the National Flood Insurance Program overpaid 66 percent on average. If that statistic proves true and extends to all of Louisiana’s flood claims, the insurance companies could have overcharged the federal government by as much as $9.24 billion.(18)
In one example, the suit claims that State Farm had the national flood insurance program pay a homeowner $88,280 for flood damages – even though the floodwaters never reached the house. Adjusters from Branch Consultants say that the home actually had $110,918 in wind damage, but because the company shifted blame from wind to water damage, State Farm had to pay only $5,379 on its homeowner’s policy. “These kinds of abuses are just unconscionable,” Kanner told the Times-Picayune.(19)
In another case, the suit says State Farm calculated $45,000 in flood damage to a home in Jefferson Parish, and stated that the flood had damaged the roof – despite the fact that the house got only eight inches of water.(20)
A spokesman for State Farm declined to comment on the pending litigation. In earlier comments to the Times-Picayune, a State Farm spokesman denied the allegations. “We feel that we’ve appropriately handled claims arising out of Katrina, and that we followed NFIP and FEMA guidelines with regards to expediting flood claims,” said Fraser Engerman.(21)
In a rare move this June, the federal judge who is handling the case ordered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to either join the case or appear in court to explain the federal government’s lack of involvement. “The United States should be right in there, and not just monitoring it, given as far-reaching and serious as this case is,” said the judge.(22) But Gonzales took the latter option, and had his deputies file a response saying that the Department of Justice has not had time to investigate the allegations of fraud.(23)
Mississippi
In the cases included in the Louisiana whistleblower lawsuit, the insurance companies allegedly reduced their payments to homeowners, knowing that the federal flood insurance program would pick up most of the tab for damages. Many homeowners in Louisiana did have federal flood insurance, because flooding is known as a routine hazard. In Mississippi, however, fewer people have the federal insurance. Many homeowners in Biloxi, for example, didn’t believe that they were at risk, and were stunned when Katrina’s 25-foot storm surge washed over their houses.
For example, Norman and Genevieve Broussard returned to their Biloxi home after Katrina to find there was nothing left except a concrete slab. When the initial shock wore off, they thought gratefully of their homeowner’s insurance, believing that their policy with State Farm would allow them to rebuild. State Farm thought differently. The company told the Broussards that their policy covered damage from hurricane’s winds, but not “wind-driven water” or storm surge. The company denied the couple’s claim entirely, saying that the loss of their house was due only to flooding.
The Broussards sued, arguing that their house was ripped apart by Katrina’s winds before the storm surge washed away the remnants, and in January 2007 they won not only the $223,292 they claimed under their insurance policy with State Farm, but also $2.5 million in punitive damages.(24) Although the judge later reduced the damages to $1 million, the jury’s decision to punish State Farm reflects the anger many Gulf Coast residents feel toward insurance companies. The Broussards were not the only ones who thought they had been cheated.
Class & Race Discrimination?
While many homeowners in Louisiana have joined lawsuits against their insurance companies, others avoided the court system, and instead approached the Louisiana Department of Insurance for help. If a policy holder files an official complaint about a low insurance award, and the complaint is found to be valid by the government investigators, state regulators would negotiate a higher settlement with the insurance company.
However, an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) found that low income people and people of color were much less likely to approach the state for help, and therefore more often accepted low offers from their insurers. AP analyzed 3,000 claims settled by the state, and found that 75 percent of those claims were filed by residents from predominantly white neighborhoods. (27)
Louisiana’s insurance commissioner, Jim Donelon, said that although the department made a strong effort to spread the word about the state’s complaint program, many low-income residents who evacuated to distant cities may not have heard about it. “The message doesn’t get to everyone,” Donelon told AP.(28)
A white couple from Slidell, Louisiana explained that they received a low offer from their insurance company, but were able to live on their savings while they brought their complaint to the state. Meanwhile, an African-American woman said she accepted a low offer because she didn’t know where to appeal for help. “The blacks didn’t complain ’cause they got tired,” the woman told AP.(29)
State Farm, as the largest insurer in Mississippi, has been the target of most of the anger and the subsequent lawsuits. “Katrina was devastating, but so was State Farm,” whistleblower Cori Rigsby told ABC News.(25)
Most of the Mississippi lawsuits have been handled by Oxford lawyer Richard Scruggs, who made a name for himself successfully suing tobacco companies in the 1990s. He took on more than 1,500 clients with storm-damaged homes – including his brother-in-law, U.S, Senator Trent Lott (a Republican from Mississippi) – and sued State Farm, Allstate and several other insurance companies. In early 2007, Scruggs agreed to settled 640 cases against State Farm, on condition that the company pay $80 million to the policyholders. As a result of the settlement, civil and criminal lawsuits against State Farm brought by Mississippi’s attorney general were also dropped.
