Latest Hurricane Headlines
All the headlines from our Hurricane 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),...
La.’s Gov. Blanco: No Quick Fixes for Insurance Woes
Aug 21 2006 // Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco met with insurance industry executives on Aug. 17, seeking ways to keep insurers writing homeowners policies in Louisiana after the twin punches of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The private...
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...
Finding the ‘Road Home’ in Louisiana
Aug 21 2006 // Louisiana officials expect 123,000 homeowners with damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita are eligible to receive grants from the state’s $7.5 billion “Road Home” housing aid program, The Associated...
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...
Floridians begin to question insurers’ ‘pup companies’
Aug 21 2006 // A lot of Floridians have had their homeowners insurance company — call it XYZ Florida Insurance — increase their premium because of huge losses. Weeks later, the residents see XYZ Insurance USA, based in...
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...
Dale: Ruling, Notices Remind Miss. Residents to Get Flood Coverage
Aug 18 2006 // A federal judge’s ruling that damage from wind-driven water isn’t covered on standard homeowner policies should motivate more Mississippians to purchase flood insurance, says state Insurance Commissioner George...
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...
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...
N.C. Appellate Court Sides with Insurer in Denying Pre-Storm Coverage
Aug 17 2006 // An insurance company legally denied coverage to a business seeking to renew its policy in the days before Hurricane Isabel struck North Carolina, the state’s Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 15. HPB Enterprises, the owner...
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...
Florida’s $250 Million Property Loss Mitigation Program Begins
Aug 15 2006 // Florida has begun My Safe Florida Home program, a $250 million mitigation program to help Floridians strengthen their homes against hurricanes and to reduce property losses. Tom Gallagher, Florida’s chief financial...
