Citizen’s Property Insurance facing 900 new lawsuits a month

One month after state lawmakers were summoned back to Tallahassee to fix Florida’s broken homeowner’s insurance industry, the crisis continues.

“As we sit here today, we are just under 19,000, but quickly approaching 19,000 lawsuits,” said Elaina Paskalakis of Citizen’s Property Insurance, during a claims committee meeting earlier this month.

Citizens, the sate-backed insurer of last resort isn’t just facing mounting litigation, it is also absorbing some 12,000 policies a month.

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“Last year at this time they (Citizens) were growing at about 5,000 policies a week, so they are growing exponentially more,” says State Senator Jeff Brandes (R-Pinellas). “They have about $6 billion in cash and about $300 billion in potential liability if they have a big storm.”

With police and lawsuits piling up, Citizens recently approved $50 million for litigation costs, with the state-backed insurer set to approve another $50 million when it meets again in July.

“It is all hands on deck at Citizens, and frankly I don’t know how they are going to manage all this, we would never let a private insurance company grow as fast as citizens is growing right now,” says Brandes.

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July 1, 2022 by INSURANCE

Everything you need to know before July 4th

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A new fireworks law goes into effect July 3 across Ohio, but not all fireworks are legal everywhere, and exceptions apply.

The law newly allows people to set off “consumer fireworks” on their own property or on another person’s property with permission.

Consumer fireworks are sandwiched in the middle of Ohio’s fireworks classifications between “trick fireworks” and “display fireworks.”

Trick fireworks

Trick fireworks (or “novelty fireworks”) are smoke bombs, snaps, glow snakes and sparklers. For the most part, these fireworks can be purchased anywhere and used anytime, but some local communities have passed ordinances that prevent even these from being sold.

In jurisdictions where novelty fireworks are allowed, the State Fire Marshal urges extreme caution.

“While legal, these can still pose serious health problems, including severe burns, injuries to the hands, eyes and face, and even blindness or hearing loss. For example, sparklers burn at up to 1800°, hot enough to melt gold. The risk of severe burns is real. In addition, puncture-type injuries to the eye are not uncommon,” a DOC spokesperson says.

The City of Cincinnati permits these fireworks, but a decades-old ordinance remains in effect prohibiting consumer fireworks, meaning

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July 1, 2022 by LAW

Too risky to insure? Why your homeowner’s insurance could go up in smoke

Too risky to insure? Why your homeowner’s insurance could go up in smoke

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

SUMMIT PARK — There are good reasons insurance companies drop customers from their homeowner’s policies: non-payment, not taking care of the property, or too many claims.

None of that applied to Peter Ingle, who has lived in his home nestled in the forests of Summit Park for 25 years.

In August 2021, his neighborhood was evacuated when faulty parts on a passing vehicle sparked the Parley’s Canyon Fire off Interstate 80. The fire burned more than 500 acres.

The wildfire triggered a visit from Ingle’s homeowners insurance company, Allstate, shortly thereafter.

“My insurance company called and said they’re coming out to just check out the areas around our homes to make sure they’re sort of fire safe,” Ingle said. “We didn’t think much of it.”

In November 2021, Ingle said he got bad news: Allstate was dropping his insurance.

Ingle called his insurance agent, who assured Ingle he was working with Allstate to change their minds.

When February came around, Ingle’s agent still didn’t have good news.

“He goes, ‘The reality isn’t your property, it’s the adjacent that’s the problem,” Ingle explained.

In the letter sent to Ingle from Allstate, the reason given for

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June 30, 2022 by INSURANCE

Large U.S. law firms mostly quiet on abortion ruling, are walking a ‘tightrope’

June 26 (Reuters) – The largest U.S. law firms did not take a public stance following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade on Friday, diverging from the approach of some major companies that have made statements on the closely watched abortion case.

The high court’s 6-3 Dobbs decision upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Many states are expected to further restrict or ban abortions following the ruling.

Reuters on Friday asked more than 30 U.S. law firms, including the 20 largest by total number of lawyers, for comments on the Dobbs ruling and whether they would cover travel costs for employees seeking an abortion.

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The vast majority did not respond by Saturday afternoon, and only two, Ropes & Gray and Morrison & Foerster, said they would implement such a travel policy.

Morrison & Foerster, with nearly 1,000 attorneys, was the only large firm to issue a public statement by Saturday afternoon.

The firm’s chair, Larren Nashelsky, said Morrison & Foerster would “redouble our efforts to protect abortion and other reproductive rights.”

The Dobbs decision has been expected since a

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June 30, 2022 by LAW

Analysis-U.S. Mass Shooting Insurance Rates Jump as Incidents Rise | Top News

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn

(Reuters) – The cost of buying insurance protection against mass shootings has spiked more than 10% in the United States this year following a string of deadly events, insurers said.

The United States witnessed 293 mass shootings so far this year, according to a report by the Gun Violence Archive them as any event involving the shooting of four or more people other than the assailant. That compares with 309 the same period last year, but is sharply up from 240 in 2020.

Demand for such insurance has risen following recent shootings, including the murder of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school last month, the United States’ worst school shooting in nearly a decade.

Active shooter insurance typically covers victim lawsuits, building repairs, legal fees, medical expenses and trauma counseling.

“The number of inquiries we’ve been receiving over the last few weeks have definitely spiked … we haven’t been as busy as this ever before,” said Chris Parker, Head of Political Violence and Deadly Weapons Protection at Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley.

Parker said the insurer had seen a 25% jump in revenue so far this year for its

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June 29, 2022 by INSURANCE
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