Courtesy of iii.org HOLIDAY FIRE LOSSES Fireworks On Independence Day in a typical year, far more U.S. fires are reported than on any other day, and fireworks account for two out of five of those fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Fireworks caused an estimated 17,800 reported fires, including 1,200 total structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside and other fires in 2011, according to a fireworks fact sheet from the NFPA. Key stats include: Fireworks fires resulted in an estimated eight reported civilian deaths, 40 civilian injuries and $32 million in direct property damage. In 2013, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 11,400 people for fireworks related injuries; 55 percent of those injuries were to the extremities, and 38 percent were to the head. The risk of fireworks injury is highest for young people under age 4, followed by children 10 to 14. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says …
High Insurance Rates and Litigation
Courtesy of iii.org It is a standard practice throughout the insurance world: As a convenience, a policyholder grants a third party – an auto glass repair company, a medical practitioner, a home contractor – permission to directly bill an insurer to settle a claim. That practice is called an assignment of benefits, usually known by the acronym, AOB. In Florida, abuse of AOBs has fueled an insurance crisis. The state’s legal environment has encouraged vendors and their attorneys to solicit unwarranted AOBs from tens of thousands of Floridians, conduct unnecessary or unnecessarily expensive work, then file tens of thousands of lawsuits against insurance companies that deny or dispute the claims. This mini-industry has cost consumers billions of dollars as they are forced to pay higher premiums to cover needless repairs and excessive legal fees. And consumers often do not even know that their claims are driving these cost increases. The abuse therefore acts somewhat like a hidden …
2018-How Bad Was the Hurricane Damage?
Courtesy of iii.org The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was less active than the 2017 season but still caused extensive property damage across the southeastern United States, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). The 2018 hurricane season officially concludes tomorrow (Nov. 30) and saw the formation of 15 named storms. Eight of the 15 became hurricanes, and two (Florence and Michael) became major hurricanes, according to Philip Klotzbach, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU). Klotzbach is also a non-resident scholar with the I.I.I. The original CSU forecast for 2018, presented in April, predicted slightly above-average hurricane activity with three major hurricanes. The seasonal outlooks CSU subsequently released in the summer envisioned less hurricane activity, with CSU forecasting 12 named storms, five hurricanes, and one major hurricane on Aug. 2. “Even in what ended up as an average …