Region III Conference is now over and a good time was had by all. Was so glad that Deborah was able to come for Saturday and be with us.  Know that soon she probably will be Louisiana State Director for IW.  She has really jumped into the Baton Rouge association. So many Sweet Potato Queen Wannabe’s.  Wonder how many entered the parade in Jackson.

Wish all of you a Happy Easter.

Something to ponder – In our line of work what we could do yesterday can’t do today but probably can next week.

March

April

 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

Having recently wrapped up settlements with three state attorneys general and a national class action related to allegations of fraud and anti-competitive practices in connection with the company’s contingent commission agreements, global broker Aon Corp. has been questioned in a new probe launched by the U.S. Department of Labor, according to a regulatory filing.

With Greenburg’s departure, industry insiders wonder what is next for AIG.  Within the insurance world, all eyes are on American International Group (AIG), as usual, but this time for a different reason – the sudden departure of its iconic chief executive amid a cloud of legal and regulatory trouble.

A strong earthquake struck off the coast of southern Japan on March 20, 2005 causing hundred of casualties and damaging more than 800 homes.

SALT LAKE CITY (BestWire) - In an effort to help states "bank" criminal history checks of licensed producers, state regulators are gearing up to create a national database of electronic fingerprints of domestic agents and brokers.  The issue, part of an effort to create a Criminal History Record Check Model Act, was discussed at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Spring National Meeting in Salt Lake City by the Producer Licensing Working Group's Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee.

While the model act itself has drawn objections from industry representatives, little objection was voiced at the subgroup meeting on March 12, other than concerns about the security of fingerprinting records. To answer questions raised by Liberty Mutual, among other industry representatives in attendance, Laurie Wolf, chair of the group, said that while fingerprints submitted would be available though the NAIC's state licensing producer database, corresponding criminal-history records would be kept solely by state insurance departments.

Jack Yanosky, a licensing director with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, said a test run of the system by five states Alaska, California, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania -- is in the works. The official start of the pilot program is to be in April of this year.

Even without the model in place, he said, some 18 states already fingerprint producers as part of the licensing process. The problem is, the rest do not.

"The model legislation is to give states a vehicle to work with," he said.  Some also questioned the language of the model, saying it didn't specify which applicants would be subject to the proposed law. In this light, language was adopted to specify the word "resident applicant."

In a report issued by the Government Accountability Office last summer, it was recommended that, since most state insurance commissioners lack the means to conduct their own nationwide criminal background checks, leaders at the NAIC work together with state regulators and the U.S. attorney general to establish a way for states to perform checks (BestWire, Aug. 13, 2004).

The report concluded that insurance regulators like regulators in the banking and securities industries -- should have access to FBI criminal databases to better protect consumers and weed out bad actors from the industry.

Allstate Indemnity Company files rates, rules, and forms for a new Personal Umbrella Liability Program.  Effective Date February 21, 2005.

Allstate Insurance Company files a rate and rule revision for their Personal Umbrella Policy Program resulting in an overall rate increase of 65.00%.  Effective Date March 14, 2005.

American National General Insurance Company files revised rates, rules, and forms for their Private Passenger Auto Program.  The proposed overall rate change is a 10.9% increase.  Effective Date April 1, 2005 (new business) and April 15, 2005 (renewal business.)

Employers Mutual Casualty Company files a rate and rule revision for their Commercial Auto Program resulting in an overall increase of 0.3%.  Effective Date March 1, 2005.

Hartford Group files a revision to their Other Liability rate filing for Educators Legal Liability Program resulting in an overall increase of 7.9%.  Effective Date March 15, 2005.

RLI Insurance Company files rates, rules and forms for their new Commercial Umbrella Excess coverage to be used with their Large and Small Fleet Transportation Programs.  Effective Date February 1, 2005.

Sagamore Insurance Company files revised rates for their Personal Auto LowPay Program.  The proposed overall rate level change is a decrease of 10.0%.  Effective Date February 16, 2005.

For a complete listing of all the rate filings, please see the Mississippi Department of Insurance’s website at www.doi.state.ms.us

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

-- Anne Bradstreet

SEISMOLOGISTS say there is a heightened risk that a major earthquake may soon strike western Sumatra as a result of the monster quake that generated the December 26 tsunami last year. The Indonesian city of Bandar Aceh, which was already badly hit by the killer wave, could be at risk from a quake measuring up to 7.5 on the Richter scale and there is a potential for a tsunami-making 8.5 quake offshore, they warn.

"There is no doubt our calculations show a very significant increase on stress on two major active faults in the Sumatra region" since December 26, seismologist John McCloskey at Northern Ireland's University of Ulster was quoted as saying. Professor McCloskey noted that in so-called subduction zones an earthquake can be swiftly followed by another one if certain geological conditions are met. "There's a very well-established link between these stresses and following earthquakes." Energy released by the December 26 quake has boosted stress in adjoining parts of two dangerous faults, he said. One fault runs under land to the east of the December 26 quake and crosses the northwestern tip of Sumatra. The other fault, known as the Sunda Trench, runs under the sea to the south, parallel to the coast, where two fatal tsunamis occurred in 1833 and 1861.

"We're not trying to cry wolf," said Professor McCloskey. "We can point to many other quakes where the stresses like the one we've measured have resulted in a following earthquake, and we're suggesting there is a significantly increased risk. But we're also pointing out deficiencies in our knowledge, and we can't say there will be an earthquake in the next year. At the moment, this science I believe doesn't allow us to make that statement."

In a study published on Thursday in science journal Nature, Professor McCloskey's team redraw the geological map of one of earth's seismic hotspots after the 9.0 December 26 quake. The massive movement ruptured 250,000 sq. km on a stretch of the Burma microplate, a narrow tongue of the earth's crust that is jostled by the neighboring Indian, Australian and Sunda plates.

That seabed plunge, by as much as 20 meters, triggered the tsunami, killing more than 273,000 people in 11 nations on the northern rim of the Indian Ocean. Part of the energy released by the quake was transferred to the contiguous fault sections. It distorted, compressed and deformed the rock, adding to the burden at known stress points and creating new ones.

Several known episodes in seismic history point to the danger of an imminent follow-on earthquake in subduction zones when the interplay between two vast forces, of sliding and vertical stresses, is right. Just a very small increase in pressure on these tensed parts of the earth's crust can trigger a catastrophic rupture.

In part of the Nankai Trough southeast of Japan, five of the seven largest earthquakes of the past 1,500 years unleashed further quakes within five years of the principal quake, the study notes.
 

Most aid agencies agree that cash donations are the best way to show compassion in the wake of an international tragedy. Although many people share the impulse to send canned food, clothing and other material goods, giving money is often the most efficient and expedient means to help.  The following are accepting donations for aid. They or affiliates will provide to those affected by the deadly tsunami in Asia.