Tag: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

How ironic part deux: Paige St John of the Herald Tribune wins Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism

Speaking on behalf of a blog that cut its teeth on the very issues of offshore reinsurance and insurance finance we could not be more proud to not only have been a cumulative part of the conversation but also able to call Paige St John a true friend to the Slabbed Nation in every sense of the word. Now we know why everyone was interested in our post on Paige’s work, which otherwise flew under the radar but has also influenced an entire community of professional journalists.  The long and short of it folks is that insurance finance and following the money to Bermuda is no longer the journalistic back water former National Underwriter Editor in Chief Sam Friedman once knew. For our part we’ve been featuring Paige and her work since the earliest days of Slabbed.

Paige is part of a select group of reporters that have been wise enough to use this blog and the expertise of an entire community of knowledgable insiders like Mr CLS on Yahoo Allstate to advance society’s knowledge for a greater good. I speak for all of us in this community of bloggers in saying CONGRATULATIONS PAIGE ~ YOU GO GIRL!!

Here is an excerpt from the Sarasota Herald Tribune:

Herald-Tribune reporter Paige St. John won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism for her series on Florida’s insurance industry. Continue reading “How ironic part deux: Paige St John of the Herald Tribune wins Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism”

Merlin’s “Breaking News Story: Florida Insurers Hide Profits While Claiming Losses To Get Rates Raised”

Chip Merlin has done such an excellent job summarizing the key points of How Insurers Made Millions on the Side that I’ve reproduced the post on his Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog in total with this h/t and big “thank you”.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune conducted a year long investigation into the manner Florida insurance companies diverted premiums and monies as expenses and losses to hide actual profits. This revelation is probably shocking to many who have been told repeatedly that the Florida insurance industry is losing money as a result of “unfair” rates and for other claims related reasons.

Investigative journalist Paige St. John reported in How Insurers Made Millions on the Side, that:

Investors and executives in 2008 moved $1.9 billion in policyholder money out of heavily regulated insurers, where profits are capped and dividends are restricted, to separate companies that are owned by the same people, housed at the same address and sometimes use the same employees.

…

Meanwhile, insurance executives complained about losses and state-mandated discounts, and pressured state regulators for permission to charge homeowners more — even to end rate regulation altogether.

I wonder what the response is going to be from those who supported unregulated insurance rate laws. It is human nature to have a hard time admitting mistakes. If anything, this story demonstrates that laws need to be changed to allow much greater oversight by regulators because some insurance executives cannot be trusted to be honest stewards of monies set aside for the payment of claims.

Some insurance lobbyists defend these activities and even provide a justification: Continue reading “Merlin’s “Breaking News Story: Florida Insurers Hide Profits While Claiming Losses To Get Rates Raised””