Scruggs’ cases have been aided by Cori and Kerri Rigsby, two sisters from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, who worked for E.A. Renfroe, a contractor that State Farm hired to manage claims. The sisters secretly copied thousands of pages of internal State Farm claims records and turned the documents over to Scruggs, as well as to state and federal authorities. The Rigby sisters say the documents show that State Farm defrauded policyholders, manipulating engineering reports to conclude that damage was caused by rising water and therefore allowing the company to deny the claims.
“They instructed the adjusters to max out the flood,” Scruggs said in a May speech to attorneys with the Louisiana Association for Justice. “It’s literally a license to steal.”(26)
$9.24 billion. “The United States should be right in there, and not just monitoring it, given as far-reaching and serious as this case is,” said the judge.But Gonzales took the latter option, and had his deputies file a response saying that the Department of Justice has not had time to investigate the allegations of fraud.
History will repeat itself, the evidence can still be used.
Who can you put in jail? Enron?
They sell, Americans buy. It’s in black & white. They’ve been doing this for years. Every year, they found another exclusion to insert into the contract to Protect their Finances, and not the Policyholder.
Prison will not help us or any of them.
American Homeowners deserve to buy a policy that will cover any & all damage from natural disasters. Period!
If We,The People…Do not Demand A Fair Policy, they will continue this.
Then it will be our own fault.
We can do something!
one voice is not strong enough.
If the Insurance Industry can not afford to provide a Fair Honest Policy to the American people, then they need to leave.
FEMA can sell it or we can become SELF-INSURED by City & State. Paid just like taxes to the Assessor’s Office.
Cities & States would have so much money they could not count.
City would make more $ than the Industry No Agent Commission, No overhead.
Just a few empoyees to help process payments paid.
The weather is changing….
and we need to change with it.
This is what we’re fighting for.
Fair Honest Policy for all Homeowners.
We’re Not in Good Hands+Neighbors are Bad
Can’t the IJ stop these professional anti State Farm posters from polluting every question with their cut and paste garbage? Over and over and over and over, the same junk, different names.
MR nobody important Comment junk, different names:
$9.24 billion and that is your sad Comment NOT ONE THING ABOUT Gonzales NOT ONE THING ABOUT investigate the allegations of fraud.
WHAT UP WITH YOU MR nobody important ?
What do your boring and repetitive comments on every article on State Farm have to do with any of the actual articles? This is not an article on State Farm. Get over yourself. These long and boring posts are appearing more and more attached to articles. It’s easy enough to ignore them, but I do question the motives of the continuous posting of unrelated and pasted material.
Excuse me unrelated, the story is about ponzi is it not? ”What do your boring and repetitive comments on every article on State Farm have to do with any of the actual articles.” Fallout of accused. You see, I LOVE THIS U.S.A. THAT MY FRIEND IS WHY I KEEP, AS YOU CALL IT, BORING YOU BECAUSE SOME TIMES YOU CAN NOT LOOK WAY. THIS IS THE INSURANCE JOURNAL. WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO PUT STORY ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY.
