NASA develops online tool to predict floods

What does this mean for the future?

If you’ve ever been a victim of flooding after a serious storm or horrified watching video of people, homes and property being swept away, you’ll be pleased to learn that the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a new computer tool known as the Global Flood Monitoring System (GFMS), which maps flood conditions worldwide. Users anywhere in the world can access the system online to determine when flood waters might impact their communities.

“On our global interactive map, you can zoom into a location of interest to see whether the water is at flood stage, receding, or rising,” explains the University of Maryland’s Robert Adler, who developed the system with colleague Huan Wu. “You can also look around to see whether there is a rain event upstream, whether the rain is over, and how the water is moving downstream.”

GFMS works 24/7, even when there is cloud cover or other interference. "At times, our system might be the only way people can get information," says Adler.

Click here to read the full article and watch the video on how the GFMS works!

12 home theft prevention tips for traveling homeowners

What do you need to do to prevent break-ins while you are away from the home?

Summer is a popular time for vacations, weekend trips and even day trips, which means homes remain empty while their occupants are out having fun. Not surprisingly, the highest percentage of burglaries happen during the summer months.

According to American Modern Insurance Group, 30% of all burglaries occur as a result of something as simple as an open or unlocked window or door. Even if you feel your neighborhood is safe, empty homes are more vulnerable to theft.

The good news is, home theft is preventable. American Modern offers the following 12 tips for homeowners to help them take the proper steps and measures to secure their homes.

If you know you are going to be away from your home this summer, follow these 12 easy steps to securing your home and personal belongings.

Click here to read more!

The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange did not trade between the hours of 11:32 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. yesterday (July 8) due to a technical glitch. This is raising new worries about the soundness of our financial markets.

Market analysts have said that the SEC, which polices the markets, has struggled to keep up with the changes in technology that have come to dominate modern trading. The SEC has also missed out on opportunities to address key vulnerabilities, opening the door to other damaging threats. 

"This kind of stuff is inevitable," said Harvey Pitt, a Securities and Exchange Commission chairman from 2001 to 2003 who helped oversee the market's response to the 9/11 attacks. "But if its inevitable, that means you can plan for it," he said.

The SEC has been widely criticized after the 2010 "flash crash" when the markets plummeted  more than 1,000 points in just a few minutes. After that crash, it took SEC officials nearly four months to unwind that day's orders and issue a report on what went wrong.

Click here to read the full article on the NYSE outage!  

Surveillance cameras in the home

The uses of home security cameras and homeowner liability concerns

Surveillance cameras are everywhere these days. The fronts and sides of many cars are equipped with cameras and processing software, the rooftops of commercial buildings are crowned with hidden surveillance equipment and even traffic lights incorporate cameras to catch unsuspecting motorists speeding through a yellow-to-red light. Even visible security cameras have a positive effect, deterring possible criminal activities.

In this day and age it is common for surveillance cameras to be positioned throughout homes in visible and hidden locations. The devices eavesdrop on the humdrum of ordinary life to ferret out evidence of potential and actual crimes. The placing of these cameras has become increasingly more creative with some being hidden in teddy bears, wall outlets, and clocks. Hidden surveillance cameras in the home can be used to catch suspected criminals in the act, resulting in arrest and conviction.

Click here to read more about the legal parameters and ramifications of using home surveillance cameras. 

ACE to acquire CHUBB

In a second major P&C insurance-industry M&A deal this week, ACE Limited and The Chubb Corporation announced today that the boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved an agreement under which ACE will acquire Chubb. 

As a result of the acquisition, the new company will move up into the “elite” group of global P&C insurers, with a combined total shareholders’ equity of nearly $46 billion and cash, investments and other assets of $150 billion. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016.

The combined company, which will assume the Chubb name, is expected to remain a growth company with complementary products, distribution and customer segments.

“We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Chubb, a venerable company with a great brand,” Evan G. Greenberg, chairman and CEO of ACE Limited, said in a statement. “We are combining two great underwriting companies that are highly complementary. We will make each other better and create a unique company in a class of its own that has greater growth and earning power than the sum of the two companies separately.”

John D. Finnegan, chairman, president and CEO of Chubb, said, “The combination brings together two highly respected and successful companies with complementary capabilities, assets and geographic footprints. We are pleased that the combined company will adopt the Chubb brand and view this as an affirmation that both companies share a commitment to the attributes of quality and service the brand represents.”

