U.S. may still join insurance lawsuit
The Justice Department says it is “highly interested” in an August 2006 lawsuit claiming that Allstate Corp., State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. and other insurers defrauded the government by “grossly overstating” Hurricane Katrina flood damages to policyholders’ properties and then submitting false claims worth potentially billions of dollars to the federal flood insurance program.
It’s the latest turn of events in the suit, filed by Branch Consultants LLC of Metairie, La., in federal court in Louisiana.
In a May 18 filing in the case, the U.S. said it wasn’t able to make an informed decision by a court-imposed deadline whether to intervene in the case, and so it wasn’t getting involved. On June 5, the court directed the government to intervene by Monday or appear Wednesday to explain why it’s not taking over the litigation.
Read more on Fraud alleged in hurricane Katrina insurance claims…
Filed under News by on Jul 10th, 2010. 1 Comment. 
JAKARTA: The city administration on Monday denied victims’ claims of negligence and mismanagement during and after devastating floods in February.
Responding to a lawsuit filed by a group of flood victims, lawyers for the administration told the Central Jakarta District Court that Governor Sutiyoso and the five city mayors fulfilled all measures required by a 2002 gubernatorial decree on disaster management.
Read more on Jakarta denies flood negligence claims…
Filed under News by on Jul 24th, 2009. Comment.
Representatives from the insurance industry are meeting ministers to see how best to deal with the cost of claims following the recent floods.
Ministers have already met local councils to discuss how to spend the £14m relief package announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
UK insurers are facing a bill of around £1.5bn after June’s floods.
The government says it is putting pressure on insurers to see that claims are processed as quickly as possible.
Read more on Insurers to discuss flood claims…
Filed under News by on Jul 10th, 2008. Comment.
GIPPSLAND residents recovering from their battle against devastating floods have hit a new obstacle: getting insurance payouts for damage.
As Premier Steve Bracks yesterday took his cabinet to the scene of last month’s floods, some residents in the town of Newry, near Maffra, reported problems with insurance claims.
But Gippsland’s residents are likely to get some good news today, with the State Government’s Flood Recovery Ministerial Taskforce expected to announce a package worth about $40 million to rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Read more on Flood victims facing insurance-payout battle…
Filed under News by on Jul 10th, 2007. Comment.
Insurers say critics’ complaints of poor treatment are mostly unfounded
headline numbers were eye-popping: Allstate reported a record $5 billion profit for 2006. State Farm Insurance’s profit climbed 65 percent for the year. St. Paul Travelers’ earnings rose six fold in the fourth quarter, American International Group’s rose eightfold.
A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, profits at the nation’s major property-casualty insurance companies soared — and are expected to be strong again in 2007, according to estimates by the A.M. Best Co. rating agency.
Read more on As insurance profits soar, consumers gripe over service…
Filed under Information, News by on Apr 7th, 2007. Comment.
A Merrillville, Indiana woman shared with her former husband a $3.6 million verdict against State Farm Insurance Company which refused to pay the couple after their home burned down in.
The couple’s original claim was for $145,000. They fully cooperated with the police and even passed polygraph tests. While they were cleared as suspects in the blaze and were never charged with any crime, State Farm still refused to pay for the fire loss.
After a seven-day trial, the Insured’s were awarded $145,212 for their home and personal belongings, and in addition, State Farm was ordered to pay $500,000 for showing bad faith and $3,000,000 in punitive damages.
Filed under News by on Apr 6th, 2007. Comment.
