California has been hit by a string of earthquakes. Unfortunately, most homeowners lack insurance to cover damage caused by the shaking ground.
There can be coverage for a fire caused by an earthquake. III has more details on quake-related coverage issues here.
2019 has produced devastating floods in the Midwest and parts of the South—crippling many farmers during the important planting season.
This video shows the role insurance plays in mitigating risk for American farms and ranches.
Before you head off to enjoy the barbecues and fireworks, it’s time for our annual Independence Day fact file. Here is this most American of holidays by the numbers, courtesy of the Census Bureau:
Have a safe and happy holiday!
By Loretta L. Worters, Vice President – Media Relations, Insurance Information Institute
Authorities believe a lightning strike caused a home to go up in flames in the Riverview area of Florida on Friday, June 14, ironically just days before Lightning Safety Awareness Week (June 23-29) commenced.
Often referred to as the lightning capital of the nation, it is no revelation that Florida ranked first for lightning caused homeowners insurance claims in 2018, with 7,108 claims, followed by Georgia (5,539) and California (4,909), a new addition to the line-up. Texas, which had ranked second in 2016, fell to fourth place (4,559).
The number of lightning-caused homeowners insurance claims decreased in 2018—the third straight year it has done so—yet the average cost per claim has soared since 2016. The I.I.I. findings, based on national insurance claims numbers, determined that more than $900 million in lightning claims were paid out in 2018 to nearly 78,000 policyholders. The cumulative value of claims caused by lightning rose six percent between 2016-2018.
With increased labor and construction costs as well as a consumer appetite for smart home products, it’s not surprising that lightning-related homeowners insurance claims costs have risen. The average cost per claim rose eight percent from 2017 to 2018. However, the average cost per claim between 2016 and 2018 increased 21 percent – a veritable bolt from the blue!
Today Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker is reportedly going to sign into law a bill that legalizes recreational marijuana in the state. That makes Illinois the eleventh state (plus D.C.) to legalize marijuana for adult use.
But as medical and recreational marijuana legalization spreads, concerns about what this means for workplace safety and workers compensation continue to grow. What is the impact of legal marijuana on workplace safety, employer duties and obligations and workers compensation insurance?
Today, the I.I.I. published a report that examines the current state of the issue. (Download the report here.)
“Haze of confusion: How employers and insurers are affected by a patchwork of state marijuana laws” dives into the following questions:
Unfortunately, none of these questions have straightforward answers. Every state’s laws and regulations governing these issues are different, not to mention that federal law prohibits marijuana outright. To complicate matters further, state laws and regulations are constantly changing. Employment and insurance activities once prohibited are often now permitted – or required.
Legal marijuana isn’t going away. Employers and insurers will continue to grapple with a rapidly changing environment, perhaps for years to come.
To learn more, download the report here.
Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.
To subscribe to the I.I.I. Daily email daily@iii.org.
By Jennifer Ha, Head of Editorial and Publications, Insurance Information Institute
Hail damage is a growing problem in large regions of the United States and causes about $1 billion in damage to crops and property each year, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). As such, after years of field and lab research, the Insurance Institute for Business Home and Safety (IBHS) has recently released the results of its first hail impact performance program—the IBHS Impact Resistance Test Protocol for Asphalt Shingles—designed to track impact-resistant roofing products and to demonstrate the IBHS performance standard for impact-resistant shingles.
To test its standard, IBHS bought the most widely purchased impact-resistant shingles available to consumers and tested them in its lab under simulated real-world conditions, which it has now published on its website. The site includes disclosures, test standards and Member-only data.
Owning a small business has many rewards, like freedom, independence and the chance to financially benefit from your own hard work. But there are also major challenges, like long hours, hungry competitors, and cash-flow problems.
One of the challenges that lands squarely on the shoulders of the small business owner is risk management. Whereas larger firms have the funds to hire specialists whose sole concern is identifying and preparing for threats to the business, Arthur the accountant and Mia the mover must take on that role themselves.
Natural disasters are a type of risk that can strike a business at any time. Luckily for Arthur and Mia, business insurance often comes with loss prevention expertise offered by many insurance carriers to their clients. An agent or broker can create a disaster and recovery plan customized for any business.
