This article describes different risks that homeowner policyholders face
After Katrina, many homeowners who had not purchased federal flood insurance tried to recover under their homeowners insurance policies for flood claims that were specifically excluded. Consider State Farm’s account of its response to Katrina, widely considered to be the largest deployment of resources.
Claims
State Farm assigned more than 5,600 employees and contract adjusters to the Gulf Coast after the hurricane, and its call centers logged 1.1 million calls from customers. It processed more than 295,000 property claims and 99,000 auto claims, for which it paid $3.6 billion. Although its conclusions were contested by policyholder advocates, a study of State Farm’s response by the Mississippi Department of Insurance found that the company “did make errors”, but it found no violations of the unfair claim practices laws. As insurance commissioner Mike Chaney said in releasing the report, “Although there were questionable decisions and irregularities by State Farm in handling claims, no scheme or plan to systematically mistreat policyholders was found.”1
Are Policyholders Covered?
Policyholders, their attorneys, and consumer advocates tell a different story. Insurance companies and their agents assure policyholders they are covered for hurricane claims, but when the hurricane comes the companies rely on arcane language, dubious interpretations of insurance policies, and outright fraud to limit or deny their responsibility to pay for losses.
The companies manipulate the software that evaluates claims, generate inadequate or biased inspections of damaged property and fraudulent or doctored engineering reports, and otherwise distort the claims-handling process as part of a large-scale, industry wide system of underpaying claims. James W. Gr
22 Jul
Posted by Brandon Nguyen as Insurance Auto Articles
So your car’s pinging. Whirring. Making a whoosh-clackety noise that has you concerned. But after hearing countless horror stories from friends who’ve been taken to the cleaners by their mechanics, you’re also understandably concerned about finding an honest and reliable shop.
Fortunately, the odds are mostly in your favor. As of June 2010, there were 211,793 auto mechanic establishments in the U.S. You just need one (albeit a good one). So where to begin?
Here’s a step-by-step guide to finding repair shop love.
Insurers are currently exposing over 2,300 fraudulent claims every week, according to new data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The figure has risen from a weekly total of 2,000 dishonest claims in 2009, worth over £16 million.
Last year, 122,000 fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered, up 14% on a year earlier.
By value, 4% of all claims were fraudulent in 2009, with motor insurance claims highest in value (£410 million), although the most common frauds involved home insurance (62,000 bogus or exaggerated claims detected).
With liability claims, many of the 8,500 cases exposed involved bogus personal injuries, such as those of a young woman who claimed to have tripped over a loose pavement but had actually injured herself by jumping down a flight of stairs when fleeing from security guards.
ABI director general, Nick Starling, says: “Our honest customers rightly object to having to pay higher premiums to subsidise the fraudulent minority, which is why insurers continue to up their game in the war on the cheats.”
He adds: “Whether claiming against a third party for bogus personal injury or on their own insurance, fraudsters are more likely than ever to get caught, leading to more expensive and harder to obtain insurance and credit, and the possibility of a criminal record.”
22 Jul
Posted by Tiffany Parker as Insurance News
A number of homeowners believe extreme decoys and strange hiding places are the way to win against thieves, however specialist home insurance provider Hiscox warns that the traditional basics of home security should not be forgotten as the summer peak season for burglaries approaches.
Hiscox has seen some householders turn their homes into hidden treasure hunts to try and outsmart burglars such as burying valuables in the garden, sewing jewellery into curtains and using decoy doors . Recent examples of unusual security techniques identified by the insurer include leaving fake’ jewellery lying around the home to trick thieves, hanging out washing so the house appears occupied and making the front door look scruffy to try and disguise the value of the content inside.
Andrew Cheney, senior risk and valuation advisor at Hiscox UK, who in his role visits hundreds of homes every year, said: “Homeowners can be quite creative in their attempts at securing their valuables. However, many of their inventive hiding places are quite obvious to most thieves. It’s far better to prevent thieves from being able to access your home in the first instance.”