News Briefs

ILLINOIS

Segal Sentencing Delayed Indefinitely for Psychiatric Evaluation

Former Chicago insurance broker Michael Segal’s sentencing for a federal conviction on 19 counts of fraud and racketeering related to nearly $30 million in missing premium trust funds has been delayed indefinitely. Segal, former owner and CEO of Near North National Group, was due to be sentenced in March, but the date was rescheduled numerous times.

This time, U.S. District Court Judge Ruben Castillo has delayed the sentencing and ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Segal’s allegedly precarious mental condition. Segal, who has been housed at a federal jail in downtown Chicago since being found guilty in June 2004, has reportedly struggled physically and emotionally. His businesses have been sold off in order to pay fines and compensate his clients, and his wife has filed for divorce.

According to Steve Warmbir of the Chicago Sun-Times, Segal has found himself so distracted while in jail that he requested a stenographer to help keep track of his thoughts on his own sentencing. Earlier, Segal requested leave from federal prison to treat an alleged scabies condition he’d developed while in jail. He was denied leave because he is considered a flight risk. No new sentencing date has been set. Segal faces more than 20 years in prison.

Auto Rates Up 4% in 2004 The average cost of an auto insurance policy in Michigan increased 4 percent in 2004, according to a study by the Insurance Institute of Michigan. The average auto insurance premium in 2004 was $1,130, compared to $1,086 in 2003, the study concluded.

Michigan is the only state that requires insurance companies to provide unlimited, lifetime medical benefits to motorists injured in auto accidents. Auto insurance premium hikes in Michigan and across the country have leveled off after years of increasing. The number of auto accidents, safer cars and fraud-fighting efforts have contributed to this trend, IIM Executive Director Peter Kuhnmuench said in a statement. However, he observed that rising costs for medical care, vehicle repairs and lawsuits remain a problem.

State Sponsors Comp Seminar The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth and the State Bar of Michigan have teamed up to develop a four-part seminar series about workers’ compensation, beginning Aug. 3. The series, aimed at lawyers and others interested in learning about the state’s workers’ compensation law, will cover the basics of the state’s workers’ compensation law for those new to the field as well as some refresher information for the more experienced practitioners, according to DLEG Deputy Director David Plawecki.

The seminar will be teleconferenced to sites in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Saginaw. As seating is limited, reservations are required to attend and must be made by Monday, July 25. Reservations are accepted by telephoning Hilda at (248) 357-7013.

NORTH DAKOTA

June Hailstorms Total $18 Million in Insured Damages North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman reported that severe weather that ripped through the Dickinson area in Western North Dakota and the Langdon and Walhalla areas in Eastern North Dakota earlier this month has caused an estimated $18 million in damage to insured property.

Early estimates from several major insurance carriers who write a majority of the auto, homeowners and farm/ranch insurance market in North Dakota indicated that they have received more than 4,500 claims. Many companies report that they have completed the adjustment of around 25 percent of the claims filed and expect to be finished assessing damage in the next few weeks. Many insurance companies have set up catastrophe teams in the Dickinson area.

OHIO

Employers Can Split Comp Premium Into 2 Payments Beginning July 18, Ohio employers will be allowed to split their premium into two payments for the Jan. 1 to June 30, 2005, payroll period. If an employer chooses the online 50/50 plan, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will only require 50 percent of the amount due by Aug. 31, 2005. The option is only available online. The remaining amount due would be payable by Nov. 1, 2005. The bureau is enacting the special offer, which it said may not be offered in the future, in order to assist employers angered by the fund’s decision not to offer a dividend, as it had for the last nine years.

WISCONSIN

Bill Would Leave Insurers With $500 Million Fox River Cleanup Tab A bill that would force insurers to pick up the estimated $500 million tab to clean up the polluted Fox River has been passed by the Wisconsin Assembly on a 49-44 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate, but will not be considered before August. Called the Fair Claims Act, Assembly Bill 222 was proposed by a group of state legislators who represent the Fox River area and the approximately 100,000 workers employed by the paper manufacturers. It would force insurers to pay “all-sums” up to the policy’s limits due to a covered risk regardless of whether or not it occurred during the policy period.

American Insurance Association spokesman Jeffrey Junkas said insurers are cautiously optimistic because the Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz (R-17th), former chair of the Senate Agriculture and Insurance Committee, “understands the property/casualty industry very well.” While Schultz has not made a public statement about AB 222, he did oppose inserting it into the two-year budget package which is still being debated.