ACE’s U.S. commercial lines business provides a broad range of product and services for industrial, commercial, multinational and upper middle market companies, and relies heavily on brokers for distribution. Chubb is best known in the U.S. primarily as a middle-market commercial, specialty and surety insurer with a broad product portfolio and a major agency network. Chubb may be best known in the U.S. for its personal lines coverage to high-net-worth customers—a market that ACE also has been targeting.

Click here to read the full article!

Dog bites, injuries cost more than $500 million annually

Dog bites, and other dog-related injuries, accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2014, costing in excess of $530 million, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) and State Farm, the largest writer of homeowners insurance in the United States.

An analysis of homeowners insurance data by the I.I.I. found that while the number of dog bite claims nationwide decreased 4.7% in 2014, the average cost per claim for the year was up 15%. The average cost paid out for dog bite claims nationwide was $32,072 in 2014, compared with $27,862 in 2013.

“The average cost per claim nationally has risen more than 67% from 2003 to 2014, due to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are still on the upswing,” said Loretta Worters, vice president with the I.I.I.

The study noted that California continued to have the largest number of claims in the U.S. at 1,867. Ohio had the second highest number of claims at 1,009. While New York had only the third highest number of claims at 965, it registered the highest average cost per claim in the country: a startling $56,628. The trend in higher costs per claim is attributable not simply to dog bites but also to dogs knocking down children, cyclists, the elderly, etc., all of which can result in fractures and other blunt force trauma injuries that impact the potential severity of the losses.

An empathetic approach to resolution

The concept of empathy is beginning to generate a surprising level of discussion, debate, and exploration in the business community. According to the Harvard Business Review, it is time for an “epidemic of empathy in business.”

I confess to being more of a left-brain or analytical type. So as I read current articles on the topic of empathy, it has me thinking about what role it plays in workers' comp. Are we just supposed to be nicer? More sympathetic? And coming back to the analytical side, I have to ask, “Is there a business benefit to empathy?”

It’s important we honestly explore that question. Empathy is defined in psychology as understanding a person from their frame of reference. There is some research referenced in a Wall Street Journal article by Christopher Mims that suggests “one of the most important elements of collaboration is empathy.” The plight of an injured worker requires collaboration between that worker, their adjuster, provider, employer and case manager, among others.

Why do you need auto coverage?

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. travel over the May 25 Memorial Day weekend is poised to reach a 10-year high as Americans with more money in their pockets are lured onto the roads by lower prices at the pump.

About 37.2 million Americans will travel more than 49 miles (79 kilometers) from May 21 to May 25, a 4.7 percent increase from last year’s holiday and the second-highest level in AAA data. Trip-takers totaled a record 44 million in 2005, the Heathrow, Florida-based motoring club said Friday. About nine in 10 people are expected to drive. 

Retail gasoline prices are below year-earlier levels by more than $1 a gallon, dragged down by oil prices that collapsed amid a global glut of crude. That’ll translate into $700 in savings for the typical American household this year, based on U.S. government forecasts. Relief at the pumps and falling unemployment will combine to boost holiday travel spending, AAA said.

“The U.S. economy will bounce back and accelerate in the second quarter,” AAA said. “The rebound will be driven by stronger consumer spending. This boom in consumer spending will be the main driver behind the substantial increase in Memorial Day travel.”

Air travel is forecast to rise by 2.5 percent from 2014 to 2.6 million passengers.

U.S. regular gasoline at the pump averaged $2.659 a gallon on Thursday, $1.006 below a year ago, data compiled by the motoring group show. Prices slid 39 percent in the second half of 2014.

Employers added 223,000 workers to payrolls in April, Labor Department data showed Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, the lowest since May 2008, from 5.5 percent. 

9 ways drones are being used for disaster planning, response, and relief operations

On April 24, a 7.8 earthquake, the most devastating in 80 years, struck Nepal, killing thousands and reducing its capital city, Kathmandu, to rubble. Roads have been damaged or covered by landslides making rescue efforts more difficult in one of Asia’s most impoverished and rural countries.

In this situation, aerial drones could be used to provide relief workers with a better understanding of the situation, help locate survivors in the rubble, perform structural analysis of damaged infrastructure, deliver needed supplies and equipment, evacuate casualties, and help extinguish fires. These are just a few of the potential peaceful applications for which drones can be used as outlined in a report released April 27.

In addition to relieving disaster responders from some of their most dangerous duties, the report notes that drones can perform the “3D” tasks—those that are dirty, dull and dangerous—allowing responders to focus on more important things.