Friday, July 30, 2010
| Make Florida More Hurricane-Resistant
published: Sep 28, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer and John Hallman
As hurricane-ridden September passes by, much of the news in Florida appears good: Hurricanes, so far, have stayed away from U.S. coastlines, the Legislature has passed a few common-sense reforms to the state's property insurance system and state CFO Alex Sink says that the state's troubled Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (Cat Fund) has gained a firmer fiscal footing. more... |
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| A catastrophe waiting to happen
published: Sep 15, 2009
by: Jonathan Orszag
This month marks the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. That raises a simple question: Are we prepared as a Nation for the next mega-catastrophe (one, perhaps, worse than Katrina) that will inevitably strike our country? more... |
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| The Meltdown Next Time: The financial danger nobody knows about.
published: Sep 12, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer
When the insurance giant American International Group was threatened with collapse in late 2008, its credit default swap business and other international operations were cited as the heart of its troubles. But the largest consequence of AIG's uncontrolled failure on consumers' pocketbooks could have come from the domino-like collapse of its businesses writing insurance on boats, cars, homes, lives, and just about everything else. If these businesses fell apart as a result of AIG's overall collapse, the argument went, the contagion could have brought a collapse of everything from retirement savings plans to auto insurance claims payments from companies unconnected to AIG. (In theory, the operations were firewalled from AIG's other operations, but the extremely slow rate at which they've found buyers indicates that many had significant exposure to the company's other woes.) more... |
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Coalition Aims To Fight U.S. Cat Insurance Pool Proposal |
by: Mark E. Ruquet
published: May 28, 2009
A coalition of environmental and conservative groups, backed by a consortium of insurance interests, says it will fight legislation to create a federal catastrophe insurance pool.
An official from the Sierra Club and a member of the conservative public policy think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute as part of their effort launched a new Web site for the coalition Americans for Smart Natural Catastrophe Policy. The new Web site and renamed group is SmarterSafer.org.
Today's launch also served as an opening salvo against legislation introduced in the House last week by Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla, that would allow states to create a national catastrophe insurance pool.
''The proposals that are being made to change the way that the United States backstops catastrophe risk from Rep. Klein, we believe, are an attack on the free market,'' said Eli Lehrer, director of the insurance project at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
''There is a productive private industry, and we believe these proposals, although made from somebody with his heart in the right place, are simply likely to destroy a productive industry,'' he said.
He said the legislation would ''impose a significant burden on taxpayers around the country'' and undo reforms that states are undertaking to improve the underwriting environment for insurers.
''We feel it is important to take action now to protect lives and property that are at risk for natural catastrophe, making property more resilient to catastrophes like hurricanes and opposing policies that will essentially provide incentives to people to locate in risky places,'' said Ed Hopkins, Sierra Club director of environmental quality.
Mr. Hopkins said there is a better way of providing for protection through programs to help homeowners strengthen their homes against hurricanes ''and reduce the underlying risk.''
Mr. Lehrer said that based on the defeat of legislation to make wind risk a part of the National Flood Insurance Program, and lukewarm support by the Obama administration for expanding the federal government's exposure to catastrophe, he felt confident Rep. Klein's bill would be defeated.
''I think there is a lot of opposition to this,'' said Mr. Hopkins. ''And we will be working hard to make sure that the concept of wind insurance doesn't advance during this Congress.''
According to the group's Web site it is supported by Allianz of America, Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, Chubb, Liberty Mutual Group, National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, Reinsurance Association of America, Swiss Re, USAA and Zurich.
Mr. Lehrer said there is a large, diverse group ranging from environmental to consumer to public policy and taxpayer advocacy groups involved in defeating this and similar legislation.
Additional information is available at www.smartersafer.org.
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