Insurance Blog

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday released new fatality estimates for the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu. Since the start of the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak in April, there have been some 3,900 deaths, more than the 1,200 previously estimated, but significantly less than the 36,000 deaths each year attributed to seasonal flu. In the six months from April to October 17, 2009, the CDC puts the total number of swine flu cases at 22 million and the number of hospitalizations at 98,000. The Wall Street Journal Health blog ponders what these numbers might mean. For starters, it observes that there’s a lot of uncertainty around the figures because so many cases of swine flu go unreported. Indeed, the CDC itself says that estimating the number of individual flu cases in the U.S. is very challenging because many people with flu don’t seek medical […]

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An unexpected piece in the Chinese drywall puzzle has just been uncovered. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has made clear that in his opinion insurers have no obligation to cover defective Chinese drywall because it is not a covered peril. The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that at a meeting with state legislators earlier this week, McCarty told them the insurance industry is not responsible for the drywall problem and that ultimately the federal government would have to come up with a funding solution. The November 4 article by Lloyd Dunkelberger quotes McCarty saying: “This is not a covered claim. This is not a covered peril. We need to come up with a plan for a funding source to take care of this.” McCarty described the Chinese drywall issue as a “very, very significant problem,” and stated that the financial responsibility lies with the Chinese drywall manufacturers rather than insurance companies. […]

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A Chinese drywall symposium hosted by the University of Florida College of Engineering will be held in Tampa, Florida on Thursday and Friday (November 5 and 6) of this week. The event will bring together researchers from the primary state and federal agencies to present their findings on technical topics such as materials analysis, emissions testing, exposure assessment and toxicology, remediation and repair. Florida Senator Bill Nelson is scheduled to give the keynote speech on Friday. A preliminary report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) late last week found that while Chinese drywall emits higher levels of sulfur gases and strontium than drywall manufactured in the United States, there is no evidence that the emissions are linked to health problems and metal corrosion. Indoor air testing of 10 homes in Florida and Louisiana was conducted for the study and an analysis of 50 additional homes is underway with the […]

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Spare a thought for San Francisco commuters who face their second day of rush-hour delays following the closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after a major repair failed Tuesday night bringing down several pieces of steel on to passing vehicles. The incident raises questions about the strength of the bridge in the event of an earthquake. The state of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure has been a growing concern ever since the levee failures in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Minneapolis Interstate 35W bridge collapse in 2007. Last year a report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) warned that within the next 15 years almost half of America’s bridges will be over 50 years of age, exceeding the life span for which they were designed. One in four of the bridges are rated as deficient, either in need of repair or […]

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By now it’s old news that pilots of a Northwest flight that overshot its Minneapolis destination by 150 miles a week ago were looking at their laptops. Yesterday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had revoked the licenses of the pilots. They have 10 days to appeal the decision to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). According to a Wall Street Journal article, federal safety rules prohibit laptops in cockpits below 10,000 feet, but allow them during cruise. However, it cited a statement from Delta (now merged with Northwest) that the airline expressly forbids pilots from using laptops at any time or engaging in personal activity that could distract from flight duties. Just a few weeks ago the U.S. Department of Transport held a Distracted Driving summit which highlighted the growing dangers of driving while distracted by texting or cellphone use. The Northwest incident underscores the point that whether […]

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Our fellow bloggers at Workers Comp Insider tipped us off that this week is Protect Your Identity Week, so it seems fitting to end it with a post on ID theft. This is a timely reminder that fast approaching is the November 1 deadline by which financial institutions and creditors have to comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) so-called “red flags rule” which requires them to develop and implement written identity theft programs. Regular readers will remember that the FTC has delayed enforcement of the new rule a number of times. Now an October 21 online article at Lawyers USA by Kimberly Atkins reports that earlier this week the House passed H.R. 3763, a bill that would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exempt certain businesses from the red flag guidelines. Under the bill, healthcare, accounting and legal practices that employ fewer than 20 people would automatically be […]

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A few weeks ago we blogged about a decision by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that would enable public nuisance claims to proceed against businesses for their contributions to global warming. Two similar cases have now been decided that offer starkly different opinions in the area of climate change litigation. On Friday the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed the dismissal of a climate change class action brought by Mississippi property owners who claim that greenhouse gases emitted by oil and gas companies contributed to global warming that added to the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina that caused damage to their properties. Hat tip to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog for its post on the decision which cites J. Russell Jackson, a partner at law firm Skadden Arps saying that at a minimum the ruling will invite more climate change litigation […]

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There have been a number of media stories on the imported drywall (otherwise known as Chinese drywall) issue in recent days. Here’s a quick synopsis. A story in today’s New York Times by Leslie Wayne reports that hundreds of drywall-related lawsuits are piling up in state and federal courts and a consolidated class action is moving forward in Federal District Court in Louisiana that will begin hearing cases in January. Meanwhile, an article in today’s Miami Herald by Beatrice Garcia and Nirvi Shah underscores the point that homeowners are unlikely to find coverage for Chinese drywall issues under homeowners insurance policies because of exclusions for pollution, contamination damage or problems stemming from construction defect. A September 28 article in the Baton Rouge Advocate by Cain Burdeau reported on how Chinese drywall manufacturers may ignore drywall-related lawsuits pending in U.S. courts. A recent report by Swiss Re provides an excellent overview […]

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A decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York earlier this week would enable public nuisance claims to proceed against businesses for their contributions to global warming. In Connecticut v. American Electric Power, the 2nd Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, effectively giving the green light to a public nuisance lawsuit filed by eight state attorneys general, New York City and three land trusts against six electric power companies based on greenhouse gas emissions. Public nuisance is a common law tort that imposes liability on an individual or entity that interferes with a public right – to health and safety, for example. The 2nd Circuit decision would effectively reverse the judicial trend on the public nuisance theory. We recall that in July 2008, the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned a landmark case against three former lead paint manufacturers, refusing to allow the expansion of the public nuisance […]

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World leaders gather at the United Nations HQ in New York City this week for what is being billed as the highest-level conference yet on climate change. According to the UN this is the largest gathering to-date of heads of state and government on climate change. The meeting comes ahead of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December at which leaders are expected to reach a new global agreement to address climate change.  A recent survey by the Carbon Disclosure Project indicated that despite the economic downturn, climate change remains high on the agenda of the world’s largest 500 companies. Some 82 percent of companies responded to the survey this year – the highest response rate ever from global 500 corporations – up from 77 percent last year. The report also showed significant improvements in the key areas of disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions data and targets to […]

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