard with all the groups from last year … and they’re all on board with this version of the bill,” said Sexton, R-Crossville.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama said in an interview on CBS during a Super Bowl pre-game show said that, if he had a son, he would have to think about whether he would let him play football.

Obama, who has two daughters, said the threat of concussions for football players means that everything possible should be done to improve their safety

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N.J. Bill Would Require Homeowners Insurers to Provide Policy Summary

January 17, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle6 Comments

The New Jersey Assembly’s financial institutions and insurance committee gave approval Monday, Jan. 14, to a recently introduced bill that seeks to make it easier for homeowners to understand what their policy covers and does not cover.

The bill, A3642, would require homeowners insurers to give policyholders a one-page summary of the policy explaining “notable coverages and exclusions under the policy” that are “written in a simple, clear, understandable, and easily readable way.”

What constitutes “notable” coverages or exclusions would be determined by the state’s commissioner of banking and insurance. The copy of the proposed bill can be found at the N.J. Office of Legislative Services website (a PDF file).

Under the proposal, the one-page summary would be added into the homeowners insurance consumer information brochure provided to the policyholder when the policy is purchased or renewed. Under the current law, the homeowners insurance consumer information brochure contains information that explains the insurer’s hurricane deductible program, if any, as well as information on the National Flood Insurance Program.

The bill was introduced to help clear up some confusions reported in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. For example, many homeowners were surprised to find out about some of the exclusions when they filed Sandy claims and that the federal flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program is subject to certain limitations, according to a report in The Star-Ledger. The bill was sponsored by Ruben Ramos (D-Hudson), Gary Schaer (D-Bergen and Passaic), Linda Stender (D-Middlesex, Somerset and Union) and Paul Moriarty (D-Camden and Gloucester).

Committee Included Amendments to Assuage Insurers’ Concern

The Assembly’s financial institutions and insurance committee also added a couple of amendments to allay insurers’ concerns before green-lighting the measure. Insurers have expressed concern that the one-page summary might create legal vulnerabilities for insurers in cases involving potential lawsuits.

The committee tried to address that issue by adding an amendment that says the one-page summary shall explicitly state that it is only guidance and not the actual policy.

The amendment is as follows: “The summary shall not be considered a replacement for the terms of the policy of insurance, shall not have the effect of altering the coverage afforded by the policy, and shall not confer new or additional rights beyond those expressly provided for in the policy. The summary shall expressly state that the summary is only provided as guidance to the homeowner in understanding the terms of the policy of insurance.”

The committee also added an amendment that says the department of banking and insurance would decide the timeline for when the insurers would have to start providing the summary. The amendment states: “This act shall take effect on the 90th day following enactment except that the act’s provisions shall not be implemented until the Department of Banking and Insurance, by regulation, issues a timeline for implementation.”

 

Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: homeowners insurance, homeowners insurance exclusion, New Jersey insurance, Sandy, Sandy insurance claims, Sandy loss, Superstorm SandyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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DREAMers Challenge Michigan’s Policy Denying Driver’s Licenses

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AAIS Releases New Policy Forms for Insuring Infrastructure

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has released a series of new policy forms, endorsements, and corresponding schedules for covering public or private infrastructure facilities.

The forms were recently released under the miscellaneous forms section of the AAIS Inland Marine Guide, an industry resource of forms, rating, and underwriting guidelines for the traditionally nonfiled classes of inland marine insurance.

The Guide is developed and maintained by AAIS, which develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 700 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S.

The Guide’s latest base form, Infrastructure Property Coverage, covers the physical structures and equipment of an interrelated system that provides public or private service such as roads, water supply, electrical grids, or telecommunications. An accompanying schedule can be used to indicate and describe the covered infrastructure, and to indicate policy income coverage options, limits, deductibles, waiting periods, valuation, and coinsurance.

According to Robert Guevara, AAIS vice president of inland marine and the principal developer of the Inland Marine Guide, the new forms are designed to address property coverage needs of infrastructure facilities that are distinct from those addressed by standard commercial property forms.

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ACLU Commends Obama on New Policy Directive Protecting National Security Whistleblowers

Share PrintEmailFacebookTwitterShareBookmark & ShareXGoogleDeliciousDiggRedditStumbleUponTechnoratiCurrentPermalink October 11, 2012

Directive Establishes Process for Reviewing Retaliation Complaints for Intelligence Community Employees Who Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse

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Legal Challenge Filed Against Policy Excluding Women from Combat

Share PrintEmailFacebookTwitterShareBookmark & ShareXGoogleDeliciousDiggRedditStumbleUponTechnoratiCurrentPermalink November 27, 2012

Outdated Policy Fails to Recognize Women’s Service and Leadership in Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts

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ACLU Sues Department of Health over Restrictive Medical Marijuana Policy

Share PrintEmailFacebookTwitterShareBookmark & ShareXGoogleDeliciousDiggRedditStumbleUponTechnoratiCurrentPermalink October 10, 2012

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Georgia Mom Posed as Dead Son to Collect $151K From Insurance Policy

June 7, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, say a woman has admitted to collecting more than $151,000 on a fraudulent insurance policy she took out in her dead son’s name.

