Connecticut Fines Safeco $434K over Numerous Violations

July 24, 2009

  • July 24, 2009 at 7:41 am
    Another Former Safeco says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Oh bitter, bitter old Reverend. Here’s a guy that’s been in the business for what, 40 years based on your last bitter email? The good reverend sounds like someone that obtained a lot of initials behind their name and yet is pastured in a cube making $40k/year nearing retirement. I love the broadbrushing of the whole industry as crooked. Yawn.

  • July 24, 2009 at 1:28 am
    Darwin says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    I guess that licensing and having “adequate” education wasn’t important at Safeco…….

  • July 24, 2009 at 1:31 am
    Former Safeco says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    What has happend to my former employer? Safeco back in the 60,70 and 80’s would have NEVER had this issue. Guess Liberty will be dealing with it now!!!! What’s Liberty Mutual saying? Responsibility????

  • July 24, 2009 at 1:44 am
    Ron says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    You left.

  • July 24, 2009 at 1:58 am
    Patriot says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    One State down and 49 to go?

  • July 24, 2009 at 2:37 am
    Reverend-CPCU,CLU,FLMI says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    As I have said before, and again here now, the insurance business is crooked.

  • July 24, 2009 at 2:40 am
    patriot says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    bitter, bitter…I find that you are mostly WRONG…always some bad apples, look at the CPCU organization, for instances. Or, or the CLU folks and their scams…be aware that those that live in glass houses……well you know!

  • July 24, 2009 at 3:03 am
    Reverend-CPCU,CLU,FLMI says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Face the facts Patriot, if the insurance business wasn’t specifically authorized in the law, it would be illegal.

  • July 24, 2009 at 3:29 am
    Need to clarify says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    How would it be illegal?

  • July 24, 2009 at 3:41 am
    patriot says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    juST LIKE EVERY OTHER BUSINESS I WAGER. REGULATED, BUT SOME NOT ENOUGH.
    HOWEVER, WITHOUT THE RUTHLESS, NASTY INSURANCE THE WORLD WOULD COME TO A SCREACHING HALT. NO ONE WOULD ENTER INTO A BUSINESS UNLESS INSURED,BUT SOME DO AND THEN SUFFER THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF THE LEST REGULATED, I DARE SAY, THE LEGAL PROFESSION!

  • July 24, 2009 at 3:55 am
    Steve says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Maybe this is how an underfunded DOI goes about funding itself. You rarely see fines like this in any other state.

  • July 24, 2009 at 4:27 am
    Not Quite says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Partially true, Steve. But that doesn’t give Safeco the license to ignore or disregard the rules, regulations, and laws that apply to them. This was a massive fine, but they broke a massive amount of laws.

  • July 25, 2009 at 5:57 am
    Paul Masley says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    By the way, the definition of insurance: Insurance is Government Santioned and Approved Gambling, legal to participate in all 50 states. You are betting the insurance company that something is going to happen and they are betting you that it doesn’t. Most of the time they win.

  • July 26, 2009 at 7:33 am
    hooray for capitalism says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    You seem to think you are educating people and exposing something interesting. Not really. You are clearly an outsider trying to peer inside.

    Former Safeco’s are right on…that was a tight military ship in crisp white shirts! Lots of mergers/growth creates disorganization, incompatible IT systems, overlapping compliance departments, etc. This is to be expected. Lib will get it corrected.

    Reverend…..I assume you think everyone should go without insurance, and then just call upon the government when they suffer a loss? The government is your answer I assume? I’ve been in PC Claims over 20 years…never met a CPCU or CLU or an RPA or a whatever that third set of initials you claim…that didn’t boast those initials, despite the fact that it’s meaningless from the standpoint of knowing how to fact gather, evaluate coverage, analyze liability and successfully negotiate a case. Too many initials equals total lack of credibility!

  • July 26, 2009 at 8:36 am
    Ned says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Safeco wasnt fined until LIBERTY MUTUAL took over – doesnt that tell you that LIBERTY MUTUAL is not practicing under the law? Big surprise. They are too big now to worry about such small matters. Let them pay the SMALL fine and continue doing business the same as usual. Hopefully the other states will also audit and find the same faults.

  • July 26, 2009 at 10:31 am
    IT LOOKS LIKE. says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    CAN YOU REALY BE REAL?an outsider trying to peer inside.
    YOU RIGHT I PEER INSIDE AND I REALLY HATE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.

  • July 26, 2009 at 10:42 am
    Anonymous says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    . $434,000 WE GET THIS MONEY?????

