Posted on 08/28/2006 1:52:14 PM PDT by freemarket_kenshepherd
With a tropical storm threatening Florida and the one-year anniversary of Katrina approaching, CNN’s August 28 “American Morning” kicked off a weeklong look at “Red Tape and Rubble” in the Gulf Coast. But Ali Velshi’s first report in the series was unbalanced, treating insurance companies as guilty until proven innocent of greed or fraud.
“We’re going to be there when you need us,” anchor Soledad O’Brien said is the promise insurance companies extend out to policy holders, “But many Katrina victims think uh, uh, that’s not true,” she complained.
O’Brien set the stage for Velshi’s unbalanced report by painting insurance companies as “trying to get off easy” as compared to customers who probably “didn’t understand their policies.”
Velshi did show an insurance industry spokesman to point out that private homeowners insurance plans have never covered flood damage from any cause, including hurricanes. Dissatisfied with the argument that homeowners have a personal responsibility to obtain separate flood insurance, Velshi turned to Mississippi trial attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who attacked the industry for making a profit.
Altogether, the five companies Scruggs is suing on behalf of hurricane victims “reported profits of more than $12 billion last year,” Velshi complained, adding that 2005 was “the insurance industry’s most profitable year ever” even after “record policy payouts.”
But rather than finding someone who would argue the insurance industry’s health amidst “record payouts” is good news for the economy and for the vast numbers of insurance claims paid out to hurricane victims, Velshi ended his story complaining that “it wasn’t a profitable year for Cecil Tillman,” a man suing his insurance provider, Nationwide (NYSE: NFS).
What’s more, Velshi’s focus on “record profits” is misleading, according to an industry spokeswoman who talked to the Business & Media Institute recently.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...
CNN is proterrorist and antiamerican as they come. By comparison insurance companies are operated by saints. I have worked as a consultant for a couple of insurance companies and numerous agents. My impression; most agents are a reasonable group of people--they attempt to do the best with the information they have. I have not seen an agent trying to cheat a claimant. On the other hand, insurance fraud is rampant -- I have seen numerous people, who feign honesty, attempt insurance fraud and feel justified in doing so. The absolute worst: there are a gazillion shyster lawyers out there making a living ripping off insurance companies.
The Utah Insurance Comm claims there is nothing they can do. She has had to take it through small claims court - has won - but Allstate is still appealing.[ She says they are trying to wear her down or hoping she dies :-)] Their dishonesty is appalling! And their lack of concern for a customer who had been with them for 18 years - never having made even one prior claim is disgusting, imo.
smile
Since they find insurance companies so offensive, maybe insurance companies should relieve CNN of the burden of hypocrisy by revoking all insurance company advertising from CNN networks and also by canceling their insurance policies.
It simple! Either you had wind and flood insurance or you didn't. I live on a hill, I have insurance for wind but not for a flood. If I get flooded it's my fault!!
Unless your a minority and in New Orleans.
That's an ignorant question. A majority of Ninth Ward residents were homeowners, many of them elderly folks who owned their homes free and clear and had insurance. This neighborhood was poor, but it was not a "ghetto" full of slum apartments and public housing.
The insurance companies have absolutely raped those folks in New Orleans. If you go there you will see house after house, completely ruined, with signs saying "Allstate paid me $3,500 for this." There was a man featured in the Spike Lee documentary who was a WWII veteran and had paid insurance premiums for 55 years on his home, which was ruined. His insurance company said they would pay $750 for some roof damage! He has paid probably ten times that in premiums. This is how our aging veterans are treated today by Corporate America.
And by the way, whatever the insurance companies refuse to pay, YOU are picking up the tab as the government is starting to hand out $150,000 grants to everyone in New Orleans with uninsured losses.
I hope the insurance companies get the biggest black eye in business history out of this.
Its not an ignorant question if you truely don't know the answer. It wasn't racist or derogatory in any matter. What they keep saying on the news is that the 9th ward was the poor part of the city. The majority of the poor people can't afford home owner's insurance.
Congratulations freemarket- there isn't a sympathetic party in this entire scenario.
"The insurance companies have absolutely raped those folks in New Orleans. If you go there you will see house after house, completely ruined, with signs saying "Allstate paid me $3,500 for this." There was a man featured in the Spike Lee documentary who was a WWII veteran and had paid insurance premiums for 55 years on his home, which was ruined. His insurance company said they would pay $750 for some roof damage! He has paid probably ten times that in premiums. This is how our aging veterans are treated today by Corporate America"
I'm an aduster for Allstate and worked in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. I lived in a pop up camper for the first month I was there, with no running water and only sporatic electricity. many other adjusters lived and worked in as bad or worse conditions for the first few weeks..... some commuted from out of town hotels up to a 100 miles each way every day, 7 days a week.
I didn't see my family for 4 months and worked 17-18 hour days, 7 days a week.
Allstate's only instructions to all of us was make sure every policy holder gets every dime they have coming but not a nickel more.
If you had insurance for 100yrs and didn't have flood insurance you didn't get paid for flood damage period. You don't get paid for what you're not covered for, it's that simple.
And FEMA underwrites and regulates how flood insurance claims are paid, NOT the insurance companies.
Insurance companies only market the flood policies on FEMA's behalf.
VERY FEW people who had flood damage in the N.O. area didn't have flood insurance. I settled over 350 claims and only had 5 who suffered flood damage with no coverage...
Out of all those claims, I had exactly 8 complaints from customers who thought that their settlement was not "enough" 2 of those were claiming damage that didn't occur and the other 6 didn't have "replacement cost" coverage.... so their claim was settled based on depreciated value...
I had over 20 customers who attempted to file for damage that was not caused by the storm, or claimed damage to items that we could not determine that they ever owned.... in other words, attempted fraud.
It's easy to look at some elderly or poor person and feel compassion for their plight..... that doesn't in any way mean they're owed something by an insurance company.
My own homeowners premium has more than doubled..... as I also live in a Hurricane prone area that's been hit on more than one occaision in the past 10 years, including Ivan and Katrina.
There's two sides to every story....99% of the folks complaining have only themselves to blame for their predicament. They didn't buy flood insurance or they built expensive homes in a flood zone (max payout on flood insurance is $250,000 on structures and $80,000 on personal property... so if you had a $500G home that was destroyed by storm surge, you're out of pocket at least $250G) Those are FEMA limits..... they sell the insurance not the insurance companies.
This is consistent with CNN being a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. Democrats implement anti-business legislation in hopes of getting more donations from business. CNN probably implements anti-business programming in hopes of getting more advertising -- and public service announcements -- from the insurance industry.
Well I don't live in a flood zone, or a wildfire area, or a landslide region.
People that live against brush on hills or close to the water tend to be quite wealthy, with the possible exception of many residents of New Orleans. I have little sympathy for them, and even less desire to see a taxpayer bailout, bankrupt my insurance company, or see my rates go up, because they choose to own/build a home in a foolish location or don't understand their policies.
Wakeup people. Your homeowners insurance covers fire/wind damage, certain kinds or theft, and protects you from liability, and that's it unless you have some kind of rider.
Its about time somebody investigate them!Insurance is where you pay for thin air.At least the tobacco industry gave you a butt and some smoke!The insurance companies have managed to have laws passed which guarantees them an income and if you don't pay they turn you in.A law should be passed that says they HAVE TO PAY if your premiums are current.
Thanks for the honest look from an inside perspective. Typically these threads devolve into sniping at insurance companies backed by anecdotal evidence.
IMHO you've hit the nail square on the head. Time will tell, but if I were a betting woman...
But they don't make nearly the money that bankers and lawyers do.
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