Declarations

Home Maintenance

“Making sure things are in good working order this spring can make a big difference in home safety, as well as insurance matters.”

—Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Consedine on home maintenance. Consedine said homeowners starting their spring cleaning projects should also give a thought to insurance. He recommends taking the time for minor fixes now.

Available for Purchase

“I am not aware of any carriers that don’t offer terrorism coverage if the policyholder wants to purchase it. It depends on whether the policyholder purchased some form of terrorism coverage or whether they have not opted for that coverage and left their policy subject to the terrorism exclusion.”

—Steven Nassi, a partner at the New York City-based insurance law firm Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton, discusses terrorism insurance coverage in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. The definitions of terrorism under various insurance policies are not uniform, and if a business policy has a terrorism exclusion, it most often applies to any causes of loss or any claims under the multi-coverage policy.

Dinner and a Movie

“The average flood insurance policy costs about $50 per month, so for roughly the cost of dinner and a movie, consumers can protect themselves against disaster.”

—Doug Whiteman, insurance analyst at Bankrate.com, says most homeowners don’t purchase flood insurance even though they know that a standard homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover flood damage. The Insurance Information Institute has found that only 13 percent of homeowners have a separate flood insurance policy. Whiteman calls it “a classic ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation.”

Comforting Words Not Evidence

“The trial court had determined that Dr. Smith was faced with a distressed patient who was upset and made a statement that was designed to comfort his patient. … This is precisely the type of evidence that (the medical apology statute) was designed to exclude as evidence of liability in a medical-malpractice case.”

—Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger, writing for the majority of the Ohio Supreme Court, which ruled that sympathetic statements by a doctor over a patient’s unexpected medical outcome can’t be admitted as evidence in medical malpractice cases.

Dangerous Stuff

“We see it every day, people not paying attention. … That stuff is so dangerous. We cannot emphasize enough just how important it is that you just keep your eyes on the roadway.”

—Oklahoma Democratic State Rep. Curtis McDaniel, comments on the failure of legislation that would ban texting while driving in his state to advance in the Oklahoma House. McDaniel vowed he would continue trying to get the proposal passed this session, “and the next session, and the next session.”

XYZ

“We want to be out of the business of determining gender at our DMVs.”

—California Division of Motor Vehicles administrator Alan Frew said his agency now agrees with the American Liberties Union, that the agency went too far in requiring transgender drivers wishing to change the sex designation on their driver’s licenses to provide a note from a surgeon signifying the individual “had undergone a complete surgical change of gender.”

Topics Flood Homeowners