In our last post, we were talking about the “Restoration of Legal Rights for Claimants under Holocaust-Era Insurance Policies Act of 2011” introduced by Florida’s senior U.S. Senator, Bill Nelson. Holocaust survivors groups have sought this kind of relief for years. The issue, of course, is denied and delayed life insurance payments from Holocaust-era policies. The last post covered the basic provisions of the bill.
Florida’s senior U.S. Senator introduced the “Restoration of Legal Rights for Claimants under Holocaust-Era Insurance Policies Act of 2011” last week, answering the call of survivors groups all over the country. As noted previously in our blog, Holocaust survivors, their families and the families of victims of the Holocaust have long sought payment on life insurance policies purchased during the war. They claim insurers have failed to live up to their obligations by delaying or denying claims.
Residents near Christchurch, New Zealand were recently struck with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, reminding the United States of their vulnerability to a natural disaster of this type.
This is the last in a short series of posts about long-term care insurance. The insurance is supposed to cover the costs of home care or a nursing facility when the policyholder becomes disabled. Many insurance companies underestimated their costs when they introduced the coverage, and they’ve pulled out of the market. Meanwhile, policyholders are getting frustrated when claims are denied or delayed, or when they realize the terms of their policy aren’t quite what they thought. A recent article highlighted some of the issues and posed some thoughtful responses to common questions.
In our last post, we were talking about long-term care insurance. The insurance has an interesting, and perhaps undeserved, reputation, thanks to headlines about companies pulling out of the business and reports of policyholders’ denied or delayed claims. A recent article laid out some ways to ensure a long-term care insurance policy will actually cover the expenses associated with long-term care.
Long-term care insurance has received a lot of press coverage lately. Insurers are getting out of the market; companies holding on are asking for double-digit rate hikes. And as that big chunk of Americans, the Baby Boomers, reach retirement age, industry insiders were hoping more people would buy long-term care policies for themselves or for their Boomer parents. The market conditions have put a damper on those hopes. Market conditions may also be responsible for an increase in long-term care insurance claim denials.
In our last post, we were talking about the “file and use” and “use and file” rate approval rules. Insurance companies in Florida may elect to use either, but the industry complains that the “use and file” rule is meaningless, because the Office of Insurance Regulation rarely approves the rate change. Insurers must then reimburse their policyholders for premiums collected at the proposed, but disapproved rate.
Last year, Florida lawmakers took a step toward deregulating commercial motor vehicle insurance; this year, some legislators hope to go even farther. A bill that passed out of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee this week would allow insurance companies to offer a number of different commercial insurance products before the rates are approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation.
An international insurance company is sponsoring a golf tournament in South Florida this weekend, and a group of Holocaust survivors and their families are planning to be there. Not in the stands, though; they plan to be protesting. The company, Allianz, owes them thousands of dollars for insurance claims made by family members who died at the hands of the Nazis. The insurer disagrees.
A settlement between environmental groups and the Federal Emergency Management Agency should put the brakes on development in Florida’s hurricane-vulnerable coastal areas, according to the organizations. In their lawsuit against the federal agency, the National Wildlife Federation and Florida Wildlife Federation had alleged that managers at FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program failed to study specific environmental impacts of coastal developments before approving flood insurance.
