ConnecticutInsurance Agent Under Fire for Not Paying Wages

The head of a Hartford, Conn.-based insurance firm underinvestigation for allegedly failing to pay $670,000 in premiums totwo of the city's insurance carriers is also accused of owing wagesto employees of his now-defunct restaurant. According to The Courant, two complaints have been filedagainst Earl O'Garro Jr.'s short-lived eatery Us Restaurant forneglecting to pay wages shortly before the eatery closed its doorsin September. The complaints are under investigation by the stateDepartment of Labor. O'Garro has also defaulted on a state loan forhis Hybrid Insurance Group, and his home faces foreclosure, stateand town records indicate.

N.J. Homeowners Ordered to Elevate Homes After Completing SandyRepairs

Homeowners in the Sandy-struck NewJersey borough of Little Ferry have been told they need to puttheir homes on raised foundations to keep future flood insurancecosts down. However, NJ.com reports many homeowners have already spent theirinsurance payouts on other repairs and missed the deadlines forgrants that would have helped pay for the elevation. Localofficials said they had little time to notify homeowners about therequirement because the state assessed damage to impacted homes tooslowly. Conversely, state officials said it was Little Ferry'sresponsibility to report which homes were damaged as soon after thestorm as possible.

Massachusetts Homeowners Fear NFIP Change

Changes to NFIP are raising fears inMassachusetts communities that the costs of protecting homes andbusinesses from water damage are about to skyrocket as thegovernment redraws flood zone maps and phases out subsidies.According to The Boston Globe, the changes could requirethousands of homeowners to buy flood insurance for the first time,and raise average premiums of existing customers by as much as 25percent annually, or approximately $300 a year. For some seasidehome and business owners, premiums will jump by thousands or eventens of thousands of dollars a year as map revisions place theirproperties into higher risk flood zones or they lose governmentsubsidies. In Marblehead, for example, the annual premium forHarborside Condominiums will soar from $4,300 to $45,000 next yearand then climb in subsequent years to an estimated $600,000 becausethe 27-unit complex was moved into a high risk coastal zone, saidJoyce Raymond, one of the condo owners.

Rural Groups React to Cuts in Crop InsuranceSubsidies

Rural groups say they'll fight a proposed $100million-a-year cut in crop insurance subsidies, a measure that haswon the support of both houses of Congress and could be a test ofagriculture's influence in Washington, reports Bloomberg. The House of Representatives has endorsedreducing the government's portion of farmers' insurance-policypremiums for higher-income farmers, following a Senate measureapproved in June. Critics say the measure doesn't go far enough,while supporters warn of ripple effects through the ruraleconomy.