The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "premiums" ...
-
Florida's Insurance Nightmare
Six years after eight hurricanes ripped across Florida, state residents still struggle to recover from the storms' legacy - a wrecked property insurance market. Exorbitant premiums, the highest in the world, have soured the state's struggling economy, killed real estate sales and forced families from their homes. Homeowners were told that unless they paid even more, no insurance company would take their hurricane risk. The Herald-Tribune showed that is a lie. Floridians have been lied to about why there is a crisis, where their money is going, and whether they're even protected against storm losses. Public policy has been corrupted by fiction spun by the insurance industry and its supposed regulators. Billions of dollars desperately needed for the next disaster have been siphoned offshore. And millions of homeowners are left to entrust their financial security on a system rigged to extort profit. To expose the hidden truth of Florida's insurance crisis, St. John cultivated key sources deep within every aspect of the insurance industry and sought massive amounts of financial and policy data from multiple state and national entities. When it became obvious Florida's crisis was manipulated from afar, she traveled to Bermuda and Monte Carlo to discover the hidden players truly in charge.
Tags: home insurance; property insurance; Florida; hurricane; real estate; insurance premiums; homeowners; Bermuda; Monte Carlo; state regulators; anti-trust law; State Farm
-
The Toughest Tickets in Town
The Washington Redskins continue to sellout the stadium and thousands of fans are left on a waiting list for general admission tickets. It turns out though, these tickets can be found online through ticket brokers. Further, the Redskins ticket office can be moderately blamed for this happening, which allowed the brokers to buy the general admission tickets. The team did this because it leveraged these tickets and caused fans to buy the more expensive premium seat tickets.
Tags: Washington Redskins; stadium; sellouts; seats; football; games; tickets; online; brokers; secondary market
-
Dark Market
"The story examined 30 percent of the commodity futures markets for oil that trade without regulation. We examined how these markets may have played a role in bumping up the price of oil over the summer of 2008."
Tags: gasoline; Intercontinental Exchange; ICE; Trading Commission; barrel; premium price;
-
Insurers Criticized for New Rate Models
This story investigates property-casualty insurers' use of controversial computer models created by various modeling firms; the computer models use complex data to project potential losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters. But investigative reporting revealed the models can be flawed in their design, in their assumptions or in their application by insurers.
Tags: housing; rate increases; computer models; potential losses; property insurance; premiums
-
Contractor Pure Premium
Analysis of the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) has led to new conclusions about the marketplace and control of rates in the California workers' comp. It was found that if one carrier held a major market share of any specific class, or classes, that by adjusting its loss reserves or thoise reserves it reported to the Bureua by sheer magnitude of data it could affect the rates up or down as it chose.
Tags: classification relativity review sheet; x-mod; Steve Poizner; Patrick Andersen
-
Does State Fund Control Contractor Pure Premium?; Pure Premium Decision Reveals Doubts About SCIF Expenses
State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) us a quasi-governmental provider of worker's compensation insurance and has been found to not be fairly competing with private insurance companies. The SCIF controls enough of the market to have an effect on the pure premium rates. Also, State Fund affects how much personal and business consumers end up paying in construction costs.
Tags: Worker's Comp Executive
-
Insurance Investigation
The Star examined the insurance industry, using consumer complaints totaling more than 10,000 pages, interviewed hundreds of sources and gathered records for all 50 states. After sifting through information regarding the best and worst companies for consumer complaints both nationwide and in Kansas and Missouri, the Star discovered that Allstate Insurance of Northbrook, Illinois "had the most complaints for claims handing in the country," and "Farmer's Insurance Exchange of Los Angeles led all insurers for complaints over using credit histories to set premiums - a practice consumer advocates call discriminatory." In Kansas, American Investors Life Insurance Co. Inc. of Topeka had the worst complaint record of any annuity provider in the state. The study also found widespread fraud, and also that the insurance industry receives more complaints than banks and stock brokerages. Adding to the problems are the people who have scammed billions of dollars out of insurance companies, which raises premiums across the board.
Tags: insurance; fraud; American Investors Life Insurance Co. Inc.; Allstate Insurance of Northbrook, Illinois; Farmer's Insurance Exchange of Los Angeles
-
Fire Alarm
Long Island, the last densely-populated region of the country served almost exlusively by volunteer firefighters, is now paying as much for its small-town service as many U.S. cities do for fully paid departments. In their efforts to cope with waning volunteerism, fire departments here spend extraordinary sums on premium trucks and equipment,travel junkets, enormous firehouses and costly perks- and for paid staff who answer calls, but are hired under every title but firefighter. Despite all the spending, most volunteer fire departments are not getting fire crews to respond as fast as volunteer standards say they should.
Tags: firefighters; volunteer firefighters; response time; perks; fire department budgets
-
"Travel Scams"
The Early Show bought a vacation package they received by fax. They filmed their vacation and found they did not receive promised activities, their five-star hotel was a dump, they were charged high-season premiums even though they were traveling in an off-season month. The Florida Better Business Bureau said the travel company that arranged the trip had a long list of unanswered complaints.
Tags: Travel; fraud; vacations; scams; overcharges
-
Premium Pensions
Three stories examine the abuses of California's generous public pensions system. "Chief's Disease," reveals that the highest ranking officers of the California Highway Patrol often made injury claims as retirement drew near, so their pensions were supplemented by workplace injury settlements. "Workers' comp judges cash in," showed that judges who decided worker's comp claims were themselves six times more likely to claim job related injuries than their judicial colleagues in other parts of the system. "How state law fattens pensions," deals with California's law that allows pensions to be calculated based on the single highest year of salary a public worker achieves. California is the only state in the country that has such a law. There is also supplemental material that followed the publication of the series.
Tags: public pensions; workman's compensation; fraudulent claims; state government; local government; public servants