It Figures

$6 Million

Approximate value of property losses in Virginia last year blamed on the use of cigarettes and smoking materials. A new law, which went into effect Jan. 1, mandates that all cigarettes sold in the state must comply with more stringent fire safety standards.

$4.7 Million

Amount of settlement paid to the authority that operates Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center over a 2007 floor collapse that significantly damaged the property. The authority’s insurer, The Travelers Indemnity Co., will receive $1.1 million from contractors sued over the collapse. The settlement represents about 90 percent of the losses attributed to the collapse.

$3.4 Million

Amount of “fees” pocketed by a Massachusetts insurance agency that is being sued by the state attorney general’s office. Attorney General Martha Coakley accused Bay State Insurance Agency of Peabody of disguising the fees within insurance premiums. Coakley’s office also alleges that the agency forged clients’ signatures and committed other dubious business practices.

9

Number of suspected arsons set within a half-mile of a Northampton, Mass. neighborhood on one evening last month. Two people were killed in one of the blazes. Officials have arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with the fires.

$3,200

Approximate cost to install a sprinkler system in a 2,000-square-foot home in New Hamphshire, where a quasi-state agency says the devices will be required as of 2012. Concerns over the cost, however, have prompted the Granite State legislature to consider ways to drop that requirement.