No, actually it’s a great place to have discussions about the actual article, not your repetitive cut and paste posts about a company you dislike. If they are hurting you, complain to the insurance departments. There is no resolution to your problem here, whatever it is. This is a forum that has been appropriated by non insurance people, in many cases, to villify the industry as a whole by parties unknown. I believe that many of the constant posters are paid to post by the Trial Lawyers or some other anti insurance group. Just my non paranoid opinion.
Your claim I HAVE NO CLAIM- Nigeria NO . Billion IN fraud .”capital letters and poor grammar, and go back to Nigeria.” I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO NIGERIA ONE DAY. Has for ”capital letters why would you care more about ”capital letters than all the B.S.? AND poor grammar CAN YOU BE FOR REAL Billion IN fraud Billion IN fraudBillion IN fraud. AND YOU CARE ABOUT grammar.
Grammar is probably necessary is anyone is to actually understand your gibberish. You need a moment to collect yourself. The insurance industry is not responsible your your problems whatever they are. This is a site to discuss the business of insurance and the article in question. Go away!
POVERTY OF THE SOUL……. DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOUR HEART REFLECTED THE VERY BEST? CONFIDENCE LED UPRIGHT.YOU BELIEVED IN HONOR, AND THEN YOUR LIFE CHANGED FOREVER. GREED BECAME THE POVERTY OF YOUR SOUL, ROBBING YOURSELF OF HAPPINESS. LYING , PRETENDING TO BE KIND , YOUR SUCCESS. TRICKERY, INJUSTICE, YOUR REWARD, ROBBING YOURSELF. MONEY THE DONOR WITH RANK.
$9.24 billion and that is your sad Comment NOT ONE THING ABOUT Gonzales NOT ONE THING ABOUT investigate the allegations of fraud.
WHAT UP WITH YOU MR nobody important ?
Ok, whatever. You are an idiot. I will officially ignore your ranting from now on. I wish you could see how idiotic your rants are in the context of this site. Totally inappropriate venue for this garbage. There is nobody posting on this site except you who has a problem.
.Farm has history of not releasing records
By Anita Lee
McClatchy Newspapers
Advertisement
BILOXI, Miss. (MCT) — In some cases, State Farm’s top leadership prefers not to share or even keep records that offer insight into how policyholder claims are handled, according to court records.
Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr. said in sworn testimony earlier this month that no minutes are kept of quarterly meetings held by the company’s top management, the Chairman’s Council, and that policyholders have no right to information about an investigation State Farm Insurance Cos. has ordered of its relationship with Haag Engineering Co.
State Farm spokesman Phil Supple said the company doesn’t “intend to-;try this-;case in the media.”
“State Farm stands by testimony given by President and Vice Chairman Vince Trosino, who said when asked about these allegations, ‘It’s not part of our system. It’s not part of our core values. It’s not what made us the most successful property and casualty insurer, life insurer, in the country.'”
Juries in two states, Texas and Oklahoma, have found Haag provided biased reports to State Farm to minimize or deny policyholder claims. Mississippi’s attorney general currently is conducting a grand jury investigation to determine whether State Farm and other insurers denied Hurricane Katrina claims through the use of fraudulent engineering reports.
Haag denies bias, but State Farm suspended business with the company in June and ordered an independent investigation after an Oklahoma jury awarded a total of $13 million to a policyholder over tornado damages. Subsequent trials are set to determine damages for 70 other policyholders, all of whom had claims investigated by Haag.
In past court cases, judges have chastised and even fined State Farm for withholding records the company was ordered to produce. Evidence the company destroyed documents has been presented in several cases.
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients.”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided the courts information on State Farm’s history of destroying and withholding records.
In 1998, Fye wrote in a Florida case
“I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated certain Exhibits which show the company’s goals and objectives for document handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”
In some cases, company executives did not keep records.
Jeff Marr, the attorney suing State Farm in Oklahoma, took sworn testimony Sept. 6 from Rust. Topics included Rust’s Chairman’s Council, made up of top State Farm executives. The group, which includes the company’s general counsel, meets quarterly.
Marr was fishing for records of those meetings that he could subpoena for his lawsuit.
