If April brings more showers than March we all better be heading for higher ground. And of course April has the dreaded April 15th. Some good things in April are, beautiful flowers, gorgeous weather to be outdoors and some of our members birthdays and best of all my granddaughter Madge’s 10th birthday.
Don’t forget to check your CE hours we only have a short time left to get them in. I’ll admit I don’t have all mine yet.
My little ramblings this month doesn’t have much to do with insurance but I do want to congratulate Keri and Virginia on being awarded their scholarships. Two very talented women.
Something to ponder – The only perfect science
is hind-sight
April
1st April Fool’s Day
2nd Deadline for Education Foundation Reservation Forms for National Convention
4th ServePro Fire Damage Restoration Class, McComb, MS
5th CISR Personal Auto, Jackson, MS
6-8th CIC Life and Health Institute, Jackson, MS
11th PIA The Business Auto Policy, Jackson, MS
12th PIA CGL & Business Auto, McComb, MS
14th PIA Agency Operations, Hattiesburg, MS
15th Early Bird Deadline
for National Registration $400
NAIW INROADS Emailed
19th Keri Morrell’s Birthday
20th Registrations Deadline for National $450
21st Registrations received after today will be $500
22nd Bea Jones's Birthday
25th NAIW Connections mailed.
30th Deborah Ledford's Birthday
NAIW NEW Address: NAIW(International),
6528 E. 101st St., PMB#750, Tulsa, OK 74133
Send all standard mail to this address.
Send check or payments to NAIW (International),
Department 2214, Tulsa, OK 74182
A bill that would give law enforcement officers more latitude in asking for proof of auto insurance has passed both the Mississippi House and Senate and is now awaiting approval by Gov. Haley Barbour.
At present, law enforcement officers can only ask for proof of insurance if a motorist is stopped for another infraction, but after the bill becomes law, motorists can be routinely stopped at roadblocks, asked to show their insurance card, and be ticketed and fined if they can not provide such proof.
The bill also reduces the fine for uninsured motorists
from $1,000 to $500. The fine was lowered because more tickets are expected
to be issued under the new law.
The U.S. property and casualty industry posted stronger underwriting results and profitability in 2004 relative to 2003, despite sharp increases in catastrophe losses for many market participants related to the third-quarter hurricane events in Florida and in the southeastern U.S., according to a Fitch Ratings report, "Property/Casualty Insurers' Year-End 2004 Results (U.S.)."
Indeed, property/casualty insurers experienced record catastrophe losses in 2004 due to the four hurricanes that struck Florida and in the southeastern U.S. in the third quarter. Some insurers with international exposures also reported losses from the fourth-quarter South Asia tsunami as well.
According to Insurance Services Office, Inc.'s Property Claims Service, P/C insurers paid $27.3 billion in catastrophe losses in 2004. This figure exceeds the $26.5 billion of losses experienced in 2001, which includes the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and is more than double the catastrophe losses paid in 2003.
Also, according to information recently compiled by Dowling & Partners, the insurers in Fitch's purview reported pretax losses of $21.6 billion from the U.S. hurricanes, which is equal to about 9.3% of aggregate earned premium for the group. Companies in Fitch's group with the largest estimated pretax hurricane losses include Allstate ($2 billion), American International Group ($931 million), and St. Paul Travelers ($725 million).
"Fitch Ratings anticipates that 2004 will be the peak year for underwriting results in the current cycle," said Brian Schneider, director, Fitch Ratings. "While the market overall is expected to produce an underwriting profit in 2005, deterioration in core accident year loss experience is not expected to be completely offset by a return to more normalized catastrophe losses and less severe prior period reserve development."
Fitch believes looking further out to the market's profit potential to 2006 and beyond is more challenging as the trend for loss costs in most segments continues to be upwards, while competitive pressures are likely to promote further premium rate reductions. These factors point to less favorable earnings prospects for the industry longer term, though the magnitude of future earnings movement is difficult to gauge.
Two Texas-based insurance industry trade associations released preliminary estimations of the cost of damages from the strong hailstorm that hit Central Texas on Friday, March 24. According to the Southwestern Insurance Information Service and the Insurance Council of Texas costs for insured damages from the storm could range from $75 million to more than $100 million.
SIIS estimated $75 million in insured losses from the hailstorm, based on reports from the association’s member companies. The storm hit west and northwest Austin, along with parts of central Austin. Public Affairs Director Sandra Ray said many of SIIS’ member companies have dispatched additional claims adjusters from out of the area to address claims volume.
ICT said it expected insured losses to top $100 million. The association reported that claims were continuing to pour into agents and companies several days after the storm as residents returned from outings over the Easter weekend.
