|
|
|
 |
As strange as it might sound, there is something to be learned from celebrity wrestler Hulk Hogan: Make sure you have enough insurance. In 2007, Hogan's son was involved in a car crash that left a passenger in the vehicle with permanent brain damage. Hogan – whose given name is Terry Bollea – had insurance, but the policy had a $250,000 limit, which was not enough to cover the potential liability created by the accident. Hogan sued his insurance company arguing that it should have advised him to get an umbrella policy. Unfortunately for Hogan, according to news reports, the company had advised his wife to get just such a policy on several occasions, but that she had turned down the coverage. Limits like the one in Hogan's policy are common and can be reached quickly when there is an accident or other mishap. This makes it important to know what the limits on your policies are and if those limits are too low for the amount of risk your business faces. Simply having insurance is not enough in some cases, something some businesses owners only come to understand after their policy limits are reached. This is especially true when your business grows or when changing circumstances increase the amount of risk to which your company is exposed. This is exactly what happened – on a much smaller scale – with Hogan's family. The wrestler's fortune was growing – making it more important for him to protect his growing assets. Hogan's children also had just received their driver's licenses and had just been added to his insurance policy – substantially increasing his liability risk. A more prudent choice would have been to increase the limits on his insurance or to get umbrella coverage. Business owners should periodically reassess the amount of insurance coverage that they carry. In doing so they should consider the sizes of their businesses and the sorts of risks they are exposed to. Talking to your insurance representative can be helpful in doing these risk assessments and you should call them if you have any questions or concerns.
In the past officials have relied primarily on television and radio to alert the public to emergencies. But a new system, which will be available in New York at the end of 2011, promises to deliver emergency alerts via text message to all phones in a geographic area. The system is known as PLAN – or the Personal Localized Alerting Network. PLAN will issue emergency messages to every phone on participating networks in a given area, no matter where the phone was purchased or where the person using the phone lives. Government officials will send the messages to participating wireless carriers who then pass along the messages to all of their customers in a given geographic area. The system does not require each user to sign up for the program. This makes it different from New York's current “Notify NYC” system, which requires users to opt-in to get any messages. This makes it possible to notify tourists as well as residents to any danger and does not rely on individuals to sign up – something few actually get around to doing. “Following the devastating tornadoes in the Southeast, we are witnessing yet again the critical role the public plays as part of our nation’s emergency management team. Making sure that they get useful and life-saving information, quickly and easily, right on their mobile phones, will help more people get out of harm’s way when a threat exists,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “This new technology could become a lifeline for millions of Americans and is another tool that will strengthen our nation’s resilience against all hazards.” The system sends out three different types of alerts: those issued by the president, those warning of imminent danger, and Amber Alerts, which notify the public when children are abducted. And while the system is only initially being launched in New York, there is hope that it can be expanded to other areas where earlier warnings can save lives.
When the average American thinks about tornado country, their mind most likely jumps to places like Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas – parts of the Great Plains often referred to as “Tornado Alley.” This is understandable as these states report the largest number of tornadoes every year. However, new research from the American Meteorological Society shows that the most dangerous place for tornadoes is not Tornado Alley, but Dixie Alley. Dixie Alley is a term used to describe a tornado-prone area of the Southeastern United States that includes the lower Mississippi and the upper Tennessee Valley. Residents and scientists have long known that the area produces its share of deadly tornadoes, as evidence by the extremely deadly storms that tore through Alabama in late April. But now researchers are coming to realize that it is this area of the South that is ground-zero for tornado danger, despite the fact that it experiences fewer tornadoes. Researchers say that Dixie Alley is more dangerous because tornadoes there tend to stay on the ground longer than they do in the Great Plains. This makes it more likely that a tornado will kill people and damage property. For example, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, which is commonly thought of as the county that experiences the most tornadoes in the country, experiences 60 percent more tornadoes than Smith County, Mississippi. However, tornadoes in Smith County stay on the ground for a considerably longer period of time. Because tornadoes spend much more time on the ground in Smith County, there is a 35 percent greater chance that a tornado will actually touch down near a given place in Smith County than it will touch down near a given place in Oklahoma County.
