Source: NOAA
From the NOAA Forecast;
"May 21, 2020An above-normal 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is expected, according to forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. The outlook predicts a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season and only a 10% chance of a below-normal season. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30.
From the Press Release
...
"Commissioner Lara called on the insurance industry to assist small businesses facing layoffs and lost income due to business closures and government actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Insurance company responses to the data call are due by April 9, 2020, and will help the Department understand the number and scope of commercial business interruption type coverages in effect and the approximate number of policies that exclude viruses such as...
Source:Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University
We anticipate that the 2020 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have above-normal activity. Current warm neutral ENSO conditions appear likely to transition to cool neutral ENSO or potentially even weak La Niña conditions by this summer/fall. Sea surface temperatures averaged across the tropical Atlantic are somewhat above normal. Our Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation index is below its long-term average; however, most of the tropical Atlantic is warmer than normal. We anticipate...
Updated 12/7/19
The below is from the Port Neches Response website. Updated: 12/7/19
News Release # 19
Claims activities update: Approximately 200 claims representatives, including call center operators, field claim adjusters and claims processors, remain in the area.
Residents seeking walk-in appointments at Claims Processing Centers are experiencing long wait times. Claims personnel are working to increase staffing at the processing centers to assist more people. Don’t wait in line: call...
Source: National Hurricane Center
NHC is the source of the info below
Monthly Tropical Weather Summary
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
800 AM EDT Fri Nov 1 2019
For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:
Tropical cyclone activity during October was slightly above normal for the Atlantic basin. Five named storms formed during the month and one of them became a hurricane. Another hurricane, Lorenzo, carried over from the month of September. One tropical depression also formed and failed to...
Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University
"We expect that the next two weeks will be characterized by above-normal amounts of hurricane activity. "
NOAA increases chance for above-normal hurricane season
"August 8, 2019 NOAA forecasters monitoring oceanic and atmospheric patterns say conditions are now more favorable for above-normal hurricane activity since El Nino has now ended. Two named storms have formed so far this year and the peak months of the hurricane season, August through October, are now underway."
Source: Colorado State University
"We continue to predict a near-normal 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. The forecast number of hurricanes has increased slightly to account for short-lived Hurricane Barry which formed in July. Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic remain near average. While the odds of a weak El Niño persisting through August-October have decreased, vertical wind shear in the Caribbean remains relatively high. The probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the United States...
Source: AccuWeather
...
"After an active Atlantic hurricane season in 2018, AccuWeather forecasters are predicting 2019 to result in a near- to slightly above-normal season with 12 to 14 storms.
Of those storms, five to seven are forecast to become hurricanes and two to four are forecast to become major hurricanes."
...
Photo from the CADO Gallery
Updated: 3/24/19
The North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (NCJUA), also known as the FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan, is a tax exempt association of insurance companies licensed to write and engage in writing property insurance coverage in North Carolina. The Association was created by law to act as a market of last resort to provide adequate basic property insurance to property owners having insurable property in North Carolina.
The above is a quote from their...
Source: California Department of Insurance
The California Department of Insurance has been informed by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CAL-OES) that, due to the recent wildfires, there is a shortage of available lodging in the disaster areas. CAL-OES is requesting that insurance companies, adjusters, and other insurance personnel find lodging outside of the disaster areas.
Source: CoreLogic Press Release
Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is reporting a total of 78,688 claims as of October 18, 2018 with Total Estimated Insured Losses at $835,868,692. See the report for additional details.
Source: Colorado Springs Gazette
USAA received 8,000 claims for damage to homes and vehicles Tuesday, twice as many as from the June 13 hailstorm that hit Fountain, the insurance and financial services giant reported. Other top insurers, including State Farm, Farmers and Progressive, didn’t have claims numbers or didn’t return calls.
Source: Time Inc
Over the years, virtual reality technology has improved so much that insurance companies are starting to experiment with VR headsets like Facebook’s “fb” Oculus Rift.
WYO Bulletin w-17065
On October 13, 2017, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) updated the NFIP Adjuster Claims Manual by adding an addendum providing additional guidance on special adjustment issues surrounding perimeter wall sheathing. The addendum expands upon and replaces existing guidance found at Paragraph P of Section VIII of the NFIP Adjuster Claims Manual.
by Canadian Underwriter
Severe weather last year exacted a heavy toll in terms of insured losses, with the $4.9 billion hit dwarfing the previous annual record of $3.2 billion in 2013, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) reports.