  • July 26, 2009 at 10:46 am
    incorrect coverage amounts wer says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Additionally, numerous underwriting and rating errors resulting in under- and over-charging premiums and incorrect coverage amounts were found across all companies which contributed to the significant fine.

    The errors were primarily related to commercial products
    .premiums and incorrect coverage amounts were found across all companies which contributed to the significant fine OKAY WHO GETS ALL THAT MONEY AND WHY WILL THE LAWS NOT STOP THIS. OR DID I JUST ANWER MY OWN ????????????

  • July 26, 2009 at 12:34 pm
    CITIZEN,S ARREST. says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Connecticut Fines Safeco $434K over Numerous Violations. fine $25 million in punitive damages, in part for the “systematic destruction of documents and systematic manipulation of individual claim files to conceal claim mishandling”. An Idaho appeals court fined the company $9.5 million in punitive damages for making use of “a completely bogus” outside bill review company that helped lower the cost of medical bills. In October of 1999, an Illinois jury rendered a $456 million judgment against State Farm and an additional $730 million in punitive damages for the insurer’s breach of contract with auto policy holders by relying on generic replacement parts. Rust was adamant in his insistence that fraud had not been committed. A class action law suit in the name of State Farm policy holders was filed in 2003 for breach of contract and statutory consumer fraud in which $1.1 billion was awarded to plaintiffs. When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. When there’s a disaster, the companies homeowners count on to protect them from financial ruin routinely pay less than what policies promise. Insurers often pay 30-60 percent of the cost of rebuilding a damaged home–even when carriers assure homeowners they’re fully covered, thousands of complaints with state insurance departments and civil court cases show.

    Paying out less to victims of catastrophes has helped produce record profits. In the past 12 years, insurance company net income has soared–even in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Property- casualty insurers, which cover damage to homes and cars, reported their highest- ever profit of $73 billion last year, up 49 percent from $49 billion in 2005, according to Highline Data LLC, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm that compiles insurance industry data.

    The 60 million U.S. homeowners who pay more than $50 billion a year in insurance premiums are often disappointed when they discover insurers won’t pay the full cost of rebuilding their damaged or destroyed homes. Property insurers systematically deny and reduce their policyholders’ claims, according to court records in California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Tennessee. The insurance companies routinely refuse to pay market prices for homes and replacement contents, they use computer programs to cut payouts, they change policy coverage with no clear explanation, they ignore or alter engineering reports, and they sometimes
    CITIZEN,S ARREST.CITIZEN,S ARREST.

  • July 26, 2009 at 12:42 pm
    CITIZEN,S ARREST.CITIZEN,S ARR says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Two former in-house attorneys for State Farm contend that they were often called upon by the insurer to represent its’ policy holders and were forced to commit “unlawful and unethical activities, including requiring the two to stay silent about the rights of the policyholders”. State Farm seems to have reckless indifference for the truth for the purpose of corporate and personal economic gain.

  • July 27, 2009 at 8:54 am
    Reverend-CPCU,CLU,FLMI says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    The characterizations on my position and professionalism couldn’t be further from the facts. As to 40 years in the business, I can remember when insurance was an honorable endeavour. Those new to the business with no training beyond how to cash a commission check are perpetuating the dishonesty by their defense of the undefendable. Based on the posts below, I rest my case.

  • July 27, 2009 at 9:49 am
    Anonymous says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    fools

  • July 27, 2009 at 9:50 am
    Internet Czar says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Thanks for your service. You’re fired.

  • July 27, 2009 at 10:55 am
    . You're fired. says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    is this ethics journalists
    Comment:
    The report State Farm ordered included a sticky note on the first page that said, “Put in Wind file — DO NOT Pay Bill, DO NOT discuss.” is this ethics journalists maybe you should ask Patricia Harned at the ethics resource she is the President ask her about the code of ethics.202-872-4771
    nobody important is this ethics.

  • July 27, 2009 at 11:54 am
    Hooray for Capitalism!!! says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Try writing a complete sentence. Although I suspect most would disagree with your complete sentence as well, at least we would know what you were talking about! Get some facts and put them in understandable form!

    To the Reverend…insurance still is an honorable profession. So you spent 40 years in a profession which you believe should be illegal? Bummer!

  • July 27, 2009 at 12:49 pm
    Mrs Dean Wormer says:
    Like or Dislike:
    Thumb up 0
    Thumb down 0

    Ditto!!

    And also please stick to the one user name so we can more easily skip over your postings.



Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*