Declarations

“The report will not be punitive in nature. It is an objective review so that we can look back and learn from it and apply that learning to other programs in our agency.”

— Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash. Park officials, along with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have formed a team to investigate and report on how the massive fires that started in the Tennessee mountains spread to the nearby town of Gatlinburg. Officials have been criticized for their handling of the fires.

“The overall message points to a healthy excess and surplus lines industry that continues to maintain a strong presence across the U.S.”

— Norma Carabajal Essary, executive director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX), which captures and analyzes insurance data from stamping offices across the country. Nearly $26 billion in surplus lines insurance premium was recorded nationally for end-of-year 2016 — a 3.27 percent rise from 2015. The number of filings recorded in 2016 — about 3.6 million — represents a 3.1 percent increase over that of 2015.

“We note, however, that insurers would be well-advised to consider the retail book value of a vehicle early in the settlement process, and not to depend on insureds to bring such information to their attention.”

— A Massachusetts appeals court, in lawsuit filed against defendant Massachusetts Homeland Insurance Co., warned auto insurers that it is important to take retail book value into consideration early in the settlement process. The plaintiff, whose vehicle was determined by Homeland to be a total loss after a January accident, alleged Homeland had violated regulatory requirements by not taking the retail book value of his car into consideration early in the settlement process.

“As we commemorate the devastation from 23 years ago, we also need to listen to what is forecast for the future.”

— Glenn Pomeroy, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, reminded people during the anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake that the U.S. Geological Survey says there is a 93 percent chance of a magnitude-7.0 earthquake occurring in California in the next 30 years — a massive quake that would be three times as strong as the Northridge catastrophe.

“Through the failures of the (Affordable Care Act), consumers in particular have faced enough hardships; please ensure that these are not compounded through hasty and/or incomplete action.”

— Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration in a letter to GOP congressional leaders asking them to avoid “hasty” or “incomplete” action as they proceed with a planned repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The letter urges Congress to provide “certainty and stability” to people covered through the health care law.