I know several states have declared Y2K issues to be "Acts of God" for insurance purposes, thereby letting the carriers largely off the hook. (It's actually an act of Pope Gregory XIII, but we won't get into that right now :-) ) I have also heard from a law professor I know in Texas that the Texas State Insurance Commission has told insurance carriers that while they may write new policies that specifically exclude Y2K problems from coverage, any policy currently in force that does not specifically exclude Y2K problems must cover them.

Rather than hunt up each of the 50 states individually, is anyone aware of a single source for information on Y2K coverage in various states (and at the national and international levels)? I've haven't found anything very comprehensive so far, but the Web is a big place and I could have simply missed it.

-- Paul Neuhardt (neuhardt@ultranet.com), August 30, 1998

Answers

Utterly amazing to me what inventive human beings can do to "create reality" before your very eyes. Would make P.T. Barnum, the patron Saint of the US very proud. Change a word here, a word there...voila...REALITY! George Winston knew the power of words,...George the alter ego of George Orwell...1984

Act of God? The human god? Utterly amazing.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), August 30, 1998.

For several good articles on the Insurance Industry, go to www.year2000.com/y2karticles.html and scan down to August 5th & 6th. According to the VNUnewswire article, 46 states plan to dismiss claims arising from Year 2000 problems. It also talks about the British Insurers. Also see Wall Street Jornal article, etc. I live in Texas and there was an interesting article about our insurance coverage at: www.amcity.com/houston/stories/082498/newscolumn6.html Hope these help answer your question. :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), August 30, 1998.

This is SOP for the insurance industry -- only collect premiums for those events with a very low or zero probability. (NOTE: don't ever confuse pre-paid health care with insurance).

If a negative outcome is certain or highly probable, the insurance companies will not touch it with a ten-foot policy. Keep in mind that the range of events to which the insurance companies would rather not expose themselves fall far short of total societal collapse. A projection of just a few percent increase in normal claims levels can cause the entire industry to wash its hands of the whole Y2k affair, using whatever subterfuge necessary.

Y2k is NOT and act of God, and for the insurance industry to claim as such, though expedient, is imprudent, as I believe it leaves the entire industry wide open to multiple lawsuits.

-- Nathan Hale (nospam@all.org), August 30, 1998.

Gayla, thanks for the info. It was most informative.

-- Paul Neuhardt (neuhardt@ultranet.com), September 01, 1998.