Commissioner Mike Yaworsky Highlights Rating Upgrades for Several Tax Bonds — Underscoring the Market is Stable

Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky is affirming that Florida’s property insurance market is stable, as demonstrated by the recent rating upgrades for three Florida special tax bonds. Moody’s Ratings recently upgraded ratings for several Florida assessment-backed special tax bonds, including Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Citizen’s Property Insurance Corporation and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky is affirming that Florida’s property insurance market is stable, as demonstrated by the recent rating upgrades for three Florida special tax bonds. Moody’s Ratings recently upgraded ratings for several Florida assessment-backed special tax bonds, including Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Citizen’s Property Insurance Corporation and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky said, “These recent upgrades continue to show that Florida’s insurance market is maintaining stability. Even with Florida’s unpredictable weather, a major bond rating agency agrees that several of Florida’s tax bonds are strong and have ample capacity to cover claims.”

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

https://floir.com/newsroom/archives/item-details/2024/11/25/commissioner-mike-yaworsky-highlights-rating-upgrades-for-several-tax-bonds-underscoring-the-market-is-stable

H.B. 6295 would allow counties to transfer control of county roads to townships

Michigan House Bill 6295, introduced on June 30, 2022, by Representative Jeff Yaroch, aims to amend the 1969 Public Act 296. This act governs the transfer of jurisdiction over highways and roads between various local authorities in Michigan. Specifically, H.B. 6295 would allow counties to transfer control of county roads to townships, provided there is mutual agreement between the involved jurisdictions.

The proposed amendments focus on refining legal definitions and clarifying the process for jurisdiction transfers. Terms such as “highway authority,” “highway,” and “board” are defined to ensure consistent interpretation across jurisdictions. A key provision of the bill is that no highway transfer can occur without formal consent from both the transferring and receiving entities. 

Such consent must be expressed in a written agreement that is approved through resolutions adopted by both parties.

This bill highlights a shift toward greater flexibility in road management, particularly for townships that may seek direct oversight of local infrastructure previously managed at the county level. By allowing such transfers, the bill may provide townships with an opportunity to address specific road maintenance needs more effectively.

Following its introduction, the bill was referred to the Committee on Transportation for further deliberation. However, as of the latest updates, it has not advanced beyond this stage in the legislative process.The bill reflects ongoing efforts to improve local governance and infrastructure management, potentially providing townships with greater autonomy and control over their road systems.

FMCSA Wins Historic Judgment Against Moving Company

Washington DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) secured a historic ruling against moving companies for transporting household goods without FMCSA registration, violating federal regulations. The judgment comes as FMCSA strengthens state partnerships and takes further actions to protect consumers moving across state lines.

On September 11, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered USA Logistics to pay $25,000 in fines for multiple infractions of FMCSA laws. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of Secretary Pete Buttigieg. As part of the settlement, USA Logistics admitted to the violations and committed to adhering to the law moving forward.

“This Department has taken action against carriers not fulfilling their obligations. Families deserve to know their belongings are safe during a move,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The judgment announced today is a significant step in holding moving companies accountable for deceptive practices. We will continue to use our authority to protect consumers.”

FMCSA Deputy Administrator Vinn White added, “We want carriers to know that non-compliance with federal regulations can have serious consequences. We’re proud to partner with DOJ to tackle this issue.”

FMCSA also hosted a Commercial Enforcement and Consumer Protection (CECP) course to highlight consumer protection issues related to household goods transportation. The course focused on enforcement options and consumer protections available to state attorney general personnel. The CECP course builds on FMCSA’s efforts through Operation Protect Your Move, an annual nationwide initiative to target moving companies with significant consumer complaints. In 2024, FMCSA investigators conducted 60 investigations and implemented over 30 enforcement actions.

Additionally, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a bipartisan bill in September, giving FMCSA greater enforcement authority. The bill allows the agency to impose civil penalties for violations of commercial regulations, including consumer protections for household goods, and refuse registration to applicants without proper verification.

For more information on FMCSA’s consumer protection efforts, visit www.protectyourmove.gov.

Source: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/fmcsa-wins-landmark-judgement-against-moving-company

Staying Safe Online: Here are some important guidelines

Staying Safe Online: Here are some important guidelines that will help you protect yourself when using the internet.

Thus, it is more important than ever to be careful in the digital environment and protect ourselves from various threats that exist in the network space.  Some of the risks include hacking, phishing scams, and identity theft that can lead to the loss of personal information and even financial theft.  It is possible to avoid these and have a safe online experience if one makes use of the right habits that are discussed below.

