California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

Allstate turns over documents - well, some

I wrote a week ago about Allstate's refusal to turn over documents to Florida regulators and the subsequent banning of Allstate from writing policies. The ban lasted a day until Florida's Appeals Court overturned it.

Yesterday, Allstate turned over documents. Well, some documents. Allstate is apparently turning over the documents in "waves." I am not sure if Allstate's spokesperson sees the pun there. After all, it is Allstate. (Waves, as in, from the ocean, which damage many Florida properties during hurricane season.)

In the meantime, Florida is going to court to try to get the Appeals Court to overturn its last decision and uphold the ban. Allstate, meanwhile, is arguing that its license can never be suspended unless the safety and welfare of Floridians is at risk. Fascinating argument, but seems weak to me.

By the way, kudos to the Palm Beach Post and Randy Diamond for great coverage of this continuing story.

Farmers, Small Claims Court and SHEESH!

Farmers Insurance is at it again! Yep, good old Farmers. Farmers, apparently, "Gets you back where you belong." Well, maybe it should be "Gets in you the back all along." (Hmmm....anyone see a future career writing jingles?

I have a client who could not settle her case with Farmers. She filed a lawsuit against their insured in small claims court. The judge ruled in her favor and a judgment was mailed out. Simple enough. Thirty days elapsed and no reply from Farmers. I told her to wait a few more days to see if the check was in the mail.

Well, it turns out that Farmers left her a message thirty seven days after the judgment came down. Farmers decided, instead of paying her, to pay the court. (A defendant who loses can pay the court in small claims court.) It will cost them an extra $25. Not a big deal, right?

Well, the catch is that the court will hold the check for 30 days. Then, it will take 4 to 6 weeks to issue a new check to my client. The result: my client doesn't get her money for 90 to 120 days after the judgment.

Why does Farmers do this? Beats me. A few options: 1. Farmers is really desperate to keep its money and needs to earn interest for that extra 30 days. 2. Farmers really doesn't want to help people. 3. Farmers wants to try to discourage people from suing their insureds in small claims court.

SHEESH! Farmers deserves some award for bad service for this nonsense.

The Health Insurance Crisis

Now, it is not often that I get political. And, it is not often that I post cartoons, but today seemed like a good day. Why? Because I received two today.

The first, found here, Download new_yorker_cartoon.pdf,  is a cartoon from "The New Yorker." Pretty funny.

The second one is a YouTube video. Yes, YouTube. This is brought to you by SickofBlueCross. It is a spoof of Monty Python's "Bright Side of Life."

Enjoy!

Allstate Barred in Florida

WOW! Okay, I get that businesses make business decisions based on what they think will happen in the future. (Exhibit A: Ford and the Pinto) But, Allstate has taken bad business decisions to a whole new level.

First, it refused to turn over documents in a case despite a court order. (For the record, a court order is just that - an order. It is not a request, a suggestion or the court asking. It is an order.)

Now, the Florida Department of Insurance has barred Allstate for doing business in Florida because Allstate, wait for it.............................failed to turn over documents. Even the Florida Governor is telling Allstate customers to go find new insurance.

Of course, Allstate was surprised at this decision. (Are they ever not surprised? They constantly seem to be surprised.)

So, a quick recap, Allstate refuses to comply with a subpoena, is barred from doing business and is surprised at this result? Here is a tip for everyone. If you don't comply with a subpoena or a court order, you can lose your business license, be suspended or worse. Allstate, as much as this is going to come as a surprise to them, is no different than the Mom-and-pop dry cleaner or any other business.

I agree with Gov. Crist: Allstate policyholders should move their insurance. You are, clearly, not in good hands!   

New Article on Filing a Claim

The Sacramento Bee wrote a story yesterday about the true price of filing an insurance claim. The story, which can be found here, quotes yours truly. The Bee had readers write in with questions about filing a homeowners insurance claim. I then provided answers to questions. While the theme was the recent storm damage in Sacramento, it really applies to anyone.

And if you have a homeowner's claim, you should request my free report on the 10 Biggest Pitfalls in Filing a Homeowners Claim. Just send me an email and the report is yours!

Auto Claim Tips

Just a quick hit here. United Policyholders, one of the best groups for policyholder rights, has just released its latest version of What's UP - its newsletter. It includes my article on auto claim tips.

Give it a quick read and let me know your thoughts.

Adjusters and their new (old) tactic

Amazing new tactic from the insurance industry. Okay, it is not new, but it was dead for a while. So, amazing revival tactic from the insurance industry: talking you out of an attorney. Here is how it works.

You are in a collision. The insurance company calls you and you say "I am going to hire an attorney." In some cases, you have retained an attorney and the adjuster tells you he/she is not aware of that fact. What happens?

The insurance adjuster will explain to you why you don't need an attorney. The adjuster tells you that the claim settles faster without an attorney, sometimes in weeks, not months. The adjuster then tells you how the attorney is just taking money out of your pocket because the settlement does not increase with an attorney. And the adjuster starts to tell you how evil plaintiff's attorneys are.

Well, the adjuster is wrong, wrong and wrong.

Cases do not settle faster without an attorney. In fact, some insurance companies are known to delay a claim until the statute of limitations expires, or is about to expire, before even making an offer. Once the statute of limitations expires, your claim expires too! Furthermore, a claim cannot resolve until you are recovered. The adjuster's desire to pay you before you recover from your injuries should be a sign that the adjuster is out to screw you.

Settlements do increase with an attorney. You do not know what your case is worth. The adjuster, in theory, does. The adjuster will never offer you full value and will have one hundred excuses why your case is not worth what you think it is or why the adjuster is right. It takes experience to figure out what a case is worth.

Trial lawyers are not evil. In fact, we level the playing field. We make sure someone is looking out for your best interest. It sure is not the insurance company doing that.

Be careful when you see this tactic. It should warn you that the adjuster is being less than honest and is trying to hide something. At the very least, you should get a free consultation before you talk to the adjuster.

Some advice for Northern Californians

Those of you in Northern California remember this past weekend. For those of you who were not here, you may have seen it on the news. Over 2" of rain in one day in Sacramento. Wind gusts over 60 mph. Horrible weather. (I know, nothing like a hurricane or a tornado, but for us, this was really bad.)

Some of you have downed fences or trees knocked over. You are considering filing an insurance claim with your homeowners insurance. Stop!

A small insurance claim can result in your insurance being cancelled or rates going through the roof. It is a practice known as "use it and lose it." United Policyholders website has a ton of stories about this.

I know the tv news people and folks in the newspapers are telling you to file claims. Well, I won't tell them how to report the news if they will stop telling people what to do with insurance. Deal?

If you are unsure if you should report a claim, call a contractor, get an estimate and then determine what to do. But remember, even if you need a loan to pay for it, it may be cheaper than being uninsurable with your house.

Don't Drink and Drive

It is amazing that this has to be said every year. But, new statistics show that the number of people arrested for DUI in California over the holidays is up. The Sacramento Bee is reporting these numbers.

I think the sad part is that the number of fatalities is also up. But read this: "Of the 31 vehicle occupants who were killed over Christmas, 22 were not wearing seat belts."

Now, let me get this straight: not wearing a seat belt can cause you to die in a car collision? I am stunned. Okay, not really. I don't know why people won't wear their seatbelts, but the evidence is clear. Seatbelts save lives.

So, there are two lessons: Don't drink and drive, and wear your seatbelt.