Latest Catastrophe Headlines
All the headlines from our Catastrophe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Trial Attorneys Claim Insurers Putting Profits Over People in Katrina’s Wake
Aug 22 2006 // One year after Hurricane Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (AFTL) and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) are launching a national petition drive calling on insurance...
A Year Later, Insurers Report 95% of Katrina Claims in La. and Miss. Settled
Aug 22 2006 // One year after Hurricane Katrina, the insurance industry says that nearly 95 percent of homeowners insurance claims have been settled in Louisiana and Mississippi, insurance companies have paid billions in storm damage...
Insurers: Trial Bar Short on Facts in Katrina Charges
Aug 22 2006 // Trial attorneys’ charges that the insurance industry is putting profits over people in the handling of claims from Hurricane Katrina are being dismissed by industry trade groups. The Florida Insurance Council (FIC),...
Texas AG Says Hotel and Owner Exploited Hurricane Evacuees
Aug 21 2006 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced he has sued an economy motel operator for charging exorbitant rates to evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita in September 2005. The suit alleges the Lone Star Motel in Waco, Texas,...
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Hurricane forecasts lighten up
Aug 21 2006 // Forecasters are saying that the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season should be slightly less active than earlier predicted. The National Hurricane Center and other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agencies said...
Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk
Aug 21 2006 // Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery. The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector. That...
Allstate Drops Alaska Earthquake Coverage
Aug 18 2006 // Nearly 7,000 Alaskans will lose their earthquake insurance as their policies come up for renewal in the coming months. Allstate Insurance Co. is cutting its optional earthquake coverage nationwide, and will drop this plan...
Best Reports on Reinsurers: ‘Humbled, But Most Not Broken’
Aug 18 2006 // In its recently issued global insurance report A.M. Best Co. concludes that “almost a year after three massive hurricanes—Katrina, Rita and Wilma—the global reinsurance industry is still struggling to manage its...
EPI Study Finds Coastal Population Drain Following Hurricanes
Aug 18 2006 // A study conducted by the Earth Policy Institute (http://www.earth-policy.org) concludes that a number of people who evacuated their homes in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma may have left permanently. The EPI...
Hearing Set for Texas Windstorm Pool Reinsurance Request
Aug 18 2006 // The Texas Department of Insurance has scheduled a public hearing for Aug. 22, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., for Docket No. 2643: Consideration of a petition by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) requesting approval of...
La. Governor Meets With Insurers About Hurricane Problems
Aug 18 2006 // Gov. Kathleen Blanco met with representatives of at least a dozen of Louisiana’s largest property insurers on Aug. 17, hoping to ease jitters and keep them in the state after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Blanco wants...
Wildfire Injuries, Deaths on Rise in Georgia, Other Southern States
Aug 17 2006 // Wildfire-related injuries and fatalities are on the rise this season in Georgia and some other states, with sprawling suburban growth, dry conditions and changes in land-use patterns contributing to the problem. With urban...
Tower Report Urges Industry, Gov’t., Public to Rethink Cat Management
Aug 17 2006 // A new research report from the TowerGroup finds that “without a concerted effort by all parties to support a holistic solution to catastrophe management, the dire predictions of insolvency in the insurance sector and...
Floridians Flock to Get Home Hurricane-Preparedness Inspections
Aug 17 2006 // Florida homeowners on Aug. 15 flocked to a new state program that offers free hurricane-preparedness inspections and grants to help cover the cost of improvements. More than 3,500 people applied online within hours after...
State Farm Trying to Improve its Image After Hurricane Katrina
Aug 16 2006 // Representatives of State Farm Insurance Co. are on a media tour in Mississippi to give a more positive image to the company as it and others in the industry fend off lawsuits filed in the aftermath of Hurricane...
FEMA to Repay Nearly $56M to Texas for Hurricane Costs
Aug 16 2006 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse an additional $55.89 million to Houston and the Texas Department of Public Safety for costs associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials said. Houston will...
Average Insurance Premiums Remain Flat in Q2 Except in Hurricane Regions
Aug 16 2006 // According to the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.’s RIMS Benchmark Survey, commercial insurance premiums were flat to slightly lower in the second quarter of this year compared to the prior year. The RIMS...
Arizona Puts the Heat on Insurers for Wildfire Protection
Aug 15 2006 // As wildfire season stretches across the Western states from June through September, Christina Urias, director of the Arizona Department of Insurance, has lit a fire under agents and insurers to work with their clients to...
Best Affirms Glacier Re ‘A-‘ Ratings; Off Review; Outlook Negative
Aug 15 2006 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A-” (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” of Swiss-based Glacier Reinsurance AG. Best also removed the ratings from...
