The tornadoes that struck the South and Midwest American states this week, leaving 13 people dead and injuring many others, have drawn attention to the risk of twisters once again, following closely on the heels of 2011’s record breaking year for those and other severe weather events. Last year was the deadliest storm season in over three quarters of a century, and thunderstorms and tornadoes brought about approximately $25 billion in uninsured losses. Though the data regarding which states were struck most by tornadoes last year has yet to be…
Read MoreTag: the insurance industry
Florida legislators back new bill that will reform the state’s no-fault auto insurance laws
As auto insurance fraud is thrusted into the limelight by the actions of federal and state regulators this week in New York, the eleven other states that host no-fault insurance laws are taking a hard look at what can be done to make fraud a less serious issue. Florida is currently the leader in terms of auto insurance fraud, much of which is spurred by the state’s no-fault laws. These laws require insurers to pay benefits to victims of car accidents no matter who may be at fault. Like in…
Read MoreMississippi House faces another attempt for online computer checks for car insurance
The Mississippi House is yet again moving ahead with a proposal to establish online computer checks to make certain that motorists are covered by car insurance. Last year, former Governor Haley Barbour vetoed a similar measure. Insurance Research Council data from 2009 shows that Mississippi is the state with the highest portion of uninsured drivers in the country, having reached 28 percent. In fact, that is twice as high as the Council’s national average for uninsured drivers. This latest measure was sponsored by Gary Chism (R-Columbus), the House Insurance Committee…
Read MoreCalifornia insurance industry follows Nevada regarding driverless cars from Google
Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), of California, has announced his new legislation regarding a Toyota Prius that has been modified by Google Inc., which is designed to occur alongside new regulations that are designed to permit the first autonomous vehicles in the world to receive their road testing and registration in Nevada. This bill was announced at a Sacramento press conference and was written with the input of Google and is a reflection of that company’s most recent attempt to demonstrate to policymakers that although these futuristic cars aren’t quite yet…
Read MoreState Farm maintains stability regardless of record breaking 2011 storms
State Farm has announced that although they faced a significant number of payments for catastrophe claims from some of the largest events in the quarter century history of the company, it has been able to maintain its financial strength. In 2011, State Farm’s combined net worth fell by $0.4 billion by the end of the year, bringing it to $60.8 billion. This includes the drop by $0.2 billion in the insurance company’s net worth in connection with the unaffiliated stock portfolios of the property and casualty companies. Moreover, those figures…
Read More