“Certainly,” Marr asked Rust, “you keep records of the quarterly meetings where the entire Chairman’s Council is present?”
“We have an agenda,” Rust said, “but minutes in that, no.”
“Why not?” Marr asked.
Rust replied, “Never felt a need to.”
Marr later asked, “Are there any written agendas that are available should I choose to request them in the lawsuit?”
“I’m not sure what might be available,” Rust said.
Rust also said policyholders, who essentially own the private mutual company, are not entitled to know what the Chairman’s Council discusses or decides about litigation against State Farm, citing attorney-client privilege.
Marr questioned why the company would withhold information from policyholders, who own State Farm.
“Well, again,” said Rust (who has a law degree), “I’m not an expert in the area, but I think as you find — even if I’m a shareholder in a publicly traded company, there are things that are not — you know, I do not have access to.”
Marr later asked if policyholders have a right to see documents from State Farm’s investigation of Haag.
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients
Madoff will be spared having spend his days and nights in a dreary Manhattan lockup that has been home to terrorists, mobsters like John Gotti and range of other criminals who have gone through the Manhattan system over the years.
Is John Gotti higher on the criminal totem pole than Bernie Madoff?
In past court cases, judges have chastised and even fined State Farm for withholding records the company was ordered to produce. Evidence the company destroyed documents has been presented in several cases.
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients.”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided the courts information on State Farm’s history of destroying and withholding records.
The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”
We need over sight committees in the private sector .
the National Flood Insurance Program overpaid 66 percent on average. If that statistic proves true and extends to all of Louisiana’s flood claims, the insurance companies could have overcharged the federal government by as much as $9.24 billion.(18)
In one example, the suit claims that State Farm had the national flood insurance program pay a homeowner $88,280 for flood damages – even though the floodwaters never reached the house. Adjusters from Branch Consultants say that the home actually had $110,918 in wind damage, but because the company shifted blame from wind to water damage, State Farm had to pay only $5,379 on its homeowner’s policy. “These kinds of abuses are just unconscionable,” Kanner told the Times-Picayune.(19)
In another case, the suit says State Farm calculated $45,000 in flood damage to a home in Jefferson Parish, and stated that the flood had damaged the roof – despite the fact that the house got only eight inches of water.(20)
A spokesman for State Farm declined to comment on the pending litigation. In earlier comments to the Times-Picayune, a State Farm spokesman denied the allegations. “We feel that we’ve appropriately handled claims arising out of Katrina, and that we followed NFIP and FEMA guidelines with regards to expediting flood claims,” said Fraser Engerman.(21)
In a rare move this June, the federal judge who is handling the case ordered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to either join the case or appear in court to explain the federal government’s lack of involvement. “The United States should be right in there, and not just monitoring it, given as far-reaching and serious as this case is,” said the judge.(22) But Gonzales took the latter option, and had his deputies file a response saying that the Department of Justice has not had time to investigate the allegations of fraud.(23)
Mississippi
In the cases included in the Louisiana whistleblower lawsuit, the insurance companies allegedly reduced their payments to homeowners, knowing that the federal flood insurance program would pick up most of the tab for damages. Many homeowners in Louisiana did have federal flood insurance, because flooding is known as a routine hazard. In Mississippi, however, fewer people have the federal insurance. Many homeowners in Biloxi, for example, didn’t believe that they were at risk, and were stunned when Katrina’s 25-foot storm surge washed over their houses.
For example, Norman and Genevieve Broussard returned to their Biloxi home after Katrina to find there was nothing left except a concrete slab. When the initial shock wore off, they thought gratefully of their homeowner’s insurance, believing that their policy with State Farm would allow them to rebuild. State Farm thought differently. The company told the Broussards that their policy covered damage from hurricane’s winds, but not “wind-driven water” or storm surge. The company denied the couple’s claim entirely, saying that the loss of their house was due only to flooding.
