Declarations

Flood Lapse

“These short putts down a long fairway set a dangerous precedent that leaves homeowners vulnerable.”

—David A. Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, commenting on yet another temporary extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, which was allowed to lapse again in April.

Weak Outlook

“Carriers are still competing ferociously for new business and that’s keeping rates soft Until demand picks up, we don’t see any significant uptick in commercial rates for the foreseeable future.”

­—Ken A. Crerar, president of the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, commenting on a new report that shows commercial P/C rates declined by roughly 5.3 percent in the first quarter.

Recall Battle

“In the court of public opinion, paying the fine speaks volumes. But at the end of the day, the fines are simply background noise in terms of the civil litigation.”

—Richard Arsenault, a plaintiff’s attorney in Alexandria, La., commenting on the decision by Toyota to pay a $16.4 million fine over the recall of millions of its vehicles. Analysts say will have little impact on the dozens of private lawsuits filed against the company.

Shifty Payments

“Hospitals aggressively seek to shift costs from public insurance programs to private payers such as auto insurance companies.”

—Elizabeth Sprinkel, senior vice president of the Insurance Research Council, which issued a new report showing that hospitals shifted $1.2 billion in excess charges to auto insurance carriers in 2007. Sprinkel’s group said the study shows the need for better tools to help auto insurers monitor claims costs.

Spitzer Redux?

“The financial meltdown has really accelerated the potential speed of his rehabilitation. It’s just a horrific disaster and people are looking to see who was on the right side of that issue, and he was as attorney general.”

—Peter Elkind, author of Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, who speculates that the financial crisis and its aftermath may yet revive the political career of disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.