Declarations — South Central

Breach and Response

“As soon as there was an inkling that there was a breach, they should have been all over this.”

—Laura DiDio, a technology analyst with a consulting firm known as ITIC, comments on the response to a security breach of the social media website, LinkedIn. DiDio said the company did not respond fast enough. Customers whose passwords were among those stolen were still getting notified days after news of the breach was first discovered.

Much at Stake

“Given current economic conditions and increasingly unpredictable weather, small businesses have too much at stake to risk not having adequate coverage.

—Marc Schmittlein, president and CEO of Travelers Small Commercial Accounts. A survey of small business owners on their preparedness for natural disasters such as hurricanes showed that around 57 percent feel only somewhat or not very confident that they have the appropriate insurance coverage to protect against insurable risks that can result from catastrophes. Another 52 percent surveyed do not have a written business continuity plan or disaster recovery document.

Profit Collection

“Lenders usually use forced insurance as an opportunity to collect vast profits by charging outrageously high rates.

—J. Robert Hunter, insurance director at Consumer Federation of America and a former Texas Insurance Commissioner, on force-placed insurance for financially distressed homeowners. He was one of the consumer advocates who testified at a public hearing held in New York on the issue. Hunter urged regulators to put an end to what he described as “insider dealing by insurers and lenders” and “the unjustifiably high home insurance rates charged to some consumers.”