WASHINGTON — Unlike many other businesses, the insurance industry is bound by law to act in good faith with its customers. Because of their protective role in the lives of ordinary citizens, insurers have long operated as semi-public trusts. But since the mid-1990s, a new profit-hungry model, combined with weak regulation, has upended that ancient social contract.

“Claims has been converted into a money-making process,” said Russ Roberts, a New Mexico-based management consultant and former business professor at Northwestern University who has studied the insurance industry’s evolution from a service business to a profit-driven machine.

The change started when consulting giant McKinsey & Company sold Allstate and other leading insurance companies on a new system to boost the bottom line: Rather than adjusting claims the traditional way, which gave claims managers wide latitude to serve customers, insurers embraced a computer-driven method that produced purposefully low offers to claimants.  Read Entire Article

President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Texas, making federal funding available to those affected by wildfires in Bastrop County.

“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the White House said in a statement.

The declaration Friday night comes after Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst expressed frustration with the lack of response from the federal government

Texas urgently needs federal help, Dewhurst has said.

Nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed in Bastrop County since wildfires started there about a week ago, Dewhurst said.  Click here for entire story

Bastrop, Texas (CNN) — Texas is in urgent need of a federal disaster declaration to help respond to wildfires throughout the state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Friday.

Nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed in Bastrop County, Texas, since a wildfire started there six days ago, Dewhurst said. Other major fires are burning in Cass, Travis, Grimes, Montgomery and Waller counties, according to the Texas Forest Service.

Dewhurst, who is acting governor while Gov. Rick Perry travels, said he got no response to a statewide disaster declaration request earlier this week. So he has signed another one to drive the point home.

“We need help yesterday,” Dewhurst said.

There was no immediate response from the White House.

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The Bastrop Complex fire has destroyed 1,386 homes, according to the latest update issued Thursday.  Click here to read entire story

The number of damage claims from homeowners affected by the wildfires is quickly skyrocketing  Click here to read entire story

“There are some critical steps to take now to ensure that your damage is properly documented and covered as part of your fire damage claim,” said Scott Friedson a Texas licensed Public Insurance Adjuster, owner of Insurance Claim Recovery Support and resident of Lakeway, Texas.. “Not taking the proper steps to protect key information could result in a lower, or even a denied, insurance claim.”

Here are 10 key tips Fire Insurance Claim victims can use as a checklist…

Expect Delays With Claims

The WSJ recommends that small business owners hire a public adjuster to assist with claims.

If you are filing a claim under your homeowners policy because of Hurricane Irene or another loss, brace yourself: On major claims, it could take months to get through the whole process.  If you have a small business, consider hiring a public insurance adjuster to assess the damage and organize your claim, which might include inventory and repair costs.

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More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in at least 57 wildfires across rain-starved Texas, most of them in one devastating blaze close to Austin that is still raging out of control, officials said Tuesday.  Texas Gov. Rick Perry said more than 100,000 acres have burned in the drought-stricken state.  Click Here for Full Story

Houston Texas Fire Map

The blaze now stretches 25,000 acres and has destroyed 476 homes.  The monster brush fire dubbed the “The Bastrop County Complex Fire” has destroyed more than 300 homes and prompted the evacuation of 5,000 people, county officials say.  Click here for full story

Austin Area Fire Map

Hurricane Irene was the “Perfect Storm” for insurers, but in a very different sense of the term. The weakened storm that spared New York City from major damage gave the wealthy and rarely hit Northeast enough of a scare because of ominous weather forecasts leading up the storm that property insurers will be able to raise pricing even more next year, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst.  Read Entire Story