Insurance Information Institute special counsel Bailey dies

BOSTON—William E. Bailey, special counsel to the Insurance Information Institute and an insurance industry spokesman, died Friday after a battle with cancer.

Mr. Bailey, 68, held several prominent roles during his career in the insurance industry, most recently as special counsel for III, a position he accepted in 1986. As general counsel, Mr. Bailey traveled the country and debated insurance issues.

Mr. Bailey also was known for his work as co-director of the Hurricane Insurance Information Center in Miami, where he supervised a communications office that assisted people in the aftermath of storms. He started his work in this role after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and remained active in it since, including after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

For the past decade, Mr. Bailey hosted a program on the National Radio Network called “It's Your Money! (What are you going to do with it?),” which aired every Sunday afternoon.

Prior to these career highlights, Mr. Bailey started in insurance as vp and senior claims counsel at Boston-based Commercial Union Insurance Co. He also had a stint working alongside his brother, the litigator F. Lee Bailey, as an associate at a law firm.

“All of us will greatly miss Bill's multitude of talents, perceptive intelligence, lifelong dedication to learning, quick wit and boundless enthusiasm,” said Robert Hartwig, president of New York-based III, in a statement. “In recent years, he continued to establish significant relationships between the insurance industry and the emergency management community.”

Mr. Bailey is survived by his wife, Rene, with whom he resided in Chelsea, Mass.

A memorial service for Mr. Bailey will be held Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Church in Waltham, Mass. His family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Scholarship Fund at Belmont Hill School, 350 Prospect St., Belmont, Mass., 02478, in memory of Bill Bailey, class of 1958.