Use Strong and Unique Passwords

As such, passwords remain the primary method of protecting one’s self in the current world.  Do not use easily identifiable information like your name, your birthday or commonly used words.  It is recommended that you should come up with a password that is not easy to guess and should be different for every account that you create in the future to include both letters (both large and small), numbers and symbols.  When handling a number of passwords, it is advisable to use a password manager – a special tool that helps you create and store strong passwords for different websites and services.

Even if the person who has signed up with your email ID or has stolen your password, he/ she still cannot access your account because the second factor for the verification requires a code which is sent to your phone.

Beware of Suspicious Links and Emails

Phishing is considered to be one of the most dangerous activities that take place on the internet.  The malicious links or attachments in form of emails, texts or ads are the common tactics used by the cyber criminals.  Do not click on just any link; always check the sender and look for symptoms like incorrect spelling, desperation or different server address.

Keep Your Devices and Software Updated

It is critical for the software to be up to date since the old one has vulnerabilities that can be easily hacked.  It is therefore important to check for updates of your operating systems, apps and antivirus software to enhance on security.  Most updates are secured by important security patches that solve the outstanding threats.

Secure Your Internet Connection

Public Wi-Fi is very useful but you should be aware of the fact that it can be dangerous because your data can be intercepted by attackers.  When using such networks you should not engage in activities that require much attention like online banking and make sure you use a VPN to enclose your connection and protect your information.

Be Mindful of What You Share Online

It is therefore important to avoid posting sensitive information on social networks as the location, phone number or even financial details put at risk.  Provide as much detail as possible but only share as much as is necessary and ensure your privacy settings are optimized.

Monitor Your Accounts Regularly

This means that you should always check your online account frequently so that if there is any activity that you did not authorize, you will be able to report it sooner.  It is advisable to set up notifications for logins, transactions or password changes to alert you when someone else is logging in or transacting from your account.

Therefore, if these practices are made a part of one’s daily routine then one can protect his/ her personal details while using the internet.  Thus, the constantly developing sphere of cyber threats requires the active work of only a knowledgeable user.

Copyright 2024 by SafePro Insurance (www.safeproins.com). All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from SafePro Insurance.

Mandatory Workers’ Compensation Insurance for Contractors in California

The California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) has announced that starting January 1, 2023, certain licensed contractors must carry workers’ compensation insurance, regardless of whether they have employees. These contractors include those in the concrete (C-8), HVAC (C-20), asbestos abatement (C-22), and tree service (D-49) sectors. This new requirement is the result of Senate Bill 216, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2022. Additionally, the bill mandates that all contractors, including those without employees, must have workers’ compensation insurance by January 1, 2026. This type of insurance is required only for C-39 Roofing contractors, regardless of their employee count. The CSLB works to safeguard consumers and ensure fairness for contractors by requiring more of them to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Consumers can verify a contractor’s license status and insurance information on the CSLB website.

Link: https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Resources/PressReleases/2022/Workers_comp_release_10_11.pdf

OSHA will monitor the whistleblower cases under Antitrust and Money laundering Act: DoL

(Washington, DC, Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) –  Department of Labour (DoL), recently notified that, OSHA, shall investigate whistleblower complaints logged under the new Antitrust and Money Laundering provided by the legislation. This decision was taken keeping in view of increase in cases especially in professional safety and health administration in the recent days.

OSHA will probe into all concerns related to the direct and indirect actions of superiors or government exhibiting cause and related actions or support such incidents which are covered under the above two laws.

DoL will administer the registered cases under Wendell H Ford aviation investment and reforms act of twenty first century until OSHA is ready with its provisional final protocols related to both the acts.

DoL prime focus is to safeguard the rights of employees and to protect them from being harassed by supervisors; so as that transparency and credibility are developed leading to good governance in the work places.

The prime objective of the whistle blower retaliation program is to ensure that complainant is legally protected from 20 domains related to workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities, tax, antitrust, anti-money laundering laws, and for engaging in other related protected activities.

More commentary can be obtained from, www.whistleblowers.gov.

Source: www.dol.gov

Reference: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20210219

Research reveals 22% growth in Global commercial segment of Q4, 2020 FY

(Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) – Investigation done in commercial insurance sector across various regions and the globe in both private and public domains for the fourth quarter of 2020 with the support of Marsh, the lion share holder, indicate an aggregate of 22% increase which is 3% more than Q3, 2020.Global market insurance index was initiated in 2012 to study the trends across countries and continents which is a good resource and reference for various stake holders in insurance sector.

The major emphasis was laid on property insurance pricing, finance and professional lines, causality and composite ranking across regions and the nations. Analysis reported a sharp hike in finance and professional domains from 40% in Q3 to 47% in Q4.Property pricing decreased by 1%, whereas composite pricing has been increasing consistently for the last 9 years.