The Broussards sued, arguing that their house was ripped apart by Katrina’s winds before the storm surge washed away the remnants, and in January 2007 they won not only the $223,292 they claimed under their insurance policy with State Farm, but also $2.5 million in punitive damages.(24) Although the judge later reduced the damages to $1 million, the jury’s decision to punish State Farm reflects the anger many Gulf Coast residents feel toward insurance companies. The Broussards were not the only ones who thought they had been cheated.
Class & Race Discrimination?
While many homeowners in Louisiana have joined lawsuits against their insurance companies, others avoided the court system, and instead approached the Louisiana Department of Insurance for help. If a policy holder files an official complaint about a low insurance award, and the complaint is found to be valid by the government investigators, state regulators would negotiate a higher settlement with the insurance company.
However, an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) found that low income people and people of color were much less likely to approach the state for help, and therefore more often accepted low offers from their insurers. AP analyzed 3,000 claims settled by the state, and found that 75 percent of those claims were filed by residents from predominantly white neighborhoods. (27)
Louisiana’s insurance commissioner, Jim Donelon, said that although the department made a strong effort to spread the word about the state’s complaint program, many low-income residents who evacuated to distant cities may not have heard about it. “The message doesn’t get to everyone,” Donelon told AP.(28)
A white couple from Slidell, Louisiana explained that they received a low offer from their insurance company, but were able to live on their savings while they brought their complaint to the state. Meanwhile, an African-American woman said she accepted a low offer because she didn’t know where to appeal for help. “The blacks didn’t complain ’cause they got tired,” the woman told AP.(29)
State Farm, as the largest insurer in Mississippi, has been the target of most of the anger and the subsequent lawsuits. “Katrina was devastating, but so was State Farm,” whistleblower Cori Rigsby told ABC News.(25)
Most of the Mississippi lawsuits have been handled by Oxford lawyer Richard Scruggs, who made a name for himself successfully suing tobacco companies in the 1990s. He took on more than 1,500 clients with storm-damaged homes – including his brother-in-law, U.S, Senator Trent Lott (a Republican from Mississippi) – and sued State Farm, Allstate and several other insurance companies. In early 2007, Scruggs agreed to settled 640 cases against State Farm, on condition that the company pay $80 million to the policyholders. As a result of the settlement, civil and criminal lawsuits against State Farm brought by Mississippi’s attorney general were also dropped.
Scruggs’ cases have been aided by Cori and Kerri Rigsby, two sisters from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, who worked for E.A. Renfroe, a contractor that State Farm hired to manage claims. The sisters secretly copied thousands of pages of internal State Farm claims records and turned the documents over to Scruggs, as well as to state and federal authorities. The Rigby sisters say the documents show that State Farm defrauded policyholders, manipulating engineering reports to conclude that damage was caused by rising water and therefore allowing the company to deny the claims.
“They instructed the adjusters to max out the flood,” Scruggs said in a May speech to attorneys with the Louisiana Association for Justice. “It’s literally a license to steal.”(26)
$9.24 billion HOLY CRAP!!!!!!
$9.24 billion. “The United States should be right in there, and not just monitoring it, given as far-reaching and serious as this case is,” said the judge.But Gonzales took the latter option, and had his deputies file a response saying that the Department of Justice has not had time to investigate the allegations of fraud.
History will repeat itself, the evidence can still be used.
Who can you put in jail? Enron?
They sell, Americans buy. It’s in black & white. They’ve been doing this for years. Every year, they found another exclusion to insert into the contract to Protect their Finances, and not the Policyholder.
Prison will not help us or any of them.
American Homeowners deserve to buy a policy that will cover any & all damage from natural disasters. Period!
If We,The People…Do not Demand A Fair Policy, they will continue this.
Then it will be our own fault.
We can do something!
one voice is not strong enough.
If the Insurance Industry can not afford to provide a Fair Honest Policy to the American people, then they need to leave.
FEMA can sell it or we can become SELF-INSURED by City & State. Paid just like taxes to the Assessor’s Office.
Cities & States would have so much money they could not count.
City would make more $ than the Industry No Agent Commission, No overhead.
Just a few empoyees to help process payments paid.
The weather is changing….
and we need to change with it.
