Latest Hurricane Headlines

Developing El Nino Could Suppress Atlantic Hurricanes

Jul 9 2009 // El Nino weather anomaly has developed and it may not be as strong as the killer which struck more than a decade ago, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said Thursday. The CPC, an office under the National Oceanic...

Florida’s Citizens Insurance Proposes to Hike Some Rates, Decrease Others

Jul 9 2009 // After three years of no increases, Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is about to hike premiums up to 10 percent for many of its policyholders, although not for as many as some insurance insiders and...

Few Complaints from Texas 2008 Hurricane Claims

Jul 8 2009 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) reported it has received a total of 1,201 justified complaints from the nearly 900,000 claims that originated from Hurricanes Ike and Dolly in 2008. The complaints represent less...

South Carolina Insurance Chief Faults Legislative Audit of Department

Jul 6 2009 // A report by the auditing arm of the South Carolina Legislature has concluded that the state insurance department overall does a good job regulating insurance companies and their rates but it could do a better job of...

New Rhode Island Law Saves Residents Money When Storms Loom

Jul 6 2009 // A new law could save homeowners money when a hurricane off the Atlantic coast churns up weather strong enough to damage homes in Rhode Island but never reaches the state. Legislation signed last month by Gov. Don Carcieri...

North Carolina Coastal Insurance Fix Would Alter Deductibles, Limits

Jun 29 2009 // North Carolina legislators started grappling last week with how to beef up the state-created but underfunded insurance program for coastal property, and immediately confronted the possibility that all of the state’s...

Report on Federal Probe Into Deadly Katrina Flooding Released

Jun 29 2009 // An in-depth study by more than 150 experts commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers to look into the catastrophic failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina is done, though the report released June 26 divulged...

South Texas Brokers Charged with Multi-Million Dollar Insurance Fraud

Jun 25 2009 // Two licensed insurance brokers with offices in the Brownsville, Texas, area have been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud in a multi-million dollar scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson. The U.S....

All North Carolina Homeowners Could Pay If Insurers, Beach Plan Fall Short

Jun 24 2009 // Every insured homeowner in North Carolina could shoulder the cost of rebuilding if a massive hurricane hits under a deal taking shape in the Legislature. The legislation (HB1305), expected to be detailed in a House...

New Rhode Island Law Saves Residents Money When Storms Loom

Jun 19 2009 // A new law could save homeowners money when a hurricane off the Atlantic coast churns up weather strong enough to damage homes in Rhode Island but never reaches the state. Legislation signed last week by Gov. Don Carcieri...

It Figures

Jun 15 2009 // $9.3 Million An Arkansas lawyer who controlled an escrow account for a settlement in a case involving the Bisys Group Inc. insurance services firm has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing more than $9 million from the...

2004/2005 Hurricane Seasons Provided Unprecedented Claims Data

Jun 15 2009 // Cat Modelers and Insurers Applying Lessons Learned Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked its damage in 2005, catastrophe modeling firms and the property and casualty insurance industry have learned more about the scientific and...

Jun 15 2009 // 5 Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University have lowered their prediction for the number of hurricanes they expect to hit the Atlantic Basin in 2009 to five, down from an April forecast of six hurricanes. The...

Universal Insurance Holdings To Purchase ICAT Specialty Insurance

Jun 8 2009 // Universal Insurance Holdings of North America and ICAT Holdings LLC of Boulder, Colo., have received regulatory approval that completes Universal North America’s purchase of ICAT Specialty Insurance Co. (ISIC). Under...

Forecasters: Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes Predicted

Jun 5 2009 // Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University have lowered their prediction for the number of hurricanes they expect to hit the Atlantic Basin in 2009 to five, down from an April forecast of six hurricanes. According...

P/C Insurers Apply Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

Jun 2 2009 // The property/casualty insurance industry is employing advancements in catastrophe modeling and considering the impact of the creation of a national catastrophe fund as it applies lessons learned from Hurricane...

Declarations

Jun 1 2009 // 10 Years “Unless there’s some Einstein out there that knows something none of us do, the prevailing thought among the researchers is that a good 24-hour forecast of intensity change is a goal, a stretch goal,...

40% of Florida Home Carriers Losing Money Even With No Big Storms

Jun 1 2009 // With the start of the hurricane season just a few weeks away, a leading Florida consumer advocate joined independent agents at a press conference to warn that property insurance rates need to be raised if insurers are...

A.M. Best Concerned Over Insurers’ Exposure to the Florida Hurricane Fund

Jun 1 2009 // Based on the recently revised projected claims-paying capacity of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), rating agency A.M. Best has updated its treatment of reinsurance provided to rated entities from this...

Average 2009 Hurricane Season with Several Category 3 Storms Predicted

Jun 1 2009 // June 1 is the official start of hurricane season and the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration has said the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season will be fairly average. Reuters reported that NOAA is forecasting nine...