According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), flooding is this country’s most prevalent natural disaster. In the years between 1995 and 2004, flood losses in the U.S. averaged $867 million annually. There are about 4.7 million citizens who have taken advantage of the government’s flood insurance protection, however large numbers of at-risk Americans still refuse to find coverage. After hurricane Katrina last summer, when nearly 80% of New Orleans was underwater, it is surprising that people would not seek such coverage, since their homeowner’s policies do not insure them against floods.
Work on the new office complex was progressing on schedule. The owner had lined up tenants for two-thirds of the space and was in talks with several others. The general contractor expected to finish construction on time. All that changed when fire broke out on the first floor late one afternoon. It spread from a stack of drywall awaiting installation to a pile of scrap plywood, where the wind picked up the flames and carried them to the structure. Drywall, insulation and plastic wiring all soon ignited. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze and limit the damage. However, it would now take an additional two months to complete the project because the contractors would have to clean up the debris from the fire and ensuing water damage, order replacement materials, and re-do much of the first floor’s construction. The owner faced the certainty of thousands of dollars in lost rents and additional interest on the construction loans.
Americans love to hear about point systems. After all, many involve us earning desirable rewards, discounts, and freebies. However, not all point systems are about earning something desirable.
Child safety experts have always emphasized the vulnerability of young children in the event of a crash. Parents are continually schooled in the media about the proper use of car seats and booster seats. The federal government even established guidelines for parents of young children; recommending that parents place infants up to 20 pounds in a rear-facing child seat and toddlers weighing between 20 to 40 pounds in a child seat with a harness. Children weighing more than 40 pounds who aren’t at least 4 feet 9 inches tall should be in a booster seat.
Wherever you find disaster, you almost always find someone attempting to profit. Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the summer of 2005, thousands of water-damaged vehicles showed up in car lots all across the southern United States, many with no visible problems. They were sold outside of the hurricane’s heavy-hit areas, to avoid suspicion of flood damage. Though in excellent physical condition, these refurbished cars could still be prone to problems, which is why concealing their disastrous history is against the law.
The federal Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 330,000 complaints in 2009, and more than a third of them ended up in the hands of law enforcement. The damages from those referred to the authorities totaled more than a half billion dollars. The Government Accountability Office estimated that cyber crime cost U.S. organizations $67.2 billion in 2005; that number has likely increased since then. With so much of business today done electronically, organizations of all types are highly vulnerable to theft and corruption of their data. It is important for them to identify their loss exposures, possible loss scenarios, and prepare for them.
When transporting children in your vehicle (whether they are your own children or others), it is important to ensure that they are properly restrained. Remember that cars are designed to comfortably and safely seat adult-sized passengers, and child restraints are designed to compensate for this.
There are many dangers that can contribute to car accidents, but driver fatigue is by far one of the largest. Falling asleep behind the wheel is a serious problem, causing more than 100,000 accidents per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For most of these fatigue-based crashes, the culprit is monotony on the road. Interstates and high-speed or long, rural highways, for example, are the most frequent areas where drivers fall asleep. Studies done by the NHTSA have proven that driving with fatigue is equally if not more dangerous than driving intoxicated, with very similar results: impaired reflexes, blurred vision, inability to stay focused, etc. The NHTSA has estimated that drivers falling asleep at the wheel cost about $12.5 billion annually in insurance claims and medical costs.
At long last, your loan package has been approved, your closing date is just days away, everything you own has been packed, and all that remains is a quick call to your insurance agent to line up a homeowner’s policy. That’s when the bad dream can begin.
An employee in a high school’s finance department steals $279,000 to support her gambling habit and cover her mortgage payments. A bank employee in Pennsylvania allegedly embezzles $750,000. The former CEO of a Colorado insurance brokerage pleads guilty to stealing $353,400 from the brokerage’s employee benefits plan. The office manager of a Texas law firm gets four years in prison for forging checks and depositing client payments in her personal bank account.