Claims News Service, Oct. 25, 11:00 a.m. EDT -- In the wake ofHurricane Katrina, an on-line study of approximately 1,000 U.S.adults conducted by Ipsos, a global survey-based market researchcompany, shows that while nearly all respondents approve of the jobbeing done by charities and non-profits, only 18 percent approve ofthe job being done by the insurance industry. Forty-three percentof Americans disapprove of the job being done by insurancecompanies and 39 percent are unable to take sides at this time.

"The results for the insurance industry are troubling. Theinsurance industry rates below all levels of government (national,state, and local) and aid organizations in its response to thehurricane," said Thomas Miller, Regional Senior Vice-President andManaging Director of Ipsos Public Affairs in the U.S.

"The hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast have had a devastatingeffect on people's lives and livelihoods, and could soon be havinga devastating effect on the insurance industry. The tremendousdamage wreaked by Hurricane Katrina will take unprecedented amountsof money and effort to fix. Tensions among the key players--theFederal, state and local governments, their disaster and reliefagencies, the insurance industry and hundreds of thousands ofpolicyholders--seem unavoidable."