State insurance regulators, who started to marshal their resources as soon as Hurricane Katrina finished its Gulf Coast rampage, continue to organize their efforts.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner J. Robert Wooley said commissioners are receiving industry input in preparation for the release of emergency orders that are both practical and coordinated. The emergency orders are scheduled to be released on Friday, he added.
Mr. Wooley said that department representatives are visiting shelters to try to make contact with people who need help with insurance questions.
He said this assistance can range from helping a consumer reach an insurer to facilitating insurer electronic fund transfers to banks near shelters so victims have cash.
Mr. Wooley said he is working with the New York insurance department to determine how it handled payment of death claims from the destruction of the World Trade Center when there was no evidence of death such as a body.
He is also in touch with the Florida insurance department to learn how it responded to the record 4 hurricanes that hit that state last year.
In instances where policies are lost or destroyed, information may be available through a consumer's mortgage lending institution, Mr. Wooley said. He added that for regulators to access this information, it will be necessary to establish confidentiality agreements with the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Financial Institutions.
Most consumer questions currently concern water and wind damage to property rather than on life or accident and health issues, said George Dale, Mississippi insurance commissioner.
Kevin McCarty, Florida's commissioner of the Office of Insurance Regulation, said Florida created an e-storm system to respond to insurance hurricane issues in its state.
He explained that one of the functions of an insurance department in the aftermath of a disaster is to act as a conduit between policyholders and insurers. This system will be set up at shelter locations and manned by insurance department staff to help Katrina refugees connect with insurance companies, he said.
Mr. McCarty commented that regulators' response to Katrina makes a good case for state regulation on a number of counts including the ability to collect data uniformly and to work collaboratively.
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