Here is a list of disaster planning tips State Farm® offers for small businesses, they include:
Safety first
Secure your assets
Following a disaster, you’ll want to resume business as quickly as possible:
June 2019
Dear College Graduate:
Congratulations! You made it!
Graduation isn’t an end, but a beginning. As you embark on your career path, please allow me to offer a few observations and some valuable guidance that others have shared with me:
The last bit of advice is kind of familiar to those of us in the insurance industry. “I never considered a career in insurance when I was a student” is a pretty familiar refrain. Our team at the Insurance Information Institute includes an actuary who studied journalism, an economist who studied literature, and other dedicated professionals who’ve come to insurance from a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Why did we all end up choosing insurance as a career? Because we have discovered what more than 2.5 million folks currently working in our industry already knew: That insurance careers offer virtually limitless opportunities to earn, learn, grow and make lasting contributions to your community every day.
So, if you haven’t yet considered a career in insurance, then you’re in good company. Because for 350 years, our industry has been driving innovation, embracing change and building a safer, more prosperous world. That’s why the I.I.I. and our member companies are proudly leading the charge to build a workforce that’s responsive to the needs of the people we serve.
We wish you all the best and hope you will choose insurance as a career.
Sincerely,
Sean M. Kevelighan
CEO
The Insurance Information Institute
June weather in New York City can be fickle. As the I.I.I.’s own Brent Carris reported, this fickleness can lead to chaos for the city’s outdoor music festivals, like the recent fiasco at this year’s Gov Ball. Carris noted that event organizers will often have event cancellation insurance to protect themselves financially.
But this got me thinking: is there rain insurance?
Weather insurance
The answer: yes, actually. It’s usually called “weather insurance” – and covers financial losses resulting from adverse weather, including rain. Typically, weather insurance is useful if you’re planning an outdoor event, like a wedding or a bar mitzvah. Commercial events can also buy this insurance, like fairs or festivals.
According to Trusted Choice, weather insurance is often tailored to a specific event’s needs. For example, a sailing regatta in San Francisco might want to be covered for excessive fog, whereas a baseball tournament in Arizona might want to be covered for extreme temperatures. Of course, these covered perils can be combined: it gets hot in southern Florida and rains a lot, so you might want to cover your golf tournament for both high temperatures and precipitation. Plus, you know, hurricanes.
How the coverage gets triggered also depends on the event: one-day events might want their policies to kick in if a certain amount of rain falls over a certain amount of time. Other events that last multiple days or weeks might want the trigger to be if rainfall or temperatures exceed their averages during the policy period.
Special event insurance
Okay, cool, that means I can protect myself in case I have to cancel my invitational street hockey tournament. But what if I have to cancel or postpone for non-weather reasons? That’s where “special event insurance” comes in. It’s broader than just plain weather insurance and will cover other causes of cancellation.
In the case of a wedding, special event insurance can cover cancellation due to, among other things: death or illness of a key participant, or if the bride or grooms is suddenly called to military duty. You can also cover your gifts in case they’re stolen or damaged. You can even cover your losses if one of your third-party providers can’t uphold their promises to you. For example, you could be covered if the bridal salon goes out of business and you have to get a dress somewhere else, or the photographer fails to show up and you need to deputize your cousins to take pictures with their smartphones.
Ticket insurance
It’s not just event organizers who can get insurance protection, though. There are also products to protect attendees. For example, Allianz calls its product “Global Assistance Event Ticket Protector Insurance,” which roughly translates into English as “ticket insurance”.
According to the Ticketmaster website, this insurance will reimburse you 100 percent of your ticket (including taxes and shipping) if any of a long list of things happens that prevents you from enjoying your event. Illness or serious injury, for example. Military duty is also covered (who knew there was such a high risk of someone being whisked away to military duty on short notice?). You’ll also be covered if a traffic accident keeps you from getting to the venue, or if your plane is delayed getting in.
However, being lazy is not a covered cause of loss: “Please note that no benefits will be extended for cancellations due to simply changing your mind.”