California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

New Ballot measure in California

Our new insurance commissioner has proposed a ballot initiative to try to reduce the number of uninsured motorists.  The link to the story:

Proving rumors true, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has filed a draft ballot initiative with the state Attorney General's office designed to reduce the number of uninsured motorists on state roads and highways by imposing fines.

The voter initiative, dubbed the "Uninsured Motorists Law Enforcement Act of 2008," suggests that:

•Law enforcements officers should remove front and rear license plates from a vehicle if the driver cannot provide evidence of financial responsibility (proper insurance coverage) and valid vehicle registration;

•The officer shall provide the driver with a pamphlet encouraging the driver to comply with the financial responsibility law, and inform the driver of possible fines, penalties and other sanctions if compliance doesn't occur within seven days.

•Vehicle owners, including those who lose their license plates, would be given seven days properly insure their vehicle before severe punishment;

•Peace officers shall not stop a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether a vehicle is being driven in violation of financial responsibility laws;

According to the Commissioner's draft initiative, approximately 25 percent of

California

drivers are not meeting their financial responsibility to acquire and maintain auto insurance as required by law. That costs law-abiding motorists more than $1 billion annually, taking into account that accidents are unnecessarily time consuming and aggravating for properly insured drivers.

Furthermore, the Commissioner indicated that the state's Low Cost Auto Program, which applies to all 58 counties, provides an affordable and actuarily sound insurance program, giving all vehicle owners the opportunity to comply with the state financial responsibility law.
The draft initiative requires approximately 433,000 valid signatures before it could be placed on a statewide ballot for consideration by voters, according to the Secretary of State.

The initiative is here.

I don’t know if I like it or not.

The pros: it may reduce the number of uninsured drivers, stiffer penalties may help, more people may turn to the low cost auto insurance program.

The cons: more people will turn to the low cost auto insurance program, people will take out insurance to get their plates back and then cancel it again, and you are going to give out pamphlets? Maybe give out milk and cookies too.

What do you think?

Lawsuit tales are frauds!

Yep, that email you get about the Stella Awards: it is a fraud! None of those stories happened. Honest. Don't take my word for it. Rick Casey at the Houston Chronicle did an article on it recently. He also debunked the McDonald's coffee case.

Remember, most trial attorneys do not take frivolous cases. We are in the business of taking honest, legitimate cases. Do other cases sneak by? Sure. But when you consider that insurance companies deny many more legitimate cases because they can, don't get upset with us when one out of a million gets by. And don't buy into this garbage with the Stella Awards.

Flimsy Bumpers Cause Damage

A report from the LA Times is fascinating to me. Flimsy bumpers on cars are causing an awful lot of damage in 3mph accidents. Apparently, design issues are part of the problem.

The Insurance Insitute for Highway Safety, an auto insurance industry group, says that the study shows just how badly new cars are performing in what should be minor collisions. According to Joe Nolan, senior VP of the Institute, bumpers cannot handle 3 to 6 mph collisions without causing collateral damage.

The fascinating part, in my opinion, is that the insurance industry likes to talk about how these "minor collisions" can't cause any injury. They talk about cars sustaining under $1,500 in damage as being minimum impacts. Well, a Lexus sustained over $4,000 in damage in a 3 mph collision. So, how exactly does one correlate property damage and speed in collision now? And how does that correlate to injuries? Simple answer: there is no correlation and this is more insurance industry nonsense.

Even if you have been in a collision that the insurance company tells you is minor, you may be injured. If you are, go see your doctor and talk to an attorney about your case.

Health Net Fined

From another source: California officials fined Health Net Inc. $1 million Thursday for misleading state investigators about employee bonuses linked to policy cancellations. The insurer acknowledged last week that it had set goals for employee performance and cost saving based on the number of policyholders who were dropped each year. Officials are continuing a broad investigation of the insurer’s cancellation practices.

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Amazingly, this isn't just limited to health insurance. Property and casualty insurers are accused of offering bonuses to adjusters who meet certain goals in minimizing payments. Underwriters also may get bonuses for cancelling policies during a claim or pre-claim.

It reminds me a lot of "The Rainmaker" by John Grisham. Sometimes fiction is close to fact.

Insurance Premium Flat for 2008?

Reuters is reporting that insurance premiums for auto and homeowners insurance should either be flat or reduce for 2008.

You can thank competition. "Strong competition is forcing insurers to lower their premiums or, at the very least, hold them stable," said Orin Linden, who runs Watson Wyatt's insurance and financial services consulting group in New York. "It's clearly a buyer's market."

Interestingly, this comes as the total damages from the fires in Southern California are tallied. You need to remember to shop your insurance this year, but just don't shop on rates alone. And remember, before you buy or renew your insurance, California residents should get my free Consumers Guide to Buying Auto Insurance by emailing me.

The Pinch After the Fires

More coming out on the fires in Southern California. The Department of Insurance says 40 percent of homeowners do not have enough coverage. WOW!

Interestingly, some fault seems to be placed with the homeowners for not realizing that they do not have enough coverage. Of course, homeowners don't write the insurance policies, insurance agents, people who are supposed to be experts in valuation, do. And they don't insure the homes for enough.

I called 10 insurance agents and asked for a quote. I told them about my house and how much I wanted it insured for. How many gave me a quote based on the amount I asked for? ZERO!

Yet, despite this, homeowners are being blamed. Maybe the insurance companies need to take some blame for not valuing the homes properly!

Health Insurers latching on

Interesting story out of Minnesota. Tom Cary lost his wife to medical malpractice. His health insurance paid for her treatment. He filed a lawsuit against the negligent doctor. The health insurer, instead of pooling its resources with Tom to fight and recover the money, put a lien on his deceased wife's estate to recover the money it paid out. Yes, the premium that Tom paid for years didn't matter. The health insurer wanted to get paid.

And get paid they did. $60,000 out of an undisclosed settlement. And yes, this can and will happen to you if you have an ERISA plan.

In addition to all of the other reasons you have to contact an attorney, you need to see if you have an ERISA policy and if your health insurer may be entitled to reimbursement before you recover any money! 

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If you are in Sacramento........

or Northern California anywhere, stop by the 2nd Annual Regional ATA Tae Kwon Do Tournament at Cosumnes River College. The tournament is run by Kevin Durant at KJ's ATA Black Belt Academy and is being sponsored in part by the Law Offices of Jonathan G. Stein. If you are around, stop by and say hi.