Viewing by month: April 2009
TWIA BILL
The Texas Senate approved a new structure for the state's depleted windstorm insurance fund Thursday, providing a combination of potential rate hikes, bonding and other revenue to ensure the account gets replenished.
Gulf Coast policy holders of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association could see an estimated rate increase of 5 percent a year for three years to get the fund, known as TWIA, to the point of being financially sound.
Hurricane Ike's devastation last year took a huge toll on the state-chartered fund, a hit that some lawmakers and coastal residents had warned about for years. The windstorm fund is the only wind insurance available for property owners in 14 coastal counties.
"We're sitting there with zero money in the fund. We're bankrupt. We have no money," said Republican Sen. Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay, who's proposing the new system.
The Senate approved his legislation 27-4, over the objections of several Gulf Coast senators who worried about the cost it would impose on residents of their region, rather than spreading the expense across the state.
"We are one state and one family," said Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a McAllen Democrat whose region was pounded by Hurricane Dolly last year.
The bill now moves to the House.
Fraser said his proposal represents a fragile compromise among legislators and that it will remain a work in progress as it goes through the Capitol. He said the bill approved by the Senate removes a provision in an earlier version that mandated a steeper automatic rate increase for TWIA policy holders.
He said once the bill gets to a House-Senate conference committee to work out any differences between the two chambers, he will push for $300 million to $500 million from the state's Rainy Day Fund to enable the windstorm association to buy reinsurance, a form of backup insurance for insurance companies.
"If there's ever a rainy day, this is it," he said.
TWIA has $68 billion in coverage for properties along the Texas coast. Fraser said that poses a risk to the state's budget. Some of the money paid into the current coverage system by insurance companies can be recouped by the companies through state tax credits, and that affects the state's finances.
His legislation would add a post-storm charge of $400 million to TWIA member insurers if losses exceed amounts in the association's catastrophe reserve fund. Right now there is no money in the fund.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry declared reform of the windstorm association an emergency item this legislative session. Fraser, insurers and others say something must be done before the next hurricane season arrives this summer. The 140-legislative session ends June 1.
Fraser's legislation would allow the windstorm association to issue bonds before or after a storm of up to $600 million, to be paid for through charges to TWIA policy holders and other property and casualty policy holders in Texas.
One problem with the current system, according to Fraser, is TWIA's rates are so low there is no incentive for regular insurance companies to write wind policies along the coast.
The Southwestern Insurance Information Service, which represents TWIA and other companies, said helping the association's sagging financial condition is important to all taxpayers.
"The ability to issue general revenue bonds and purchase reinsurance is essential in helping preserve the financial integrity of TWIA. Not purchasing reinsurance is like a consumer not purchasing insurance on their home or car, which can ruin lives," said Sandra Helin, a spokeswoman for the Southwestern Insurance Information Service.
Farmers Insurance has "most complaints"
Farmers Insurance is Rated Worst!
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/
According to State Department of Insurance reports Farmers Insurance has the MOST COMPLAINTS in Texas!
Consumer Reports rates Farmers Insurance homeowner insurance "Worse" for both "Problems with Claim" and "Delayed Payments".
Better Business Bureau assigned Farmers Insurance an "F", its worst rating.
J.D Power and Associates gives Farmers Insurance it's Worst Rating for Collision Repair "Overall Experience", "Claim Settlement", "Claim Representative" and "Claim Process & Procedures"
FBIC rates Farmers Insurance: One Of The 5 Worst U.S. Bad Faith Insurer Records..
In Consumer Report's ratings of overall satisfaction with auto insurance companies, Farmers Insurance was one of the Worst!
In a Consumer Reports survey Farmers Insurance was one of the "Poorest Performers" in paying off claims in 30 days or less.
J.D Power and Associates gives Farmers Insurance it's Worst Rating for Auto Insurance "Claims Handling" and "Pricing".
J.D Power and Associates gives Farmers Insurance it's Worst Rating for Homeowners Insurance "Pricing".
Body Shops rate Farmers Insurance worst.
Collision repair shops rated Farmers Insurance below-average with a grade of D plus or worse.
Information has been copied from - FarmersInsuranceGroupSucks.com
Insurance Benefits for Holocaust Victims and Their Families
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has approved a settlement of claims by Holocaust survivors and their families against Italian insurance company Assicurazioni Generali SpA for refusing to honor life insurance policies purchased by people of the Jewish faith and other victims of Nazi persecution prior to World War II.
The settlement resolves the majority of Holocaust victims' claims against Generali, the last of several European insurance companies to settle such claims. The combined settlements of all Holocaust insurance related class actions are expected to pay an estimated $6 billion to Holocaust victims and their heirs.
Plaintiffs, who filed suit against the European insurance companies, have produced evidence showing that their families purchased life, disability and property insurance in pre-war Europe that insurance companies refused to honor in the decades following the War. For decades, insurance companies claimed that they "could not locate polices," that "policies were nationalized," that policyholders "stopped paying premiums so policies were cancelled," and even that the policies were void because heirs could not produce a death certificate for loved ones exterminated by the Nazis.
Linda Gerstelof Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C. a law firm that served as co-lead counsel in the original suit filed in 1997, said, "We applaud the Court's approval of this settlement, which imposes no cap on the amount to be allocated among class members and provides for payments based on a formula that takes into consideration the amounts due on policies, currency conversion and interest. It's been a long road, but step by step a measure of justice has been obtained for thousands of Holocaust survivors who lost so much and received so little in the way of restitution for too long."