Though the overall increase is found in the fourth quarter, there is no significant change witnessed in certain regions other than UK and Pacific. Property insurance and Directors and officers reported moderate results. Region wise outputs reported Continental Europe, Asia, and LAC had moderate levels of price increases for three quarters of the financial year 2020.

Reports at national level reveal that Latin America, Pacific and US exhibited a positive growth of 9%, 35% and 44% respectively in Q4.Public sector Company D & O on an average reported medium results they had very good progress in US & Australia and exhibited an increase in the range of 25% to 50% in other countries of the world.

Source: www.marsh.com

Reference: https://www.marsh.com/us/insights/research/global-insurance-market-index-q4-2020.html

VERMONT is now a licensing authority to state based systems: NAIC

(Washington, Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) – National Association of Insurance Commissioners, NAIC, on 29 January 2021 announced the inclusion of Vermont department of financial regulation to license state based systems, SBS a 33rd in its latest count.

Michael Pieciak, Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner, expressed that, “SBS provides us with the opportunity to streamline our processes and improve our services and I am pleased to have licensed SBS and look forward to completing the implementation process.” He added that, “this is an exciting opportunity in our SBS implementation that we expect will result in across the board improvements to the services we provide our consumers, licensees and insurers.”

Electronic system will not help in rendering timely and quality services related to licenses, complaints management, enforcement with fewer amounts of efforts and also to work on par with the national standards and protocols in Insurance sector.

Vermont as a licensing agency to SBS is expected to offer a variety of product services in the domains of facilitating licenses to producers and companies, design and conduct capacity building programs and monitoring them, consumer related services, enforcement of the statutory norms, fraud reporting and support systems, exam tracking and revenue management.

For more details and list of the 32 licensed organizations and for other details you may look into the official portal of NAIC, www.naic.org

Source: www.naic.org

Reference: https://content.naic.org/article/news_release_vermont_becomes_33rd_naic_member_license_state_based_systems.htm

Private Insurance organizations to face EPLI Challenges: RPS

(Rolling Meadows, IL, Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) – Covid_19 affected Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) pricing and it is expected to continue in 2021 according to a report by Risk Placement Services.

Manny Cho RPS EVP, Executive Lines, opined that, “in order to obtain and maintain profitability, carriers are not only looking for rate adequacy but also, limiting their exposure through reductions in capacity”.

California, Illinois (Chicago) and New York are experiencing a jump in prices due to Covid. Other industries like hotels, restaurants and travel are deeply affected with EPLI rates. Sensitive analysis is done on EPLI Underwriting especially on private insurers regarding the impact of Covid, financial health of the organization, health and safety of employees and stability of the company.

Cho added, “At the onset of COVID, underwriting questions were related to a business’s reopening plans and the safety protocols in place to ensure employee safety”. Further scrutiny is also done on the operations, expansion plans and recruitment policy of the company to gauze their business stability and risk management.

In December 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released short document pertaining to vaccine administration, disability factors and religious beliefs to private insurers in addition to risk mitigation, work environment with safety measures.

It’s important for agents to help clients facilitate a decent insurance opportunity by deeply understanding the personal, professional and financial status of a client.

Insurers are exploring opportunities in financial services and technology in spite of all odds. Situations might have affected the underwriting procedures, but there is always scope to expand and explore.

Source: www. rpsins.com

Reference: https://www.rpsins.com/knowledge-center/items/epli-for-private-companies/

US Insurers need to be extra cautious in administering fraud payments: OFAC

(Economic & Insurance News by Insurance Market 360) -The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 1 October 2020 released an official reminder reminding about the fraud payments and reimbursement and their consequences to the economy and the insurance organizations.

Though, the statutory body did not make any alterations in the existing law, the reminder note publication is of great importance in the current pandemic and vulnerability wherein the probability of manipulations’ are increasing with the use of high end technology and strategies; due to which anti-social activities can increase and adversely affect the economy. It also suggested all the insurance service providers to be extremely keen and aware about the list of “specially designated Nationals and blocked persons” while executing any financial related settlements.

The funds raised from the insurance products by illegal acts can be used to strengthen the criminal, terrorist or cyber attack activities which can create huge damage to the infrastructure, people and the economy in major. In case if anyone is found guilty, agency will ban such entities and process with legal initiations as per the US Law.

In this regard, MARSH has developed strategies’ to address the issues with thorough investigation, recheck and reconfirm before the final settlement is done. Company is also open to do the required facilitation with regard to risk management, precautionary steps to avoid the negative consequences and provide professional way forward services so that insurance providers can play the game safe and secure so as not to fall down and get legally punished!

Source: www.marsh.com

Reference:https://www.marsh.com/us/insights/research/ofac-ransomware-advisory-for-us-companies.html