Stormy Weather Ahead Road Sign Flooding in southern Alberta and the Greater Toronto Area contributed greatly to 2013’s then-record insurable damage, while 2016 was highlighted by the massive wildfires in and around Fort McMurray.
The latest estimate from Catastrophe Indices and...
Source: Sun Sentinel
State-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is hiring an outside vendor to scrutinize water-damage repair estimates from contractors, and to directly negotiate lower invoices with those contractors in exchange for a cut of the savings.
The company's board of governors on Tuesday agreed to a five-year, $1.8 million contract with Fort Myers-based Lynx Services LLC, a third-party claims management firm.
The goal, according to a Citizens document, "is to identify inflated or excessive...
Crawford 7/6/16 Press Release
SYDNEY (6 July, 2016) – Crawford & Company® has launched Crawford® Drone, designed to significantly improve catastrophe and operational claims management by providing real-time detail.
Darren Trot, Crawford’s national business development manager, said, “Drone technology ideally complements traditional claims assessment practices and gives us access to areas that were previously inaccessible or hazardous.”
Source: ICAT Website
Partnership will allow ICAT to write additional per-risk cat capacity in the U.S. E&S market
Broomfield, CO: ICAT has teamed up with Neon, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer, to provide an additional $10 million of per-risk capacity to catastrophe-exposed commercial properties in the United States. The partnership expands ICAT’s per-risk catastrophe capacity up to $150 million.
ICAT’s partnership with Neon, along with ICAT’s comprehensive coverage, best-in-class...
NFIP Policy Counts for the named counties
President Declares Major Disaster for West Virginia
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the State of West Virginia to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning on June 22, 2016, and continuing.
The President's action makes federal funding available to...
The NFIP offers free online courses in basic and advanced flood insurance topics through the FEMA Emergency Management Institute. NFIP Training courses are free and open to anyone. Click on a link below to begin your self study course.
(note: we first posted this in December of 2015, but it was deleted in error)
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Engle Martin & Associates, a diversified insurance services provider, completed its acquisition of a majority share of Eberl’s Claim Service, Inc. and its related companies on September 1, 2015. Eberl provides a full suite of complementary daily and catastrophe loss adjusting and claims-related services, with a focus on residential and automobile insurance claims. Eberl will continue to run independently within the Engle Martin family of brands via its own...
Source: Paul J. Gough, Pittsburgh Business Times
"The next time you get a visit from an insurance adjuster, he or she might be wearing a futuristic headset to help process your claim. Pittsburgh policyholders were part of a pilot program from Erie Insurance (NASDAQ:ERIE) to test the use of off-the-shelf Google Glass as a way to make insurance adjusters’ working lives easier and more efficient. The idea, developed by three Erie Insurance employees, was vetted by the board of directors following a company wide contest. This is the...
(CNN)So much rain has fallen this May on flood-ravaged Texas that it could cover the entire state with 8 inches of water, meteorologists say.
And it ain't over yet.
Every drop of rain these days is a drop too many in much of Texas, where 22 people have died and President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster.
NFIP Flood Policy for the counties
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:
I, GREG ABBOTT, Governor of the State of Texas, issued an Emergency Disaster Proclamation on May 11, 2015, certifying that the severe weather, tornado and flooding event that began on May 4, 2015, has caused a disaster in Bosque, Clay, Denton, Eastland, Gaines, Montague and Van Zandt counties in the State of Texas. On May 15, 2015, I amended my proclamation of May 11, 2015, to include Cooke, Grimes, Hood, Navarro, Smith and Wise...
Source: Jeff Masters , 11:58 AM GMT on May 17, 2015
Super Typhoon Dolphin intensified into a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds and a central pressure of 925 mb at 2 pm EDT Saturday May 16, becoming Earth's fifth Category 5 storm of the year. Dolphin hung on to Category 5 strength for twelve hours before increasing wind shear helped knock the storm down to a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds by Sunday morning.
