Category: Insurance
[Release]Eaves joins crusade to avoid insurance industry influence
Speaking from Biloxi today, John Arthur Eaves Jr., leading Democratic candidate for Governor, signed a pledge to refuse to take campaign contributions from the insurance industry, including insurance companies, insurance PACs and executives of insurance companies.
Posted by kate at 06:02 PM on 06/21/07. Discuss (1)
[JFP] The JFP Interview with Gary Anderson
Read Adam Lynch’s JFP Interview with Gary Anderson, who is challenging George Dale for insurance commissioner:
Were just calling it like it is. WeҒre not trying to duck and dodge this issue. We know the insurance industry is financing (Dale’s) campaign. Just last week, I received a letter that one of his close friends in the insurance industry had sent out across the state saying: We need to stand up for George because George has been good to us. HeӒs been communicating well with the insurance industry. In that letter, this person asked for 200 agents to stand up for George and give $1,000 a piece, and write private checks in the amount of at least $1,000. The letter also asked insurance companies to give corporate checks in the amount of $1,000 to raise the $250,000 that he needs to fight off this Democratic opponent, referring to me. So, you know, when I see letters like that and I hear the commission say he only accepts a little money from the insurance industry, I canԒt help but think that somebodys having a difficult time telling the truth.
Posted by ladd at 04:03 PM on 06/20/07. Discuss (2)
[S-H] Lott Ready for Insurance Battle
The Sun-Herald is reporting:
[Lott] said insurers assumed they could mistreat Mississippians after Hurricane Katrina, as they have done to customers in Florida and Alabama.
“You may try it and you may get away with it, but you’re going to go through the wringer before you get there because we’re not going to take it,” Lott said as Rotarians applauded. He decried record industry profits and an 82 percent pay increase for State Farm CEO Edward Rust Jr. while the industry denies claims, cuts back on coverage and raises rates.
“We’re not looking for war,” he said. “We’re looking for peace and a solution. But sometimes, to get a good result, you have to be prepared to take on the fight and take some of the flak that comes with it. In Washington, if you take on the insurance industry, you better bring your lunch. I’ve got mine.”
Posted by ladd at 05:31 PM on 04/05/07. Discuss (0)
[Release] Wind Pool Receives $30 Million in Federal Funds
Jackson, MS/Verbatim - Governor Haley Barbour and Commissioner of Insurance George Dale announced today that the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association (MWUA or Wind Pool) has received $30 million in Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. This announcement, coupled with the $20 million in state funds that came about with last week’s signing of the Wind Pool Bill, will allow the state’s insurer of last resort to slash commercial rates from 268% to 142%, resulting in millions of dollars in savings to policyholders. The premium reductions for commercial policies could begin as soon as next week.
Posted by ladd at 07:21 PM on 04/03/07. Discuss (2)
[Release] Gov to Act on Wind Pool Bill
[Verbatim]GOVERNOR BARBOUR TO ACT ON WIND POOL BILL - Governor Haley Barbour will be joined by legislators and other officials as he acts on the wind pool bill (HB 1500, Mississippi Growth and Redevelopment Act of 2007) in a public ceremony and press conference on Thursday, March 22, 2007, at 11 a.m. in Room 216 of the New Capitol.
Posted by admin at 08:42 AM on 03/22/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] Lott Vows to ‘Bring Down’ State Farm, Industry
"The Corner” at National Review Online reported Feb. 23 that Sen. Trent Lott made a courtesy call to Chuck Chamness, the CEO of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, to let the insurance industry know what train was headed their way. Chamness later summed up the conversation in a letter back to Lott:
The key passage: “Your comment that you will dedicate your next term of office to ‘bringing down State Farm and the industry’ through all means available to you, including legislation designed to harm the property/casualty insurance industry, was very unsettling, to say the least.”
Posted by ladd at 06:27 PM on 02/26/07. Discuss (0)
[Release] Hood Celebrates Insurance Settlement; Calls for Reform
Attorney General Jim Hood today help a press conference celebrating the State Form settlement over Katrina lawsuits. You can hear the audio from Athe press conference here, as well as view the settlement agreement. Here is the verbatim press release:
Jackson, MS--"After months of heated negotiations, I am happy tannounce that our office has reached a settlement agreement with State Farm in our state court litigation,” said Attorney General Jim Hood. “The settlement agreement will give Coastal policyholders an expedited alternative to waiting for a jury trial. In this litigation my goals were to require full disclosure of information in the claim files to the policyholders, change State Farm’s unfair claims handling practices, require the reevaluation of the claims without the use of adjusters and engineers previously used, make a minimum offer to the slab owners and a new offer to those with lesser damage, provide an administrative process of arbitration where the arbiters are chosen fairly by both sides, and preserve the option of policyholders to opt out of the process and file a suit in court.”
State Farm has agreed to the following demands in the Settlement Agreement filed in the Chancery Court of Hinds County:
Posted by ladd at 11:37 PM on 01/23/07. Discuss (28)
[NEWS] Stunner: Jury Awards $2.5 Million in Punitive Damages
A jury awarded a Biloxi couple $2.5 million in punitive damages after a federal judge found that State Farm denied their Hurricane Katrina claim without proving the excluded peril of water caused the loss.
“It is without dispute that Hurricane Katrina was a windstorm,” U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. told attorneys for both sides.
Posted by ladd at 04:03 PM on 01/11/07. Discuss (0)
[Desk] House Approves Wind Pool Funds, State Pay Increase, Partnership Bill
by Adam Lynch
Jan. 10, 2007
The Mississippi House approved three different bills Thursday, two of them leftovers that were stalled by a largely Republican minority last week that would not vote to change the rules to allow an early vote. HB 243 and HB 240 were the holdovers that passed the House after a second round of floor negotiations. HB 243 provides state funds to wind pool to reduce premium rates on commercial property, while 240 provides a pay increase for state employees. HB 240 passed with a unanimous vote while 243 passed with a lone holdout from Republican Dannie Reed, of Ackerman.
The House also passed HB 349, a bill that creates a program to replace the now unfunded Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi. The Bill collected 101 yes votes, with 18 mostly Republican nays, though the bill initially looked doomed by dissenting votes from black legislators. Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, led arguments that the board of the fledgling tobacco-cessation program did not adequately represent minorities?who statistically engage in heavy use of tobacco products. Scott was one of the Democratic votes against 349.
All three bills will now face the Senate.
Posted by ladd at 11:11 AM on 01/11/07. Discuss (0)
[News] Taylor Rallies for Insurance Reform
From the Sun-Herald, U.S. Representative Gene Taylor held a rally today in Bay St. Louis to call for more oversight and reform of insurance agencies on the federal level.
Taylor is optimistic in his push for a national all-perils insurance policy, federal oversight of the property insurance industry and repeal of its exemption from antitrust laws, which he said allowed the companies to consult amongst themselves when determining how to handle Katrina claims.
“I think they called one another and said ‘if you don’t pay, we won’t pay,’ and that way there won’t be any peer pressure on any of us to have to pay,” Taylor said.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/16411397.htm
Posted by admin at 01:31 PM on 01/08/07. Discuss (0)
Page 1 of 1 pages