New car dealerships were also pelted. Jeff Sawisch, new car sales manager with Henna Chevrolet, said numerous new cars on the dealership’s lot had received everything from broken mirrors, dented grills, broken windshields to multiple dents.
Agents reportedly expect to receive more claims next weekend when homeowners have more time to assess the damage to their homes and see claims adjusters crawling around on their neighbor’s roofs.
Exactly 12 years ago, a hailstorm struck Austin producing approximately
the same amount of insured losses, ICT said.
Virginia Zeigler hosted her family for the Easter holiday and is still recovering! After serving her term on jury duty, she is studying hard for CPCU 530 and is registered to take the exam during the next testing window.
Bea Jones has been going to see her grandson’s Clark baseball games. She has really enjoyed seeing him play. She is planning on taking a CE class in May.
Mary Jones went to Memphis to see “Mama Mia.”
She is expecting Dawn and LeaAnn to come in and visit soon. She also
spent Easter with her family in Vicksburg.
Keri Morrell attended the PIA Federal Legislative
Summit in Washington, DC on April 7th and met with the representatives
and senators of our state to discuss key insurance issues. She is also
continuing to work on several classes towards a CISR and CPSR designation.
Ruth Phillips is staying busy with studying for her AAI class and her volunteer activities at church.
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible and achieve it, generation after generation.
-- Pearl S. Buck
NEW YORK (AP) – MetLife Inc., one of the nation’s largest insurers, is rolling out a new program this week to provide free help in resolving cases of identity theft for all of its homeowner insurance policyholders.
Noel Edsall, director of MetLife Auto & Home product development, said that the ID theft resolution service would be launched first in New York and Florida, then expand nationwide.
While several insurance companies sell ID theft coverage, mainly to reimburse consumers for their costs in dealing with misuse of their credit cards or other accounts, MetLife will be the first that works with consumers to resolve their problems at no cost.
``Our research over the last couple of years indicated that people needed help and assistance, not expense reimbursement,’’ Edsall said.
The program, which will be available to the nearly 1 million MetLife homeowners and renters policyholders, comes at a time that ID theft concerns are reaching epidemic proportions.
In recent weeks, several data collection companies have disclosed that thousands of their records were tapped by thieves. ID theft also tops the list of frauds reported to the Federal Trade Commission, which coordinates the government’s consumer fraud prevention efforts.
Edsall said that the program will help consumers with identity theft, which can involve a fraudster taking over someone’s identity and opening new accounts or buying cars, as well as account takeovers, which often involves the theft of a credit card.
Matt Cullina, manager of the MetLife team that developed the new service, said that MetLife policyholders who are victimized by ID thieves will be urged to phone the MetLife call center listed on their policies.
From there they will be directed to specialists at Identity Theft 911 LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz., which provides ID theft resolution services.
10 Ways to Protect Against Mail Theft
Never put outbound mail into an unsecured mailbox. Take it to the post office or place in a United States Post Office Collection Box.
Always use a locking mailbox for incoming mail.
Remove mail from your mailbox promptly especially if your mailbox is not secure.
Don’t have blank checks delivered to your home address. Have them delivered to your bank where you can pick them up in person.
Don’t have mail delivered while you’re out of town.
Reduce the number of credit offers sent to you by mail. Contact the three major credit reporting agencies and have your credit report marked “no solicitation.”
Make sure you’re informed when sensitive mail has been sent to you, and follow up quickly if it doesn’t arrive as expected.
Consider starting or joining a Neighborhood Watch program.
At the workplace, watch out for “Financial Friday” mail theft. Leaving mail in insecure locations over the weekend in order to leave work a little earlier is a dangerous practice that identity thieves know and exploit.
If you feel you’ve been victimized in a mail fraud
scheme that involves the U.S. Mail, submit a Mail Fraud Complaint Form
to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. If you have become a victim of identity
theft, contact the FTC, the credit bureaus, and your bank, and your homeowners
insurance company as you may have some coverage
OLDWICK, N.J. March 30 (BestWire) — A.M. Best Co. has refreshed its online risk-management resource, Best’s Underwriting & Loss Control Center, with new, updated and revised articles for assessing risk and loss exposure in various classifications. Recently, revised articles on hog confinement centers, aerial application contractors, fruit juice manufacturing and horse-breeding farms, as well as an updated article on nail salons, were added to the database. A completely new article on swim clubs and swimming pools also has been added.
Best’s Underwriting & Loss Control Center is continuously refreshed throughout the year, as new, updated and revised classifications become available. Insurance underwriters, loss control consultants and risk managers can use this information to accurately assess the risk of loss in a variety of situations, based on the most current standards.
