Insurance Transparency Project

Herein, I announce, for about the third time, a new insurance blog that will answer several topical questions about the global insurance industry, including: If there’s an “i” in “insurance,” why is there no ” je” in the French “assurance“?  Are Gulf-area policyholders being treated fairly, post-Katrina?  ( Be honest, now.) If so, how can this be measured?  How come insurance buyers can’t find out which insurer is likelier to pay claims, the only thing anyone cares about, when we can learn the past performance of a zillion mutual funds? Is it true that the insurance industry is exempt from U.S. anti-trust laws ? Why?  If insurance is about spreading risk, why do we chop it into 50 different markets? How can Louisiana regulate giants like Allstate and State Farm, when Louisiana needs them more than they need Louisiana?  Is Krugman right when he says that 20% of health insurance premiums go somewhere besides paying claims? Why do we need four million agents and brokers?

And, finally, is whole life or term the best choice for a growing family (Ok, just joshing about the last one; I really don’t care.)

This blog will offer a daily dose of insurance news culled from the trade press and elsewhere, salted with my own witty commentary and innovative use of fonts and bold face. This site is about journalism, albeit with a point of view. It is about broadening the discourse on insurance and aims to involve the industry itself, along with many, many other people, laypeople and experts, insurers and insureds, people who sue insurers and people who defend such suits,  consumer advocates, academics, industry consultants, policyholders, policy-issuers and policymakers. In this, I share a common goal with my pals at the Insurance Information Institute and other industry groups.

However, you will notice a difference.

Who am I?  Most of you have met me at least on the phone, but for those who haven’t: I’m a humble freelancer, emphasis on the ” humble,” “free” and, I guess, um, “lancer.” But no bull. Many of you may know me from my eight years at the WSJ or from my time covering Spitzer and insurance for TWP. (If you can’t follow the initials, you are a media loser.) Others know me from my time as an investigative schlepper for the Projo, where we won both the 1994 Pulitzer for Investigations and the no-less-prestigious Poulette-zer, awarded by the National Poultry Foundation.

And, yes, I’m extremely witty.

Right now, I’m a Katrina Media Fellow sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a New York-based foundation started by my favorite Hungarian billionaire, George Soros. You will find about all that here:  www.soros.org. However, neither the OSI, its staff, Soros, his family nor his pets has anything to do with this blog. This is all me and only me. Give the guy a break. Neither does anyone else have anything to do with the Insurance Transparency Project, which is still just an idea. (More on that later.) For more on me, go to http://insurancetransparencyproject.com and click on “about” and “portfolio.”

A lot of people tell me, “Dean, we know all about the bling bling of combined ratios and the curvacious contours of the anti-concurrent causation clause — hell, we can get that in US Weekly, In-Style, SPIN and Vogue for Men. Why don’t you give us something about the really hot insurance news:  crop insurance, that kind of thing?

I say, “Fear not, my uncovered risks and underfunded liabilities.” In Insurance Notes! ™, you will learn more than who carves the turkey at the Greenberg thanksgiving; whether Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor and Robert Redford were indeed separated at birth ; and whether Jacques Agrain(1), while on tour, really demands that red and white M&Ms be arranged in the shape of the Swiss flag.

The typical Notes! ™ will, unlike today’s, be short and pointed. It ask questions and make assertions intended to stimulate debate about one of the most-important, and I must say, and I’m sorry, worst-covered, industries in the general press. To my pals in the insurance industry, you may find what I say occasionally sharp, even critical. I can only say I mean not to offend, but to engage. I am wide open to counter-argument, and, especially, factual correction, and will indeed consider this project a failure if insurers feel excluded or insulted. If you think I’m anti-industry, you don’t understand this blog.

To my pals among the antis — tort lawyers, bad-faith lawyers, consumer advocates, etc. — you may, too, be off-put by some of my views. For one thing, I don’t think the answer to customers’ problems with their insurers is a million lawsuits or a swarm of regulators cranking out reams of market-conduct exams. But there will be no false “balance” here.  I think the antis are often, though not always, right.

I have my own crackpot ideas. The main one is this: There is (almost) nothing wrong with the industry that the market itself cannot solve — if insurance buyers are given better information. But with the secrecy that now pertains, the market cannot do its job of punishing the bad actors and rewarding the good. Much more on this to come (can’t wait!).

So, ya’ big lugs on both sides: come on out of your bunkers, join up with media hacks, government dorks, ignorant/greedy policyholders, and together let’s put the “fun” back in insur-fun-ance and fix what needs to be fixed and leave the rest alone. Remember, while it’s true there is an “i” in insurance, there is still no “i” in “team,” and that’s just a fact .

Note:  anyone wanting off this list, just ask. See warranty for details. Parts sold separately. ITP athletic apparel (men’s sizes XL and XXL) available at The ITP Store (Times Square, Westfield Shoppingtown Old Orchard and online)(2). Not affiliated with NAIC, SPIC, NCOIL, OSI, PETA or NAMBLA.

(1) CEO of Swiss Re. Seems to have a sense of humor. I made that up about the M&Ms.
(2) These are “jokes.” There is no warranty; there is no ITP line of apparel; there are no stores. And this is last time I’m explaining.