California is considering banning cuts to workers' compensation benefits because of race, sex, genetic characteristics, or age. This might not seem controversial, but because health risk factors are often associated with a person's race, sex and age, such a law could affect the way workers' compensation benefits are given out in the Golden State. The proposal would keep benefits from being cut for elevated risks associated with certain groups. For instance, high blood pressure is more common among African Americans. Age raises the risks for a host of diseases and injuries. Up until now, workers' compensation benefits could be cut based on some of these risk factors. The bill also anticipates an increased ability of scientists to predict illness and injury based on genetic characteristics. If this proposal is adopted by the state, it would potentially prevent illnesses and injuries from being classified as pre-existing through the use of testing for genetic characteristics. The proposed law has already passed the State Assembly and has been sent to the State Senate. Republican lawmakers are staunchly against the bill, arguing that it would raise the cost of doing business in the state. Former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger twice vetoed similar bills. Democrats see the bill as a way to extend the anti-discrimination policy. And now that California has a Democratic governor again, it seems more likely that the proposal will become law this time.
The Western United States has experienced some fairly extreme weather this winter and spring. There have been near-record levels of snowfall in some states in the Sierra Nevada and Rockies. But there also has been extremely dry conditions in New Mexico and Arizona. This extreme weather has many worried about flooding as the snow melts in areas that have accumulated record snow packs. It also has some worried about fires in states that have experienced an unusually dry winter. The blame for this unusual weather is La Nina. La Nina is a period when surface water near the Equator in the Pacific becomes unusually cold. A La Nina happens about every three to five years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a La Nina year, the Pacific Northwest of the United States typically experiences unusually wet weather while the Southwest typically experiences dry weather. This La Nina has fit that pattern closely. Dry conditions in the Southwest are nothing new. This is the 12th straight year of dry conditions in the region. The length of the drought has caused vegetation to dry out and increased the risk of severe wildfires. And these fires have already begun in New Mexico and Arizona. By mid-May, Arizona had lost more than 30,000 acres to fire and New Mexico had lost 10 times that amount. The annual “monsoon” rain in the area is not expected for another month and those rains cannot always be counted on. If you live in the West it is important to start thinking about protecting your home and business from floods and fires before they come. Those in flood-prone areas should stay alert for flood warnings and check with their insurance representative to make sure their coverage is adequate and up to date. Those in drought-stricken areas should not only check on their insurance coverage, but also create a defensible space around their property. This means reducing the amount of brush and other flammable items within 100 feet of structures. Doing this can dramatically increase the chance that your property will survive a wildfire.
The British Royal wedding is over, and it seems to have gone off without a hitch. But if it hadn't, you can be sure there would have been an insurance company involved. Tom Phillipson, head of special risks for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, told BestWire Services that royal weddings often have limits of tens of millions of dollars and cover a host of contingencies. The main one is cancellation due to the death or illness of the bride or groom or other named family members. Typically, there is also coverage for cancellation due to war or pandemics. But there is one thing that is never covered, according to Phillipson: cold feet.
A five-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program has finally made some progress in Congress. A House committee unanimously passed an extension of the program, which will now be voted on by the full House before moving to the Senate. The program has been temporarily extended almost a dozen times while Congress has been trying to reform the program. The program is more than $17 billion in debt and the five-year extension includes many measures that would bring that debt under control. These include gradually phasing out subsidies and slowly raising premiums until they reflect the actual cost of running the program.
Are you ready for the zombie apocalypse? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a tongue-in-cheek blog post, asked the public just that question. The CDC hoped that such a post would get the public's attention and maybe even get some of them to better prepare for a non-fictional disaster, like an earthquake. And it appears to have worked: National Public Radio reported that the post received almost a million page views in just a couple of days. It turns out, you need pretty much the same stuff you need to survive a hurricane, earthquake or flood as you would a zombie invasion: water, non-perishable food, extra medications, and first aid supplies.
Car crashes not only kill 30,000 people every year, but losses from these accidents are not limited to human life – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that they also result in $41 billion in medical and work loss costs. By far, the states with the largest financial losses due to fatal car crashes are California, Texas and Florida – something that should come as no surprise since they are three of the four most populous states in the country. The CDC recommends that more states adopt graduated drivers licensing laws, more sobriety checkpoints, and increased seat belt and helmet use.
|
|
| Return to Parsons & Associates Website |