Best’s Underwriting & Loss Control Center is a Web-based risk management resource comprised of detailed articles that provide descriptions and on-site inspection checklists for hundreds of commercial and industrial classifications. With access to more than 570 articles from Best’s Underwriting Guide Online and 500 articles from Best’s Loss Control Manual Online, this Center helps users quantify the degree of exposure in relevant lines of insurance and enables them to quickly become familiar with every aspect of a risk.
Subscriptions are available for the Underwriting
and/or Loss Control portions of the Center. Individual articles can also
be purchased separately from www.ambest.com.
The following figures are compiled from the Federal Trade Commission’s Report “Figures and Trends in Mississippi January 1 – December 31, 2003.”
In 2003 there were 214,905 cases of Identity Theft reported to the Federal Trade Commission. Out of these cases 1,084 were from Mississippi. The types of fraud break down as follows:
34% Credit Card Fraud
- 22% New Accounts
- 10% Existing Accounts
21% Phone or Utilities Fraud
- 8% Wireless New Accounts
- 7 % Existing Accounts
20% Bank Fraud
- 9% Existing Accounts
- 5% Electronic Fund Transfers
6% Employment Related Fraud
12% Government Documents Benefits Fraud
- 6 % Tax Returns
19% Other Identity Fraud
8& Attempted Identity Fraud
The complaints by victims age for the state of Mississippi breaks down as follows:
5% Under 18
30% 18-29
21% 30-39
19% 40-49
13% 50-59
3% 60-64
8% 65 and over
The top cities in Mississippi for Identity Theft are:
Jackson with 93 victims
Gulfport with 38 victims
Southaven with 38 victims
Brandon with 33 victims
Olive Branch with 32 victims
Communication is a key element of leadership. Every effective leader has the ability to communicate with clear precision. How do leaders do this? They practice their communication skills at every opportunity and they practice the following steps.
First, a great leader knows that to communicate a message effectively the timing has to be just right. Just as you wouldn’t ask your husband a question about your tax return during the last five minutes of the Super Bowl, you shouldn’t ask a committee member to complete a task during a party.
Second, if you have to deliver bad news, you should be aware that the feelings of the people involved may take away from the message. I remember when I lost CWC. I was so disappointed, it took me a few minutes to realize who won. Leaders need to understand that emotions may get in the way of the message sometimes.
Finally, when emotions come into play, a good
leader will validate those emotions. “I understand your feelings
and they are valid. However, we need to do this…” Even when
you have to disagree with someone, if you can acknowledge their opinion
then they will appreciate it. These steps will help you be a better
leader.
Successful leaders get to be that way by responding positively and adaptively over a long period of time to diverse experiences. These can be grouped into five types:
Challenging jobs. Challenging jobs teach about the subtleties of leadership. In absolute terms, challenging assignments are the best teacher. They provide both the greatest variety and number of lessons requisite for executive leadership.
Bosses and other people. Bosses and other people, both good and bad, serve as significant role models for values.
Hardships. Hardships teach executives about their limits. These include making mistakes, getting stuck in dead-end jobs, enduring the traumas of life such as untimely deaths and tornadoes, and having to fire people.
Coursework. Coursework can serve as a powerful comparison point.
Off-the-job experiences. Experiences off the job, usually relating to community service, can be primers in persuasion. These types of experiences always teach something unique.
Having a variety of experiences is a prerequisite
for success
1. Define your future. Describe the life you want to be living.
2. Become the person who would achieve your goals. Spend an extra hour each day in the study of your chosen field. Don’t have an hour? Then spend 15 minutes!
3. Give more than you must. Always deliver more than what is expected.
4. Make time for what you love. Play time is as important as work time.
5. Refine your Inner Circle. We define ourselves through our key relationships.
6. Resolve your unfinished business. Either deal with it or discard it.
7. Rethink existing habits and routines. Try something new.
8. Lighten up. Don’t stress out over the small things!
9. Tighten up. Stay on target and stay focused.
10. Profile yourself. Keep a journal and know yourself.
11. Invest in yourself. You are your only
true asset.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary aviation accident statistics for 2004 showing a decrease in several civil aviation categories, including scheduled airliners, air taxis and general aviation operations.
The total number of U.S. civil aviation accidents decreased from 1,864
in 2003 to 1,715 in 2004. Total fatalities also showed a decrease from
695 to 635. The majority of these fatalities occurred in general aviation
and air taxi operations.
General aviation accidents decreased from 1,741 in 2003 to 1,614 in
2004. There were 312 fatal general aviation accidents, down from 352 the
year before. The accident rate decreased from 6.77 per 100,000 flight hours
in 2003 to 6.22 in 2004. The fatal accident rate decreased from 1.37 to
1.20.
Last year, one fatal accident occurred involving Part 121 airline service. A Jetstream 32 twin-engine airplane operated by Corporate Airlines, doing business as American Connection, crashed on instrument approach to Kirksville Regional Airport, Kirksville, Missouri. The accident resulted in 13 fatalities.
