Japan Catastrophe 2011: The Wake Up Call

  After seeing the devastation from last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan, officials in Tokyo are re- evaluating their current disaster plan. The huge 9.0 quake on March 11th that occurred over 200 miles from Japans capital made them realize they weren’t prepared for the worst-case situation. Japan has been working for over 40 years to make their country safer from devastating earthquakes. Earthquake engineering is a normal part of the construction process in Japan. City leaders were confident they had prepared for worse-case scenarios; until the quake…

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Why travel insurance claims are being denied

Travelers are often susceptible to a lack of information. Whether they are traveling for vacation or business, they may not have access to news outlets or other such resources that can be used to keep them informed of current events. In these cases, travelers often find out too late that their travel insurance policies do not cover every situation they might find themselves in. After the earthquake that rattled Japan and caused damage to several nuclear reactors on March 11, many insurers are now weighing whether the threat of radiation…

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AFLAC, strong ties to Japan business

As the numbers keep rising on the estimate of losses in Japan, so do the growing concerns regarding the financial stability of insurance companies that were heavily vested there. One company, in particular, had at least three-quarters of their overall business in Japan. AFLAC, a top performing, Fortune 500 company, insures two of the largest insurance buyers in the world; the United States, and Japan. AFLAC sells supplemental health (GAP) insurance, life insurance and cancer insurance. Even though they don’t have property coverage in Japan, when the Earthquake and Tsunami…

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