Declarations

Declarations

They tried to work with him

“The Arkansas Insurance Department tried to work with Mr. Middleton in order to ensure prompt restitution to the victim for the various annuities or insurance products he sold. He failed to act responsibly and has suffered the consequences.”

— Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman announced that former insurance agent John Phillip Middleton, a Van Buren resident with an office in Fort Smith, was sentenced by Judge James Cox, Sebastian County Circuit Court, to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections with 10 years suspended. Middleton, whose agent license was revoked by the insurance department in 2006, pleaded guilty to five counts of property theft (Class B Felony). He ordered to pay more than $138,000 in restitution to a woman from whom he took money for investment in his personal business ventures.

As if the wind and rain were not enough

“The wind and rain carried with them enormous damage. These storms can also carry with them the potential for home repair fraud.”

— Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson issued a warning to consumers of the potential for home repair scams following the state’s recent severe weather. The AG offered several clues that might indicate a less than reputable repairman. He said to be wary of anyone who solicits door-to-door, offers discounts for finding other customers or “just happens to have” materials left over from a previous job. Also, be suspicious of a repairman who accepts only cash payments, demands an immediate decision or asks for up-front payment for the entire job.

Correcting the message

“This was not the message we wanted to send to the business community.”

— Gil Jamieson, associate deputy administrator for Gulf Coast recovery for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, after FEMA scrapped a plan under which the agency would no longer assist nonprofits and governments with insurance deductibles in the wake of a major disaster. The proposal could have left nonprofits and public entities responsible for millions of dollars in deductibles if another major storm hit the New Orleans, opponents said. Of the canceled plan, Jamieson said it caused a “real furor down here.”

At first he didn’t believe

“What the investigators and Progressive people involved in that case did was wrong — period. I personally want to apologize to anyone who was affected by this incident.”

— Progressive Insurance President and CEO Glenn Renwick, after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a story about a Progressive-authorized investigation in which two private investigators posing as a couple entered a private support group at Southside Christian Fellowship Church in hopes of catching two church members — Bill and Leandra Pitts — in a confession that might discredit the pair, who had been involved in an ongoing lawsuit with Progressive over a traffic accident. Renwick said in a written statement: “When I read that story I was appalled and, frankly, didn’t believe that it could possibly be accurate. I have since learned that the essential facts in the story are correct.”

Topics Arkansas