A new survey shows that nearly one in three doctors in Connecticut are not happy practicing in the state and are considering changing jobs or moving. The doctors complained that malpractice insurance costs too much, managed care is imposing too many restrictions and the cost of living and doing business in Connecticut is too high. Read More
A new law that took effect on September 23 and allows fuel-efficient three-wheelers such as the Zap Xebra (ZEE’-bruh) and the Myers Motors NmG to be registered and titled as motorcycles in Ohio. Read more
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 2150 by Assembly member Patty Berg that helps protect consumers by preventing the financial abuse of seniors. AB 2150 provides that insurance agents and brokers may not use a “senior” designation in the course of marketing and selling insurance products unless they have completed required hours of training, and the designation has been approved by the Insurance Commissioner. This new law will prohibit agents and brokers from misrepresenting themselves as senior experts, which has previously resulted in seniors making poor investments or becoming victims of fraud. According to state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner,… Read More »California Offers Protections for Seniors
A newspaper investigation finds that few fire departments in fast-growing central Ohio are meeting the national standard for response time to fires. The Columbus Dispatch reports that of 84 departments in the central Ohio region, 49 make it to building fires within six minutes less than half the time. The National Fire Protection Association wants departments to get to a fire within six minutes nine out of every 10 runs. The Dispatch analysis of more than 14,000 runs to fires between 2003 and 2007 found only two central Ohio departments — Lancaster and Grandview Heights in suburban Columbus — met… Read More »Many Ohio Fire Departments Lag in Response Time
Despite assurance from state regulators that the insurance subsidiaries of American International Group (AIG) are financially sound, insurance producers are moving accounts from AIG. A survey by Insurance Journal of 1,000 insurance producers including 782 who say they have accounts with AIG found that 343 producers have had clients ask them to move their account out of AIG. That’s 43.8 percent of producers with AIG accounts. Slightly more than a quarter (202 producers or 25.8 percent) of AIG agents and brokers said they have in fact already moved or agreed to move accounts from AIG. The survey was answered by… Read More »Insurance Producers Start to Move Business from AIG to Competitors
Insurers are not allowed to bring equitable subrogation actions premised on professional negligence against attorneys, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled. According to State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., as subrogee of Running Bear Homeowners Association v. Robert G. Weiss and Weiss and Van Scoyk LLP, attorney Robert Weiss ddrafted a association covenant for Running Bear Homeowners Association. The HOA wanted to amend its covenant to limit rental periods to not less than 30 days, and Weiss incorrectly advised his client that they could make the amendment without the consent of people who owned the individual units. When a unit… Read More »Insurer Can’t Bring Subrogation Claim Against Attorney
Trucking companies should work harder to enforce that their drivers get rest, and the government should move toward mandating the use of alarm systems to alert exhausted truckers, a federal board recommended. While drivers are ultimately responsible for getting enough rest, trucking companies and the government should also make the nation’s roads safer by studying fledgling technology that would keep drivers alert, the National Transportation Safety Board said on September 16. The board hearing, held in Washington, D.C., and streamed live on the Internet, was held in response to an early-morning crash in western Wisconsin three years ago in which… Read More »Wisconsin Sleep-Related Truck Crash Prompts Federal Call for Research
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a centrist political style, took an initial step toward seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2010. Poizner filed papers with the secretary of state’s office to form an exploratory committee as he considers entering the race to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican who is termed out of office in two years. Poizner, 51, was elected insurance commissioner in 2006 and is the only other Republican to hold statewide office. He said he wants to help California be a leader in the global economy, institute reforms to… Read More »Calif. Insurance Commissioner Considers 2010 Bid
Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ (DCCA) Insurance Division announced that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has filed a request for a decrease of 11.6 percent in the workers’ compensation loss costs. The filing would affect premiums beginning Jan. 1, 2009. The reduction is based on a continuing decrease in the number of claims filed in 2006 (which is the last year complete data is available). In the past three years the the state’s insurance commissioner has approved decreases of 19.3 percent, 18.2 percent and 12.3 percent in loss costs as evidence began showing a significant reduction… Read More »Hawaii Files for 11.6% Workers’ Comp Decrease
A Texas consumer group took issue with the state-chartered windstorm insurance association over its refusal to pay coastal residents for storm surge damage in Hurricane Ike. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association says it only intends to pay Gulf Coast policyholders for wind damage, not water surge damage. Association general manager Jim Oliver said on a conference call with industry representatives: “It will be our intention not to pay surge losses. Period.” Each claim will be examined on a case-by-case basis, and no one area will be classified as damaged completely by storm surge, he said. Areas farther inland are likely… Read More »Storm Surge Not Covered in Texas Windstorm Association Policies