Consumer Advocates Support State Regulation; More Transparency
Consumer Advocates Support State Regulation; More Transparency

SEATTLE—Two consumer advocates told insurance commissioners they would prefer to see regulation of insurance remain with the states, as opposed to a federal takeover. Speaking before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ NAIC) Regulatory Modernization Task Force at the NAIC’s summer meeting held here, Sonja…
Mississippi Courtroom Site For Post-Katrina Insurance Showdown; Does Insurance Industry Need Reform?; Natural Gas Leak Dangers; Restoring New Orleans Homes A Monumental Task
Mississippi Courtroom Site For Post-Katrina Insurance Showdown; Does Insurance Industry Need Reform?; Natural Gas Leak Dangers; Restoring New Orleans Homes A Monumental Task

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: A Mississippi lawsuit rocks the insurance world and could impact your policy. Avoid a deadly natural gas leak and exactly how to avoid danger and return home safely after a severe storm. Good morning, everyone. I’m Gerri Willis and this is…
Consumer Advocates Share Insurance Claim Tips
Consumer Advocates Share Insurance Claim Tips

Insurance companies are in the business of making money. So consumers need to know these tips to avoid getting the runaround. Charles Thomas still isn’t sure which was worse: The fire that broke out on the deck of his San Francisco home two years ago…
Founder of Anderson Kill Law Firm, Who Built Career Suing Insurance Companies, Dead at 82
Founder of Anderson Kill Law Firm, Who Built Career Suing Insurance Companies, Dead at 82

The founder of the national law firm Anderson Kill & Olick — who built a career based on suing insurance companies — died July 30 after complications from pneumonia. Eugene R. Anderson was 82. Dubbed “the dean of policyholder’s attorneys” by BusinessWeek, he pioneered influential…
UP Submits Comments In NY Supporting Proposed Ban On Unfair Wording In Health/Disability Policies
UP Submits Comments In NY Supporting Proposed Ban On Unfair Wording In Health/Disability Policies

The NY Insurance Department recently proposed important new regulations, 11 NYCRR 222, banning discretionary clauses in New York. These regulations are immensely important because they will dramatically increase court scutiny of long term disability denials. United Policyholders, a non-profit consumer organization which advocates for fairness…
Among Some, High Marks for Health Care Overhaul’s Beginnings
Among Some, High Marks for Health Care Overhaul’s Beginnings

WASHINGTON — President Obama gets high marks, even from some Republicans, for the way he has begun carrying out the new health care law in the 100 days since it was signed. And a new poll suggests a small increase in favorable views of the…
ASI Lloyds Is Not Renewing Some Insurance Policies In Louisiana
ASI Lloyds Is Not Renewing Some Insurance Policies In Louisiana

ASI Lloyds, a Florida insurer that started writing homeowners coverage in Louisiana last year with the help of a $5-million grant from taxpayers, has been opting not to renew policies to manage its hurricane exposure in the state. Last month, Louisiana homeowners got letters from…
Commercial General Liability Policy Covers ‘Blast’ Faxes: Florida Court
Commercial General Liability Policy Covers ‘Blast’ Faxes: Florida Court

Commercial general liability CGL) insurance policies generally cover liability for unsolicited “blast faxes” that violate federal law, a Florida court has ruled. The Supreme Court of Florida issued its ruling Jan. 28 in a case involving a 2003 CGL policy provision on advertising injuries and…
Insurers maintain record profits in 2007 by overpricing policies and underpaying claims pdf)
Insurers maintain record profits in 2007 by overpricing policies and underpaying claims pdf)
UP Weighs in for policyholders in CA Supreme Court
UP Weighs in for policyholders in CA Supreme Court

Briefing Begins in Fairbanks Can a consumer sue an insurance company under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act? The court of appeals says no, but the California Supreme Court will deliver the final word. The plaintiffs have filed their opening brief, and amicus briefs will be…
Allianz settles annuities cases
Allianz settles annuities cases

State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will announce details today in Oakland of a $10 million settlement involving the sale of improper annuities to California seniors. by Minnesota-based Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Under the terms of the settlement, Allianz will enact more consumer…
Allstate records raise yet more questions
Allstate records raise yet more questions

Beatrice E. Garcia At first glance, Allstate’s release of documents it has zealously guarded for more than a decade as ”trade secrets” could be seen as an orchestrated move to keep Florida regulators at bay and let the company keep writing new policies. Earlier this…
On AIG, Dinallo Goes Against Ex-Boss Spitzer
On AIG, Dinallo Goes Against Ex-Boss Spitzer

Three years after Eliot Spitzer decapitated the world’s largest insurer, his protégé has stepped in to try to save the company from collapse. New York’s insurance superintendent, Eric Dinallo, agreed yesterday to extend a lifeline to American International Group by easing state regulatory restrictions. It…
Spitzer Redux: N.Y.’s Insurance Chief Dinallo Strikes Familiar Chord
Spitzer Redux: N.Y.’s Insurance Chief Dinallo Strikes Familiar Chord

A hard-charging former prosecutor tries to set Wall Street right from his perch as a state official. His activist agenda brings populist praise, but also concerns he might overreach. Eliot Spitzer as New York attorney general in 2002, right? No, this time it’s state Insurance…
Supreme Court Weighs Insurer’s Conflict of Interest in Claim Denial
Supreme Court Weighs Insurer’s Conflict of Interest in Claim Denial

The Supreme Court struggled last week with how much weight to give an insurance company’s potential conflict of interest when it denies an employee’s health or disability benefits claim. The lawyer representing the Ohio woman who sued MetLife Inc. over a disability claim argued that…
Poizner rule changes criticized as a nod to insurance industry
Poizner rule changes criticized as a nod to insurance industry

SACRAMENTO – Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner rode to victory in 2006 partly on the effects of a TV ad ridiculing his opponent, Cruz Bustamante, for taking bagloads of cash from the industry he wanted to regulate. Two years later, Poizner has held firm to his…
2008 Freeway Express Fire Survivor Community Calls For Action As They Face The One Year Fire Anniversary
2008 Freeway Express Fire Survivor Community Calls For Action As They Face The One Year Fire Anniversary

“TWICE BURNED” Press Conference Speakers: Karen Reimus, ’03 Cedar Fire Survivor and Outreach Coordinator for United Policyholders, a nonprofit organization Patrick Craft, ’08 Freeway Complex Fire Survivor – Anaheim Hills Karla Rinskopf, ’08 Freeway Complex Fire Survivor – Yorba Linda Edward Pajarito, ’08 Freeway Complex…
National Health Insurer Report Card
National Health Insurer Report Card

The AMA publishes an annual report card of the claims revenue cycle activities of the major commercial health insurers and Medicare. The National Health Insurer Report Card (NHIRC) provides metrics on the timeliness, transparency and accuracy of claims processing of these payers in an effort…