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
2" and larger reported
4" Franklin MO 38.22 -91.17 3-4 INCH HAIL. LARGEST HAIL WAS SPIKED... WITH DIAMETER MEASURED FROM SPIKE-TO-SPIKE. (LSX)
3" Roger Mills OK 35.61 -99.58 (OUN)
3" Roger Mills OK 35.66 -99.38 (OUN)
3" Franklin MO 38.24 -91.17 (LSX)
3" Franklin MO 38.24 -91.17 ROOF OF HOUSE HEAVILY DAMAGED. ALSO A CAR WINDSHIELD BROKEN FROM HAIL. (LSX)
3" St. Francois MO 37.78 -90.43 NW SIDE OF FARMINGTON. (LSX)
3" Morgan KY 37.97 -83.05 (JKL)
Phil Klotzbach's presentation from the National Hurricane Conference has been posted.
Phil Klotzbach
Department of Atmospheric Science
Colorado State University
Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Insurance Department is taking a proactive step to protect Oklahomans who buy earthquake insurance. Today the Department released a bulletin to property and casualty insurance companies to address important issues surrounding earthquake insurance.
“We want to make sure everyone is clear on earthquake insurance,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak. “Oklahomans need to know what they are buying. Insurers need to know...
LEGISLATORS INTRODUCE BILL TO CHANGE ADJUSTER LICENSING IN FLORIDA NEW PROPOSED LAW TO REQUIRE ADJUSTERS TO TAKE THE STATE TEST Currently, adjuster candidates who obtain an approved designation are exempt from taking the state licensing test. On February 24, 2015 two bills were introduced into the FL Legislature.
Source: Business Insurance
“Most drone operators are buying legal liability limits of less than $10 million, and at those levels there is abundant capacity in the market,” said Chris Proudlove, senior vice president at aviation underwriter Global Aerospace Inc. in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Optional ISO endorsements cover bodily injury and property damage, personal and advertising injury or both liabilities under a single endorsement. Three parallel optional exclusions also are available, said Ron...
Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-sandy-60-minutes-fraud-investigation/
When Hurricane Sandy made its way towards the East Coast in the fall of 2012, residents knew it could be devastating. What they didn't expect was just how bad Sandy turned out to be: 117 deaths, and damage estimated at more than $60 billion, second only to Katrina.
Now two and a half years later, Sandy victims have been hit by something else they didn't expect, the storm after the storm. Many of them say they have been cheated out of their insurance claims. Thousands of claims...
Source: IBT Media Inc
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing a new lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization that wants a look at FEMA’s inner workings, especially the way its officials decide the fate of insurance appeals made by flood victims.
United Policyholders, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for consumers of insurance products, sued FEMA in federal court in Washington this week. Brought under the Freedom of Information Act, the suit claims the agency has improperly withheld...
Source: Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP
Texas hail claim policyholder lawyers, like many plaintiffs’ lawyers, clearly prefer to be in state court rather than federal court. To accomplish this and prevent the defendant insurer from properly removing the lawsuit to federal court, Texas policyholder attorneys simply sue the adjuster (who, like the policyholder, is almost always a Texas resident). This common act of gamesmanship ostensibly destroys the complete diversity of citizenship required for federal court diversity...
Earthquake Commission (EQC) will pay 24 of its staff $65,000
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) will pay 24 of its staff $65,000 a year to fill new positions requiring just over one week's work per month.
The public insurer is looking for candidates from within its workforce for "base contractor" positions, as loss adjusters and estimators, around the country.
The jobs pay $65,000 plus GST a year for 54 hours work a month, which is about $100 an hour, with each contractor being paid even if there is no work.
That is about double the going hourly rate...
Source: USA Today
A historic snowstorm blasted its way through the Northeast on Monday, bringing with it havoc, flight cancellations, school closings and worry that up to 3 feet of snow and hurricane-force winds might be on the horizon.
Both New York City and Boston took the rare step of banning all forms of travel due to the storm.
"It's dangerous out there now. It's only going to become more dangerous,'' New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday evening as he announced a total ban on travel on any road...
Source: Lexology
Congress's omnibus spending bill effectively created a new exemption to the FLSA's overtime rules for insurance adjusters during the two-year period after a major disaster. Section 111 of the appropriations bill for the DOL directs the agency that the FLSA "shall be applied as if" there is an overtime exclusion for certain workers who are employed to adjust or evaluate claims resulting from or relating to a major disaster. The law defines a "major disaster" as "any disaster or catastrophe...