Declarations

History of hostility
“Am I going to be as hostile as the last guy? I’m going to fulfill my legal obligations to protect consumers.”

— California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, summing up an audience member’s question at the Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West annual meeting in Sacramento in January. Poizner said he would fight to protect consumers and provide them with more affordable insurance, but he also recognized a need to balance those ideals with practices that encourage insurance companies to do business in the state.

Full disclosure
“I’m not necessarily against commissions. I tend to be more in favor of disclosure and at least disclosing so the consumer knows what some of the financial incentives are for the broker in those situations.”

— Outgoing Colorado Insurance Commissioner David Rivera, commenting on ethics and how recent disclosure regulations and carrier agreements might affect the Rocky Mountain state.

Out to lunch
“Take a legislator to lunch. I am serious. Take a moment to build a relationship because it can make a big difference in making sure they understand the nuances of your industry and what you do so that when they are on the floor and they’re casting those votes they have some context and they relate it to someone they know in their community who is a real face, a real business owner who they should care about.”

— Calif. Assemblyman Dave Jones, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, speaking at the Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers State of the Alliance on Jan. 23 in Sacramento. He said it was important for the association to interact with state lawmakers.

A remedy for broken levees
“Levee safety is a shared responsibility with our local, state and federal partners.”

— Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, director of Civil Works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noting that it is working to improve public safety. The Corps recently identified levees that received “unacceptable” maintenance inspection ratings. Such a rating could be due to animal burrows, erosion, tree growth, movement of flood walls or faulty culvert conditions.

Flood foolish
“Too often, residents underestimate the likelihood of being affected by the number one natural hazard (flooding) in the United States, and statistics further illustrate the danger. A home in a Special Flood Hazard Area has a 26 percent chance of being damaged by a flood during the course of a 30-year mortgage, compared to a 9 percent chance of fire.”

— A 2004 study by RAND Corp., indicating that only 22 percent of Midwestern single-family homes in SFHAs are covered by flood insurance. Only 0.4 percent of single-family Midwestern homes outside of SFHAs are covered by flood insurance.

Topics Agencies Flood