Declarations

Cancellation Notice

“The association’s leadership did not make the unprecedented decision to cancel this year’s Annual Convention and Young Agents Conference lightly. Like so many other West Virginia businesses of all sizes, our association’s membership and their ability to support programming of this type has been dramatically impacted by the downturn in our national and regional economies.”

—Gray Marion, the group’s chief executive officer, informed members in a note that the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia had called off its 110th annual convention, set to kick off Sept. 30 at Pipestem State Resort. The association cited the struggling economy as the reason.

Mitigation Mitigation

“The purpose of mitigation discounts is to incentivize the hardening of homes. This effort cannot achieve full benefit when many people are receiving credits though they’ve done nothing to mitigate their homes. The resulting tragedy is that many homeowners are led to believe their homes are safer than they really are. It also means that those Floridians who have truly hardened their homes do not receive the full benefit for their efforts.”

—Liz Reynolds, Southeast state affairs manager for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, in a letter to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology, which is reviewing the state’s homeowners insurance storm mitigation discount program. In August, the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) issued a white paper charging that the program is riddled with fraud and inefficiencies and not doing its job of protecting homeowners.

Career-Ending Injury

“He tries to stay upbeat, but this guy … was at the top of his game.”

—Givens’ attorney, Dan Warlick, attorney for former Tennessee Titans wide receiver David Givens, who says the team failed to tell him about a defect in his knee that led to an injury and eventually ended his career. In his $25 million lawsuit, Givens said that a team doctor discovered a defect in his knee around the time his contract was being negotiated in March 2006. He claims the examining doctor told team officials he “may need surgery at some point” and “may not be able to make a full 16-game season,” according to the suit. But Givens claims he was “kept in the dark about his condition” and team officials urged him to keep playing. Givens, 29, has not played professionally again.