With most of the United States in a deep freeze and record breaking snow totals in New England, homeowners are beginning to feel like the residents of the fictional kingdom of Arendelle, stuck in eternal winter, as in the Disney movie "Frozen."
If a foot of snow causes your roof to collapse or if extreme cold temperatures cause your pipes to freeze, will your insurance policy cover the damage? It depends on whether your policy provides coverage for named perils or open perils. Here are some key things to know as you review your policy.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) standard Homeowners forms and the equivalent American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) forms list the weight of ice, sleet and snow as named perils--which means that damage from the weight of ice, snow or sleet to a building or property contained in a building is covered. Loss to awnings, fences, patios, pavements, swimming pool, foundations, retaining walls, piers, wharves or docks is excluded.
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Source: www.propertycasualty360.com
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
What Will States Do If Court Kills Health Insurance Subsidies?
Five Republican state governors say they will not rescue a crucial part of Obamacare if it is struck down by the Supreme Court, underlining the prospect for a chaotic aftermath to a ruling that could force millions of Americans to pay much more for coverage or lose their health insurance.
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Source: www.insurancejournal.com
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Getting it right: Auto claim satisfaction continues to rise
Most people view an auto accident as a major headache that will cost them time and money. And while accidents are inconvenient, a new survey from the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) finds that the majority of customers are “very satisfied with the automobile insurance claims process.”
A survey of 1,000 likely voters nationwide asked people their thoughts about the auto body repair process following an accident. Nearly 73% of the voters surveyed had filed an insurance claim for a vehicle accident. More than half of the respondents, 55.8%, said they were either very or extremely satisfied with how their claims were handled, and 33.4% said they were somewhat satisfied with the claims process. This confirms the findings of a J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey released last fall, which found that overall customer satisfaction with the claims process had consistently improved over the last five years, rising from 842 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2010 to 857 in 2014.
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Source: www.propertycasualty360.com
A survey of 1,000 likely voters nationwide asked people their thoughts about the auto body repair process following an accident. Nearly 73% of the voters surveyed had filed an insurance claim for a vehicle accident. More than half of the respondents, 55.8%, said they were either very or extremely satisfied with how their claims were handled, and 33.4% said they were somewhat satisfied with the claims process. This confirms the findings of a J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey released last fall, which found that overall customer satisfaction with the claims process had consistently improved over the last five years, rising from 842 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2010 to 857 in 2014.
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Source: www.propertycasualty360.com
Labels:
Personal Insurance
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
The war on fun: 10 ways risk tolerances have changed since the 1970s
One of the latest bans on fun: no sledding.
Seriously, towns from Iowa to New Jersey are becoming afraid of the liability. It’s safer to erect a sign in the park than to let kids enjoy a snow day. But are we really surprised? So many things these town managers and lawyers did themselves when they were children are now deemed too risky.
Like letting kids walk home alone from the bus stop, which is at the end of the driveway.
"We are just encouraged to imagine the worst-case scenario," says Lenore Skenazy, author, lecturer and founder of the organization Free Range Kids. "We're living in this society that believes you can get to zero risk."
Yet few would argue for a total return to the good ol’ days. Revisit the 1970s and judge for yourself.
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Source: www.propertycasualty.com
Seriously, towns from Iowa to New Jersey are becoming afraid of the liability. It’s safer to erect a sign in the park than to let kids enjoy a snow day. But are we really surprised? So many things these town managers and lawyers did themselves when they were children are now deemed too risky.
"We are just encouraged to imagine the worst-case scenario," says Lenore Skenazy, author, lecturer and founder of the organization Free Range Kids. "We're living in this society that believes you can get to zero risk."
Yet few would argue for a total return to the good ol’ days. Revisit the 1970s and judge for yourself.
Read More...
Source: www.propertycasualty.com
Labels:
Personal Insurance
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Responding to the Anthem Cyber Attack
Anthem Inc. (Anthem), the nation's second-largest health
insurer, revealed late on Wednesday, February 4 that it was the victim of a
significant cyber-attack. According to Anthem, the attack exposed personal information
of approximately 80 million individuals, including those insured by related
Anthem companies. Anthem has reported that the exposed information includes
member names, member health ID and Social Security numbers, dates of birth,
addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and employment information. The
investigation of the massive data breach is ongoing, and media outlets have
reported that class action suits have already been filed against Anthem in
California and Alabama, claiming that lax Anthem security measures contributed
to this incident.
