Declarations

Child safety

“None of us wants to — as we each have done — meet with another family who has lost a child, in what is clearly a preventable death.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., spoke in support of legislation that would force automakers to provide the new safety improvements. Called the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act, the measure is named after a 2-year-old New York boy who was accidentally run over and killed by his father as he backed out his sport utility vehicle in 2002. Kids and Cars, a Kansas-based safety group supporting the bill, estimated that about two children are killed and 48 injured every week because of back-over accidents. Source: AP

Discrimination issues

“We are not experts in racial or national origin type discrimination.”

John Campbell, general counsel for the Kansas Insurance Department and the investigator in the case where an agent accused his employer insurance company of discrimination against Hispanic policyholders. Agent Paul Bergersen, who is white and was Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.’s leading salesman in Kansas when he filed his formal complaint in May 2003, told the Kansas Insurance Department that Shelter canceled or failed to renew auto policies after the initial 60-day underwriting period for Hispanics, but not for other groups. He also alleged the firm discriminated against minorities in settling claims. The department ruled last year that it could find no systemic discrimination at the company, saying an investigation of that nature was beyond the scope of its examination. Source: AP

Terrorism threats

“Acts of terrorism are unpredictable and threaten our nation’s economic health … a federal terrorism backstop is necessary to assure financial protection from terrorist attacks.”

Speaking on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Division of Insurance, testified before the Senate Committee on the need for a federal government/private market partnership to insure terrorism risk. McRaith applauded the Committee for holding the hearing early in the legislative session and urged Congress to move quickly to avoid the market disruptions. Source: AP

Hangin’ tough

“We (the insurance company) don’t have to pay for the fancy paint and chrome stuff on the truck and if you don’t like it, that’s tough (expletive).”

Comments made by a representative of Commercial Truck Claims Management of Missouri. A jury awarded a northeast Wisconsin trucker $115,000 in punitive damages for how the company handled his claim after his semi-truck hit a deer. The insurance company acted in bad faith by failing to properly investigate and review the trucker’s loss, the 3rd District Court of Appeals said. Source: AP

Topics Auto Kansas