It Figures

$500,000

Amount recovered last quarter by the Connecticut Insurance Department for the 1,400 customers who complained about their insurers’ claims practices, underwriting, sales tactics and other business practices. About half of that money was for accident and health claims, while a third was for auto insurance-related complaints.

375

Minimum acreage burned by 189 woodland brushfires on one unseasonably warm Saturday in Massachusetts last month. The dry, windy weather in the Bay State has prompted officials to stop issuing burning permits to residents out of fear they could spark more fires.

4.5%

The drop in the number of medical malpractice suits filed in Pennsylvania in 2007, the third straight annual decrease, according to number released by the state Supreme Court. The 1,617 suits filed in the Keystone State represent a 40.8 percent drop from the roughly 2,700 malpractice lawsuits annually between 2000 and 2002.

2

Minimum number of major brushfires in the last 12 months to strike the southern portion of Ocean County, New Jersey. The latest fire, the cause of which remains undetermined, burned through 75 acres near Barnegat and forced the evacuation of residents from 50 nearby homes and a campground. The blaze was not far from the site of brushfire last May that torched 17,000 acres when a military jet on a training mission dropped a flare too low to the ground.

2%

Minimum percentage of homeowners policies being non-renewed by State Farm in New Jersey. The company said it wants to limit its catastrophic exposure, particularly to homes on the Jersey Shore. The plan to drop the insureds has been approved by the state’s Banking and Insurance Department.