Fireman’s Fund Hit With $5.3M Bad Faith Insurance VerdictA Montana jury hit Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company with a $5.3 million bad faith insurance verdict after the company refused to pay the claim of a woman who suffered severe braid injuries in an auto accident that wasn’t her ...
Can Insurance Companies Fund and Administer Health & Disability Plans? Is a conflict created when the same insurance company both administers and funds a benefit plan? That’s the question that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide later this year – and it could have a significant impact on the ins ...
Insurer Unum Group Reverses 42% Of Previously Denied Disability ClaimsA multi-state settlement agreement with the Unum Group will provide consumers in 48 states and the District of Columbia with over $676 million in additional disability benefits. The agreement reverses nearly 42 percent of pr ...
Central United Life Insurance: Policyholders Have Until June 3rd to Opt Out Of Class ActionCentral United Life Insurance cancer policies only reimburse policyholders for actual charges for chemotherapy / radiation benefits. However, the insurer has been accused of only paying a fraction of those charges and many i ...
Insurer Balance Billing: A Practice That Leaves Policyholders in the DarkIt’s no secret that the amount that doctors and hospitals charge is often very different than what insurance companies want to pay. Although policyholders shouldn’t get caught in the middle of these situations, they often du ...
Insurers Ordered To Pay $60M in Bad Faith Disability ClaimPaul Revere Life Insurance Company and its parent company Unum Provident were ordered to pay $60 million to a Las Vegas man for acting in bad faith when they denied his valid disability claim.
New Study Accuses Insurers of Overpricing and UnderpayingA new study released by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), a non-profit advocacy, research, education and service association of 300 consumer groups with a membership of 50 million people, accuses the insurance industr ...
PacifiCare Faces $1.3 Billion in Penalties for Over 130,000 ViolationsCalifornia Insurance Commissioner Steven Poizner and the Director of the California Department of Managed Care (DMHC), Cindy Ehnes, announced that they are seeking $1.3 billion for over 130,000 alleged claim violations made b ...
California Coming Down On Insurers ‘Like A Ton Of Bricks’California’s Insurance Commissioner, Steven Poizner, in conjunction with California’s legislature and Department of Managed Health Care’s Cindy Ehnes, are getting serious about ending the insurance industry’s bad faith practi ...
United Health Care: Huge Fines & ScandalsUnited Health Care, Inc. (UHC) has seen better days. Insurance Commissioners from California and Texas have slapped the health care provider with huge fines and its former Chief Executive Officer was replaced in 2006 over a ...
Florida’s Governor Believes Allstate Is Gouging ResidentsIn the continuing battle between the state of Florida and Allstate Insurance Company over the production of the secret McKinsey documents, Governor, Charlie Crist, was quoted in Florida’s Sun Sentinel newspaper as saying that ...
Mississippi AG Moves Forward With New State Farm InvestigationMississippi’s Attorney General, Jim Hood, has said that he is moving forward with a new criminal investigation into State Farm’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims. Although Hood’s office was to stop investigating State Fa ...
American Fidelity Ordered To Pay $10M in Punitive DamagesAmerican Fidelity Assurance Company was hit with a $10.8 million punitive damages award for changing the way it pays out benefits. The jury verdict was clearly a sign to punish the insurer for acting in bad faith as the unde ...
Allianz Life Agrees To $10M Settlement for Deceiving SeniorsThe Allianz Life Insurance Company, California’s largest seller of annuity products, has agreed to a $10 million settlement with California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s office for allegedly targeting thousands of se ...
NY Attorney General Accuses Nation’s Largest Insurers of FraudNew York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, announced that his office is conducting an industry-wide investigation into fraudulent activity by some of the nation’s largest insurers – including Aetna, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shiel ...
AIG & General Re Insurance Executives Found Guilty Of Fraud and ConspiracyFive executives, one from American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and four from General Re Corporation (Gen Re), were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy and face prison sentences and hundreds of millions dollars in fines.