Employers, multiemployer health plans, and others
responsible for employee health benefit programs should take note that the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and state data breach
notification laws may hold them responsible for ensuring that certain
notifications are made related to the incident. The nature of these obligations
will depend on whether the benefits offered through Anthem are provided under
an insurance policy, and so are considered to be "fully insured," or
whether the Anthem benefits are provided under a "self-insured"
arrangement, where Anthem does not insure the benefits, but instead administers
the benefits. The most significant legal obligations on the part of employers,
multiemployer health plans, and others responsible for employee health benefit
programs will apply to Anthem benefits that are self-insured.
Where notifications must be made, the notifications may be
due to former and present employees and their dependents, government agencies,
and the media. Where HIPAA applies, the
notifications will need to be made "without unreasonable delay" and
in any event no later than 60 days after the employer or other responsible
party becomes aware that the breach has affected its own health plan
participants. Where state data breach laws apply, notifications generally must
be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay,
subject to certain permitted delays. Some state laws impose outside timeframes
as short as 30 days. Under the state laws, reporting obligations on the part of
employers, multiemployer health plans, and others responsible for employee
health benefit programs will generally turn on whether they, or Anthem,
"own" the breached data. Since the state laws apply to breaches of
data of their residents, regardless of the states in which the compromised
entities and data owners are located, and since former employees and dependents
could reside anywhere, a comprehensive state law analysis is required to
determine the legal requirements arising from this data breach. Fortunately,
depending on the circumstances, some (but not all) state data breach
notification laws defer to HIPAA breach notification procedures, and do not
require additional action where HIPAA applies and is followed.
As potentially affected parties wait for confirmation from
Anthem as to whether any of their employees, former employees or their covered
dependents has had their data compromised, we recommend that affected parties
work with their legal counsel to determine what their responsibilities, if any,
might be to respond to this incident. Among other things, for self-insured
arrangements, HIPAA business associate agreements and other contracts with
Anthem should be reviewed to assess how data breaches are addressed, whether
data ownership has been addressed by contract, and whether indemnification
provisions may apply. Consideration should also be given to promptly reaching
out to Anthem to clarify the extent to which Anthem will be addressing
notification responsibilities. Once parties are in a position to make required
notifications, we also recommend that companies consult with legal counsel to
review the notifications and the distribution plans for those notifications to
assure that applicable legal requirements have been satisfied.
Please visit their dedicated website, www.anthemfacts.com, where members can access information such as frequent questions and answers. To view frequently asked questions, visit www.anthemfacts.com/faq. Anthem has also established a toll-free number that members can call with questions regarding the incident: 1-877-263-7995.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Tips to protect taxpayers from identity theft
Tax return identity theft has reached such epidemic proportions that it tops the list of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams. With tax season well under way, here are tips the IRS wants you to know about identity theft so you can avoid becoming the victim.
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Source: http://blog.cinfin.com
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Source: http://blog.cinfin.com
Monday, February 9, 2015
Hidden dangers: 5 steps to keep your child's identity protected online
Most people are acutely aware of the need to protect their identities, but parents may not realize that their children face the same threats. Child identity theft is dangerous because a child’s credit history is basically a blank slate, and the probability of discovery is extremely low because most parents don’t monitor their child’s identity or credit history. In many cases, the theft may not be identified for years until the child applies for a student loan, takes out a credit card or makes a major purchase requiring a credit check.
Sometimes, parents are lucky and realize there might be a problem when they start getting calls or notices from bill collectors for unpaid balances on cars their child can’t possibly own or credit cards that haven’t been opened by anyone in the family. For children who don’t find out about the problem until they are adults, the results can be devastating.
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source: www.propertycasualty360.com
Sometimes, parents are lucky and realize there might be a problem when they start getting calls or notices from bill collectors for unpaid balances on cars their child can’t possibly own or credit cards that haven’t been opened by anyone in the family. For children who don’t find out about the problem until they are adults, the results can be devastating.
Read More...
source: www.propertycasualty360.com
Labels:
Personal Insurance
Monday, February 2, 2015
Healthcare.gov beefs up Security
Health insurance agents concerned over client privacy on the federal health exchange have some cause to celebrate this week after the White House announced a series of new measures to improve protection for consumer information on HealthCare.gov.
The website will no longer explicitly send details such as age, income, ZIP code, tobacco use and whether a woman is pregnant to a number of private companies that had embedded connections within the site.
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source: www.ibamag.com
The website will no longer explicitly send details such as age, income, ZIP code, tobacco use and whether a woman is pregnant to a number of private companies that had embedded connections within the site.
Read More...
source: www.ibamag.com
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