News & Resources

Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc with many things this past fall. People in Florida and all up and down the coast watched with dismay as the storm battered many parts of the country, killing 132 and causing damage to property. Communities are still struggling in the storm’s aftermath. The total cost to the insurance industry of all claims arising from the storm is expected to be close to $25 billion, almost rivaling the costs experienced when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

We all know the risks of driving on New Year’s Eve. Revelers ring in the new year with a little too much to drink, then they get behind the wheels of their cars. The results can be catastrophic. Here in Miami, the added allure of the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day brings more visitors to town and provides yet another opportunity to drink to excess. The upshot is that the city’s streets could prove especially dangerous during the first 24 hours of 2013.

When a family entrusted their investment money to Bernard Madoff, they started getting financial statements from his business showing them falsely inflated amounts in their accounts to make them think that they were doing well, and perhaps should consider investing more. But the money wasn’t really there. The investment offered was actually just one big Ponzi scheme, and their money was lost. Later, they sought to file insurance claims, as many others from Florida and elsewhere who lost money did.

We are returning to our Dec. 5 discussion of long-term care insurance and the changes the industry is likely to impose beginning in 2013. Most of the changes will affect women’s coverage, particularly when it comes to premiums. Tougher underwriting standards are also on the horizon. For Florida residents, the prospect is just more turmoil with insurance in general.

The long-term care insurance market is about to change, especially for women. After years of charging the same premiums regardless of the insured’s gender, one of the country’s leading LTC insurers announced that women’s premiums will be increasing by as much as 40 percent in 2013.

Chances are good that any fresh vegetables you eat during January, February and March were grown in Florida. We are also responsible for 70 percent of the country’s citrus production. We have 47,500 farms on more than 9.2 million acres. As a result of this heavy reliance on agriculture, Florida, according to a nationwide crop insurance trade association, knows about crop insurance.

While the Eastern Seaboard was getting socked by Sandy, states in the Midwest and Southwest were struggling through one of the worst droughts on record. Florida may have dodged both bullets directly, but chances are good that we will still feel some of the pain as the East Coast rebuilds and the Midwest replants.

Unfortunately, children sometimes see car keys lying around the house and may take the family car for a joyride. When the joyride turns into an accident, it may become a headache for the parent who becomes responsible for the damages done to property or injuries to a person. Making junior pay for it out of his allowance may seem fine in theory, but hardly practical in many cases unless the parent is prepared to wait until the child turns into an adult.

One of the many repercussions of the 2005 hurricane season was that insurance companies started adding hurricane and wind deductibles to homeowners insurance policies. The deductibles are not as simple as a renters insurance deductible, say, where the policyholder is responsible for the first $1,000 of damage and the insurer covers the rest — up to the coverage limit, of course.

We were talking about Superstorm Sandy in our last post, and it occurred to us that the flooding from the rain and the storm surge could be new to some homeowners and business owners. Hurricanes Irene and Lee last year gave some communities along the East Coast their first experience with flood damage, but Sandy seems to have cut a wider, and perhaps deeper, path. As a result, we thought we would back up a little and explain some flood insurance basics.