Outside of the Bush administration, no one entity got a bigger black eye after Hurricane Katrina than insurance companies. The news was filled with stories of people struggling to get claims filed for damaged homes, cars, and businesses.

"That event really set this industry back," notes Peter van Aartrijk, managing director of the van Aartrijk Group and a 20-year veteran of insurance PR. "Even though for every unhappy claimant you probably had close to 100 [who] were happy, reporters ...