Author Archives: Emily Holbrook

About Emily Holbrook

Emily Holbrook is a former editor of the Risk Management Monitor and Risk Management magazine. You can read more of her writing at EmilyHolbrook.com.
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The Largest Natural Hazard Risks of 2012

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2012 was a year of natural catastrophes. From Hurricane Sandy to the record-setting drought to the third most destructive wildfire season on record, the year was fraught with disasters that took a toll not only on communities nationwide, but on some of the world’s largest insurers. Today, CoreLogic issued its annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary, which details the most significant natural disasters that struck the United States in 2012. It notes the following:

Hurricanes

  • The single most destructive natural disaster in 2012 was Hurricane Sandy. In late October, the Category 1 storm generated record levels of storm surge along the northern New Jersey coast and in the New York City area, impacting more than five million residents across the region.
  • The first hurricane to make landfall in the U.
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    S. in 2012 was Category 1 Hurricane Isaac in late August, which caused an estimated $2 billion in insured losses around the New Orleans metro area.

Floods

  • Flood losses are expected to total approximately $10 billion in 2012, which would result in the third consecutive year of increasing flood damage in the U.S.
  • Earlier in the year, Tropical Storm Debby tracked slowly across the Florida peninsula in June, dropping at least 25 inches of rainfall along its path.
  • After months of sustained, widespread drought, Hurricane Isaac brought heavy rainfall and flooding to Louisiana in late August before continuing northward into the Midwest.
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Wildfires

  • The 2012 wildfire season was the third most destructive on record in the U.S. in terms of total acres burned as of early December.
  • The 15-year trend of fewer, but larger fires continued into 2012 with fewer than 51,000 individual wildfires across the country—the lowest number recorded since 1989.
  • Several of the individual fires that occurred in 2012 set records, including Colorado’s Waldo Canyon Fire, which damaged or destroyed 346 homes, and New Mexico’s Whitewater-Baldy Fire, which burned more than 297,000 acres.
  • NOAA continues to predict a pattern of drought conditions through the start of 2013, suggesting the potential for another increase in wildfire risk across much of the country. In the chart below, “SL” stands for short-term drought (typically less than six months) and “L” stands for long-term drought (typically more than six months).

Tornadoes

  • Tornado activity in 2012 was not strictly limited to the region commonly referred to as “Tornado Alley.” States located outside the central and southern Great Plains experienced a significant number of tornadoes this year. The chart below, from CoreLogic’s report, represents states with 30 or more tornadoes in 2012. States in orange are not typically considered part of “Tornado Alley.”
  • January 2012 was one of the most active Januaries since recording began in 1950, with a total of 79 tornadoes reported across the country.
  • In late February, tornadoes struck Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Harrisburg, Ill., experienced the most concentrated destruction, with more than 225 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed and an estimated $475 million in total damage.

“Because the strength, severity and geographic impact of natural disaster events will change from year to year, an understanding of patterns in hazard activity, geographic vulnerabilities and the properties exposed to each different type of disaster is crucial to managing risk,” said Dr. Thomas Jeffery, senior hazard scientist for CoreLogic.

As we’ve seen with the natural catastrophes of 2012, it is important for insurers, homeowners and businesses to develop a more comprehensive evaluation of risk — one that includes typically non-traditional locations.

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The Risks of Social Media: How Third Party Marketers Can Pose a Liability

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As social media becomes more important to brands, companies have learned to embrace the marketing tool as a necessity. But many organizations don’t have the time it takes to build an audience of followers on Facebook and Twitter. This is where third party marketing agencies come in. But, as evidenced in recent legal headlines, the liability is enormous.

A recent piece in the International Business Times cited the case of a nonprofit organization that used a third party marketing agency to establish and maintain the nonprofit’s social media presence. But when the nonprofit was late on one payment to the agency, it found that the passwords to the nonprofit’s Facebook and Twitter account had been changed. It was a simple message: if you don’t pay up, you lose your account. And there are several examples of third party marketing agencies not complying with laws and regulations regarding advertising.

A white paper on the inherent legal risks associated with marketing through social media, published by Venable LLP, a New York-based corporate law firm, states:

Companies that have relationships with third-party affiliate marketers should ensure that those affiliates comply with advertising and marketing laws in marketing the companies’ products or services through social media. Businesses should have agreements with affiliates requiring the affiliates to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations; it may be prudent to include specific representations and warranties by the affiliate with respect to compliance, with specific references to significant laws such as the FTC Act. The agreements should also have a provision whereby the affiliate agrees to indemnify the company (either though a mutual indemnification or otherwise) from liability arising out of the affiliate’s conduct – preferably with a provision requiring that the affiliate carry sufficient insurance to fund the indemnification should it be triggered.

On a related note, confidentiality provisions and related provisions ensuring data security have become increasingly important in the current legal environment, particularly in agreements involving cross-border activities where consumer personal information is collected online. Additionally, businesses should, to the extent it is feasible, monitor the advertising and marketing practices of affiliates and review their marketing materials before they are disseminated. A company should take similar measures with respect to third parties who market through social media outlets operated by the company.

But socia media marketing risks are found in-house, too. Take the case of blogger Noah Kravitz and tech blog PhoneDog. When Kravitz began work at PhoneDog, he created a Twitter handle, @Phonedog_Noah, which eventually amassed 17,000 followers. Kravitz left PhoneDog on good terms in 2010, changing his handle to @NoahKravitz but keeping the password and, hence, his followers.