This is what we’re fighting for.
Fair Honest Policy for all Homeowners.
We’re Not in Good Hands+Neighbors are Bad
Can’t the IJ stop these professional anti State Farm posters from polluting every question with their cut and paste garbage? Over and over and over and over, the same junk, different names.
MR nobody important Comment junk, different names:
$9.24 billion and that is your sad Comment NOT ONE THING ABOUT Gonzales NOT ONE THING ABOUT investigate the allegations of fraud.
WHAT UP WITH YOU MR nobody important ?
What do your boring and repetitive comments on every article on State Farm have to do with any of the actual articles? This is not an article on State Farm. Get over yourself. These long and boring posts are appearing more and more attached to articles. It’s easy enough to ignore them, but I do question the motives of the continuous posting of unrelated and pasted material.
Excuse me unrelated, the story is about ponzi is it not? ”What do your boring and repetitive comments on every article on State Farm have to do with any of the actual articles.” Fallout of accused. You see, I LOVE THIS U.S.A. THAT MY FRIEND IS WHY I KEEP, AS YOU CALL IT, BORING YOU BECAUSE SOME TIMES YOU CAN NOT LOOK WAY. THIS IS THE INSURANCE JOURNAL. WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO PUT STORY ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY.
Please, take your capital letters and poor grammar, and go back to Nigeria.
Actually, the spam I get from Nigeria makes more sense than this State Farm jibber jabber.
We are in no position to help you with your claim with St. Farm, contact your local state insurance department.
No, actually it’s a great place to have discussions about the actual article, not your repetitive cut and paste posts about a company you dislike. If they are hurting you, complain to the insurance departments. There is no resolution to your problem here, whatever it is. This is a forum that has been appropriated by non insurance people, in many cases, to villify the industry as a whole by parties unknown. I believe that many of the constant posters are paid to post by the Trial Lawyers or some other anti insurance group. Just my non paranoid opinion.
Your claim I HAVE NO CLAIM- Nigeria NO . Billion IN fraud .”capital letters and poor grammar, and go back to Nigeria.” I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO NIGERIA ONE DAY. Has for ”capital letters why would you care more about ”capital letters than all the B.S.? AND poor grammar CAN YOU BE FOR REAL Billion IN fraud Billion IN fraudBillion IN fraud. AND YOU CARE ABOUT grammar.
Grammar is probably necessary is anyone is to actually understand your gibberish. You need a moment to collect yourself. The insurance industry is not responsible your your problems whatever they are. This is a site to discuss the business of insurance and the article in question. Go away!
enough about state farm……Madoff is the criminal here.
POVERTY OF THE SOUL……. DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOUR HEART REFLECTED THE VERY BEST? CONFIDENCE LED UPRIGHT.YOU BELIEVED IN HONOR, AND THEN YOUR LIFE CHANGED FOREVER. GREED BECAME THE POVERTY OF YOUR SOUL, ROBBING YOURSELF OF HAPPINESS. LYING , PRETENDING TO BE KIND , YOUR SUCCESS. TRICKERY, INJUSTICE, YOUR REWARD, ROBBING YOURSELF. MONEY THE DONOR WITH RANK.
$9.24 billion and that is your sad Comment NOT ONE THING ABOUT Gonzales NOT ONE THING ABOUT investigate the allegations of fraud.
WHAT UP WITH YOU MR nobody important ?
Ok, whatever. You are an idiot. I will officially ignore your ranting from now on. I wish you could see how idiotic your rants are in the context of this site. Totally inappropriate venue for this garbage. There is nobody posting on this site except you who has a problem.
Call Dick Tracy idiot. Or a mental hospital.
.Farm has history of not releasing records
By Anita Lee
McClatchy Newspapers
Advertisement
BILOXI, Miss. (MCT) — In some cases, State Farm’s top leadership prefers not to share or even keep records that offer insight into how policyholder claims are handled, according to court records.
Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr. said in sworn testimony earlier this month that no minutes are kept of quarterly meetings held by the company’s top management, the Chairman’s Council, and that policyholders have no right to information about an investigation State Farm Insurance Cos. has ordered of its relationship with Haag Engineering Co.
State Farm spokesman Phil Supple said the company doesn’t “intend to-;try this-;case in the media.”
“State Farm stands by testimony given by President and Vice Chairman Vince Trosino, who said when asked about these allegations, ‘It’s not part of our system. It’s not part of our core values. It’s not what made us the most successful property and casualty insurer, life insurer, in the country.'”
Juries in two states, Texas and Oklahoma, have found Haag provided biased reports to State Farm to minimize or deny policyholder claims. Mississippi’s attorney general currently is conducting a grand jury investigation to determine whether State Farm and other insurers denied Hurricane Katrina claims through the use of fraudulent engineering reports.
Haag denies bias, but State Farm suspended business with the company in June and ordered an independent investigation after an Oklahoma jury awarded a total of $13 million to a policyholder over tornado damages. Subsequent trials are set to determine damages for 70 other policyholders, all of whom had claims investigated by Haag.
In past court cases, judges have chastised and even fined State Farm for withholding records the company was ordered to produce. Evidence the company destroyed documents has been presented in several cases.
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients.”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided the courts information on State Farm’s history of destroying and withholding records.
In 1998, Fye wrote in a Florida case
“I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated certain Exhibits which show the company’s goals and objectives for document handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”
In some cases, company executives did not keep records.
Jeff Marr, the attorney suing State Farm in Oklahoma, took sworn testimony Sept. 6 from Rust. Topics included Rust’s Chairman’s Council, made up of top State Farm executives. The group, which includes the company’s general counsel, meets quarterly.
Marr was fishing for records of those meetings that he could subpoena for his lawsuit.
“Certainly,” Marr asked Rust, “you keep records of the quarterly meetings where the entire Chairman’s Council is present?”
“We have an agenda,” Rust said, “but minutes in that, no.”
“Why not?” Marr asked.
Rust replied, “Never felt a need to.”
Marr later asked, “Are there any written agendas that are available should I choose to request them in the lawsuit?”
“I’m not sure what might be available,” Rust said.
Rust also said policyholders, who essentially own the private mutual company, are not entitled to know what the Chairman’s Council discusses or decides about litigation against State Farm, citing attorney-client privilege.
Marr questioned why the company would withhold information from policyholders, who own State Farm.
“Well, again,” said Rust (who has a law degree), “I’m not an expert in the area, but I think as you find — even if I’m a shareholder in a publicly traded company, there are things that are not — you know, I do not have access to.”
Marr later asked if policyholders have a right to see documents from State Farm’s investigation of Haag.
“No,” Rust said.
“Why not?” Marr asked. “Is it privileged?”
Rust said, “I believe so
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients
Madoff will be spared having spend his days and nights in a dreary Manhattan lockup that has been home to terrorists, mobsters like John Gotti and range of other criminals who have gone through the Manhattan system over the years.
Is John Gotti higher on the criminal totem pole than Bernie Madoff?
Interesting turn of a phrase for someone who may spend a bunch of time in prison. I hope he spends a day for each dollor he stole.
In past court cases, judges have chastised and even fined State Farm for withholding records the company was ordered to produce. Evidence the company destroyed documents has been presented in several cases.
In the Oklahoma case, after State Farm finally turned over to the court a “claims legal research” DVD and other records, Judge Richard G. Van Dyck told company attorneys
“As I was watching these tapes I just want to say this for the record, the hair on the back of my neck did — did stand up because I was seeing things there that early on in this case I was told by (State Farm) defense counsel didn’t exist and couldn’t be produced. So I’m not real happy with that and I want to remind all counsel that their ethical responsibilities as attorneys outweigh the wishes of their clients.”
Gary T. Fye, an expert in the analysis of disputed insurance claims who lives in Nevada, often testifies in insurance cases. Fye, who said he has testified on behalf of policyholders and insurance companies, has provided the courts information on State Farm’s history of destroying and withholding records.
The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”