Donna Ellis Gibbs was sentenced to 20 years’ probation in the case after pleading guilty. She faced five counts of insurance fraud and one count of theft by taking.

Prosecutors say Gibbs pretended to be her deceased son and applied for an accidental death policy two months after his death in a December 2002 car crash. She later submitted a claim and collected the full policy amount.

Gibbs’ ex-husband, the son’s father, uncovered the plot in March 2007.

The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office says Gibbs’ sentence can be terminated after five years if she successfully completes the terms of her plea agreement.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: accidental death policy, insurance fraudHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Policy Offerings More Important to Consumers Today Than Agent Interaction

By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com

June 26, 2012 • Reprints

NU Online News Service, June 26, 12:54 p.m. EDT

Overall satisfaction among auto-insurance consumers reached an all-time high in 2012, and new technology is driving a change in customers’ priorities when it comes to shopping for coverage, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

J.D. Power has released its 2012 U.S. Auto Insurance Study, which finds that overall satisfaction with insurance companies increased 14 points over last year, rising to 804 on a 1,000-point scale. This is the highest satisfaction level for insurers since the study was launched in 2000, the marketing-information firm headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., says.

Satisfaction increased in nearly all factors JD Power measured, with significant improvement in policy offerings and interaction.

Satisfaction with price remained virtually unchanged from last year, the report notes.

“Although satisfaction with price remains consistent from 2011, auto-insurance companies have made great strides in all other areas,” says Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power, in a statement.

Unlike in the past, there is no overall company winner in this year’s report. Instead, J.D. Power broke the results down into seven different regions.

The overall highest satisfaction rating was for Amica Mutual in the Northeast Region with a score of 867. State Farm led the way in the West Region with a score of 837, and took second or third place in five of the remaining six regions.

In all regions, USAA outpaced all the insurers in satisfaction, but was not included in the rankings because it provides insurance only to U.S. military personnel.

Mark Garrett, research director for J.D. Power, says one of the survey’s more surprising findings is the shift over the years in what drives customer satisfaction. In 2007, interaction with an agent was the dominant driver of satisfaction for auto-insurance buyers, but in 2012 it was policy offerings.

In fact, interaction between policyholder and producer or insurer slipped to the fourth-most important driver of customer satisfaction, as auto-insurance consumers today tend to focus more on policy offerings, price, billing and payment, and claims service, the report says.

Garrett notes that consumers are increasingly interested in discounts and bundling of insurance programs with other coverages.

“We look at the six-year trend and we see that the role of the agent is significantly different,” says Garrett. “It’s not all about the agent anymore.”

The shift toward more usage of technology and the growing robustness of websites to provide services is causing less human interaction, making the impact of having a person involved in the transaction less important, says Garrett.

When it comes to utilizing service channels, Generation Y buyers are more inclined to turn to websites (39 percent said they use this channel), but the Baby Boomer generation is increasingly embracing the use of websites as well. Thirty-two percent of Baby Boomers said they used this channel, up from 9 percent from 2007.

The use of local agents, meanwhile, has deteriorated over the years, with 35 percent of Gen Y users and 48 percent of Boomers saying they use this channel, down 14 percent from 2007 for Gen Y policyholders and down 3 percent for Boomers.

The report notes that all age groups are not writing off the use of agents. In fact, there is a strong indication that agents who embrace technology produce a higher satisfaction experience for customers, notes Garrett.

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ACE Launches Admitted Premises Pollution Policy for Public Entities

May 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

ACE USA, the U.S.-based retail operations of the ACE Group, has introduced an enhanced public/educational entity pollution liability insurance (Public Entity PPL) policy, designed to address the environmental risks faced by public entities. This policy offers coverage on an admitted basis in 36 states.

The Public Entity PPL policy addresses the pollution exposures of public schools; utilities and power co-ops; cities and counties; special districts; and parks and recreational facilities. It combines a focused approach with a standard premises pollution product, providing a single policy to cover environmental-related public entity exposures.

Features of ACE Environmental Risk’s Public Entity PPL Policy include:

Claims-made and reported Public Entity PPL coverage formAdmitted in 36 states as of May 2012Provides financial assurance for underground and aboveground storage tanksDefinition of pollution condition that includes medical, infectious, and pathological wastesIncludes coverage for the transportation and disposal of wastesAvailable coverage for illicit abandonment of wastes, fungi and legionella, and first-party business interruptionOffers contractor pollution liability (CPL) coverage for maintenance activities, including the application of pesticides and herbicidesUnderwriting staff with strong expertise in providing environmental risk solutionsDedicated environmental claims specialists

Insurance is provided by ACE American Insurance Co., Philadelphia, Pa., and, in some jurisdictions, other insurers within the ACE Group. Product descriptions are summaries only. The actual policy issued governs the rights and obligations of the parties. Not all products are available in all states.

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