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Things turned ugly when he filed suit over back pay. PhoneDog then countersued, claiming the followers of @Phonedog_Noah make up, essentially, a corporate customer list — their corporate customer list. In a remarkable move, they also demanded $2.50 for each of the followers over an eight-month period, which adds up to $340,000.

The PhoneDog vs. Kravitz case ended in negotiation in early December. So, without a legal ruling on this modern matter, we are still left with the question of who actually owns certain Twitter accounts? That’s a question we will undoubtedly see more of in the future.

But for now, during this legla limbo of social media laws, there is a large amount of helpful information on the web that companies can use to analyze social media marketing and create their own social media policy, such as SocialMediaGovernance.com, which offers a section with 218 different social media policies. And this site lists six steps to creating a social media governance board. But the most important things to remember when putting your company’s social media marketing efforts in the hands of someone else, either in-house or outsourced, are:

  1. Will the third party/employee do a better job than your staff/yourself?
  2. Does the outsourcing company/employee understand your brand completely?
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  3. Do you have a thorough and specific contract in place?

And please, feel free to share your thoughts. Does your company use third party social media marketing or do you keep this aspect of operations in-house? What are the risks your company has faced with either option?

IICF Annual Benefit Dinner Draws Stars and Money for a Good Cause

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The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) held its annual benefit dinner last night at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. The star-studded night for a good cause featured several speakers, including:

  • David Brinkman, chairman of the board for IICF
  • Paula Zhan, host and executive producer of “On the Case with Paula Zhan” and co-host of “NYC-ARTS”
  • Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America, Inc.
  • Mark Teixeira, first baseman for the New York Yankees
  • Joe Torre, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president for baseball operations
  • Brian Duperreault, president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies
  • Mike McGavick, CEO of XL Group

David Brinkman opened the evening with remarks about the foundation’s year of giving, noting that the IICF has __ 16 grants in the tri-state area in 2012 and was able to raise an astounding $50,000 to be given to the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. “What the general public may not realize is that, in addition to claims paid, our industry is generous with philanthropy,” said Brinkman.

Paula Zhan entertained the crowd with stories of her years spent interviewing notable world figures, including Fidel Castro, Princess Diana and Pete Rose. On a more serious note, she explained how Alzheimer’s has affected her family and how, through her work with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, she is helping to raise awareness for the dibilitating disease, which costs the U.S. more than $200 billion annually.

Hank Watkins took the stage to announce that the dinner raised more than $1.3 million. “With this night, we’re able to help thousands of people make their way through challenging times,” he said.

Mark Teixeira gave the crowd a good laugh by mentioning the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert happening at the same time as the IICF benefit dinner (and just a few blocks away). “If you guys want to spend $500 to see a bunch of aging stars, just go to a Yankees game.” Well done, Mr. Teixeira. Having captured the crowd’s attention, he talked about his foundation, DreamTeam25, which has partnered with Harlem RBI to “provide inner-city youth with opportunities to play, learn and grow using the power of teams to coach, teach and inspire youth to recognize their potential and realize their dreams,” he explained.

Joe Torre was welcomed by Yankees and Red Sox fans alike as he told the crowd about his Safe at Home Foundation, which educates to end the cycle of domestic violence and save lives. Torre explained how he witnessed his father’s physical abuse towards his mother and emotional abuse towards himself and his siblings. The experience inspired Torre and his wife to create the foundation in 2002.

Closing out the night was Mike McGavick of XL insurance — the honoree of the night. McGavick accepted the award on behalf of XL and reminded those in attendance that giving, and being a part of a community, is what life is about. “As Adam Smith asked, ‘How can self-interest be married to the communite’s interest?’ Or as David Hume said, ‘We must do well by others or we will eventually be harmed.’ Those ideas are perfectly merged. We must look to our community. Because of our [industry’s] peculiar focus on the nightmares in this world, we truly understand the pain and need that’s out there.”

FARC and the Colombian Government: Deal or No Deal in Historic Peace Talks?

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In the December issue of Risk Management, we published a piece about the rising risk of terrorism in Colombia due, in part, to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s violent guerrilla group. Though there has been almost 50 years of tension between the anti-imperialist organization and Colombia’s government, recent peace talks created a sliver of hope for an end to violence between the two factions. FARC even pledged to cease kidnapping and declared a unilateral ceasefire until January 20, 2013.

But according to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, that’s just not enough. The president promised to support FARC as a legitimate political party if the group ended its violent ways — now.

“If Farc wants to end the conflict and switch bullets for votes, it will find the government at its disposal,” he said.

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“But if it tries to put its revolution on the table again instead of the decree placed on the table in Cuba, there will be no peace.” He added: “This cannot be a process of years but months.”

Refusing to accept the group’s cease fire pledge, President Santos made his impatience clear with a deadly raid December 3 that targeted a FARC camp, killing at least 20 rebels. FARC, apparently in retaliation, launched an attack of its own seven days later, killing one and injuring three in the southwestern region of Colombia.

But if these two groups can manage to come to a resolution, it would be a historic moment for all of Colombia.

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It would also significantly quell the country’s rampant, rebel-led kidnap-for-ransom practice.

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 As Will Miller, divisional director of special contingency risks for Willis, pointed out in his latest article on WillisWire, “The FARC’s actions in these initial stages of peace negotiation are a strong indication that there could be a reduced risk of kidnaps for ransom in Colombia.”

The peace talks are indeed a good sign — for many reasons. But we must remember that the FARC are not the only aggressive, paramilitary group to call Colombia home. And that may never change.