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• Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect
• Medical Negligence, Mistakes and Malpractice
• Personal Injury & Wrongful Death
• Insurance: Unfair Insurance Claim Practices

News

Insurance: Unfair Insurance Claim Practices

• Washington State Trial Bar Rolls Up Sleeves for Ref. 67 Fight
  Sep 28, 2007

  - 21 - 30

• Insurance Companies' "Pattern of Greed" Revealed
  Aug 28, 2007

  Follow the link below to read more.... - 22 - 30

• Lawsuit Accuses Insurers of Defrauding Government
  Aug 15, 2007

  - 23 - 30

• Study Exposes Allstate's Excessive Prices and Poor Claims Handling
  Aug 07, 2007

  "In recent years, property-casualty insurers have made a number of significant but not always highly visible changes in the way they assess risk, set rates and manage claims. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina exposed the harmful effects of many of these changes on policyholders, especially lower income and minority consumers." "As CFA [The Consumer Federation of America] has tracked these questionable [insurance claim] practices, one insurance company stood out as a leader in creating and exploiting many of these trends. That insurer is Allstate. As a result, CFA launched a detailed investigation of Allstate’s business practices, which found: 1. Excessive rates and profits... 2. Questionable claims settlement practices... 3. Mistreatment of consumers throughout the country in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina... 4. Unfair rating and underwriting practices... 5. High consumer complaints... 6. Shifting costs to taxpayers... The entire report is available at the Consumer Federation of America's website, www.consumerfed.org. - 24 - 30

General

• Insurers playing rough
  Dec 07, 2007

  - 25 - 30

• Lawyers Guiding Clients Through The Strike Zone
  Nov 21, 2007

  “You won't find them on the picket lines, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that attorneys representing film and television writers are playing a key part in the Writers Guild of America strike, which enters its 12th day Friday. The involvement is certainly not comparable (at least not yet) to the five-month 1988 strike, when noted legal eagle Ken Ziffren took a leading role in resolving the dispute, meeting with union officials, studio heads and the studios' chief negotiator Nick Counter to mediate a settlement. Rather, the role many top industry attorneys say they now find themselves in is that of steady adviser, helping clients to navigate the war rhetoric and complex strike rules without unintentionally angering either side.” Reuters, 11-16-07 - 26 - 30

• Employment Discrimination Suit to Test Strength of Arbitration Clause
  Nov 16, 2007

  "The Supreme Judicial Court recently heard arguments in a case that addresses the tension between the right of an individual to a jury trial on her claims of employment discrimination and the strong public policy favoring enforcement of arbitration agreements. In St. Fleur v. WPI Cable Systems/Mutron, SJC No. 09961, the court will decide if an employee waived her right to a jury trial by signing her employer’s arbitration agreement, even where she says she was only presented with the signature page and never saw the entire agreement." David Frank, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 11-13-07 - 27 - 30

• Health Insurer Tied Bonuses to Dropping Sick Policyholders
  Nov 16, 2007

  "One of the state’s largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved. Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed." Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times, 11-9-07 - 28 - 30

• Sugeon Wins $31 Million in UnumProvident Suit
  Nov 15, 2007

  "A California jury's $31.7 million verdict against UnumProvident, the nation's largest disability insurer, is just one of a number of legal problems the company faces. More than 2,500 policyholders have sued the company accusing it of fraud and breach of contract, there is at least one class-action suit pending and regulators in two states are conducting inquiries." - 29 - 30

• AP - Louisiana Couple Beats State Farm in First Federal Katrina Insurance Trial
  Nov 13, 2007

  "An attorney for plaintiffs Michael and Judy Kodrin and a State Farm spokesman estimated the award would be about $350,000. But U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said he'd have to calculate the amount and did not immediately issue a finding. 'We're just happy it's over, and that the jury was fair and just,' Judy Kodrin said, adding later: 'It never was about the money for us. It was about justice more than anything.'" - 30 - 30

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