Allstate Releases 150,000 McKinsey DocumentsAllstate Insurance Company has released 150,000 documents prepared in the 1990’s by the McKinsey Company that have been a source of controversy for several years. The moves came after Florida banned the insurer from writing ...
Suing HMOs for Denying Care: The Controversy ContinuesDoctors who provide sub-standard care can be sued for medical malpractice. However, HMOs (health maintenance organizations) who tell the doctors what they can and cannot do are shielded from medical malpractice lawsuits. Ma ...
Allstate Must Reveal Secret DocumentsInsurance industry giant, Allstate Insurance Company, has been trying to keep damaging documents behind closed doors for years. That door will be opened as a Kentucky judge recently ruled that the company must reveal secret ...
Teen Dies after CIGNA Refuses To Pay for TransplantInsurance mega-giant, CIGNA Corporation, refused to pay for a liver transplant of a 17 year old girl after doctors, nurses and others pled with the company to provide coverage. The girl died in the process and now CIGNA face ...
Allstate Paying $25,000 a Day for Not Producing McKinsey ReportAllstate Insurance Company has defied a court order that forced them to produce what has become known as the McKinsey report. It’s been three months since the order and Allstate still hasn’t produced the documents – leaving ...
California Insurers Will Pay $7.2M for Scamming SeniorsCalifornia’s Attorney General, Gerry Brown, and Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner, announced a $7.2 million settlement between the state and American Investors Life Insurance Company, Family First Advanced Estate Planning ...
Consumer Legislation May Limit Mandatory Arbitration
Many consumers are subject to mandatory arbitration from the products and services they purchase – yet few realize it. Several bills have been introduced in Congress that would limit mandatory arbitration, which is generally ...
Texas Mutual Accused of FraudA Texas district court judge recently accused Texas Mutual Insurance Company of falsifying documents in a workplace injury case. The judge, seeking to teach the insurer a lesson, required Texas Mutual to post the notice on i ...
$8M Punitive Damages Award against State Farm UpheldA Missouri appellate court recently upheld a lower court ruling that imposed an $8 million punitive damages judgment against State Farm. The damages award, meant to punish State Farm for breach of contract and malicious pros ...
Allstate Suspended From Doing Business in FloridaAllstate Insurance Company has been suspended from doing future business in Florida until it complies with the state Insurance Commissioner’s request for documents. The news of Allstate’s bar has shocked the industry.
Insurance Companies May Be Sharing Your Personal InformationInsurance companies may be sharing, selling or purchasing information on your auto and homeowners’ insurance to better calculate their risk. Approximately 40 million claim files are shared between insurance companies, but co ...
Insurance Rescissions: A Damaging PracticeInsurance companies have the right to rescind policies when they discover that policyholders failed to disclose important information about themselves in the applications for insurance. When used correctly, the practice of r ...
WA State Passes Tough Bad Faith Insurance ReferendumInsurance companies who don’t do what they’re supposed to – pay claims promptly and treat policyholders fairly – act in bad faith. It’s bad business and too many insurers seem to get away with it. Washington state residents ...
Port of New Orleans Sues Insurer over Unpaid Katrina ClaimsA lawsuit has been filed – this one by the Port of New Orleans against Factory Mutual Insurance for over $100 million in unpaid claims. The suit alleges that the insurer has acted in bad faith in its claim handling process.
Louisiana AG Sues Insurers for Bad Faith over Katrina ClaimsLouisiana Attorney General, Charles Foti, is suing several insurance carriers for conspiring to deceive the victims of Hurricane Katrina by providing lower damage estimates, offering lower claim payments and forcing many home ...
State Farm Loses First Federal Katrina CaseA Louisiana jury recently decided that homeowners who lost everything during Hurricane Katrina were entitled to insurance coverage from State Farm Insurance Company. It was the first federal trial in Louisiana against the in ...
Allstate’s Secret Documents Revealed in $1.4B TrialAllstate Insurance Company was allegedly advised by the McKinsey Company to avoid paying policyholder’s claims beginning in the mid 1990’s. Those documents are now being used against them in court.