Air taxi operations reported 68 accidents in 2004, a decrease from 75
in 2003. The accident rate also decreased from 2.56 per 100,000 flight
hours in 2003 to 2.21 in 2004. However, fatalities increased from 42 in
2003 to 65 in 2004.
The Insurance Women of Southwest MS will be
collecting children’s books to donate to St. Andrews Mission for the annual
literacy project. Start collecting your books now and bring them
to the June meeting!
Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. announced that Leo Vincent Jacob of Covington, La., has pled guilty to six counts of filing false public records in a criminal scheme that involved hundreds of insurance agents across Louisiana.
Over the past year and a half, the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Support Unit has been involved in the investigation of hundreds of licensed insurance agents for submitting bogus continuing education credits to the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
Jacob was the continuing education instructor who provided bogus continuing education credits to all insurance agents involved in this investigation. Jacob is alleged to have furnished certificates of completion to numerous agents, when in fact no such courses had been attended or taught.
These continuing education certificates are required
to be attached to all renewal applications filed with the Louisiana Department
of Insurance, or a renewal cannot be granted.
The Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Support
Unit is part of the Louisiana Insurance Fraud Task Force that also includes
the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
Jacob will be sentenced on June 3, 2005, in the
19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge.
Get your poles ready! Claude Morrell
is proud to announce that the fish are biting at the Morrell Camp!
They should be nice and ready for our fish fry in June!
Federal and state disaster assistance agencies in Florida are reportedly gaining ground with recovery efforts in the Sunshine State six months after Hurricane Jeanne - the last of the 2004 hurricanes - made landfall Sept. 25, 2004.
The unprecedented four hurricanes striking Florida within one hurricane season resulted in all 67 Florida counties being declared disaster areas by President Bush.
The overall impact was widespread and costly; all four hurricanes - Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne - have been added to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Top 10 Natural Disasters list.
Nationwide, 17 states and territories were affected by one or more of the storms. To date, federal aid to Florida as a result of the four 2004 hurricanes has surpassed $4.7 billion, with more than 1.24 million victims applying for federal and state assistance. So far, Floridians have received $1.163 billion in individual disaster aid including housing, personal property and other expenses, crisis counseling and legal services.
Coming to the immediate aid of hurricane victims, FEMA provided nearly $1.17 billion for emergency response such as dispersing ice, water, ready-to-eat meals and disaster medical assistance. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved $1.563 billion for almost 50,500 applicants to repair their damaged homes and businesses with low-interest loans.
FEMA has obligated $818 million in public assistance funds to help local governments and certain private, nonprofit entities repair and rebuild infrastructure and buildings, and clear more than 53 million cubic yards of debris. FEMA contract inspectors examined and completed nearly 881,000 housing inspections. Recognizing a shortage of safe, available housing, FEMA, in conjunction with the State Emergency Response Team (SERT), also brought in more than 15,750 manufactured units to house displaced residents.
FEMA/State of Florida Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) served more than 577,000 individuals. During the height of relief efforts, FEMA and the State operated 73 fixed-site DRCs and 76 mobile DRC locations throughout Florida. As the recovery continues and the number of daily visitors decreases, the centers close. According to insurance experts, Hurricane Jeanne is the sixth costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Making landfall directly where Hurricane Frances did, the Category 3 storm impacted the state with hurricane and tropical force winds that covered much of the Florida peninsula.
A breakdown of the amounts and types of disaster
assistance provided to Floridians because of Hurricane Jeanne is as follows:
* More than 363,500 individuals registered for
state and federal assistance;
* Nearly $391.8 million approved in federal and
state disaster assistance grants. Of that amount, $195.9 million paid for
lodging expenses, rental assistance and minimal home repairs. Another $195.9
million covered other needs, including such items as repair or replacement
of personal property, funeral expenses, and medical and dental costs related
to the storm;
* The SBA has approved more than $257.5 million
in low-interest loans for 11,000 applicants;
* More than $1.3 million disbursed in Disaster
Unemployment Assistance;
* To date, $104.7 million in public assistance
funds has been obligated for 792 requests for aid from local governments
and private, nonprofit entities;
* More than 264,000 housing inspections have
been completed for this disaster;
* More than 225,800 tarps were distributed to
individuals, and volunteers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers covered
nearly 53,600 roofs with plastic sheeting (figures combine Frances and
Jeanne stats);
* To date, 6,096 National Flood Insurance Program
claims have been received;
* More than $301 million paid for emergency response
and protective measures;
* 162 shelters were set up to accommodate 46,252
individuals;
Volunteers distributed more than 2.69 million
meals;