Finally, A Letter from ALLSTATE

“My Army Engineers blue roof is growing on me.
LOL”

“Stovie' house would look just smashing in Pink.

OH OH OH no wait.....
Rainbow shingles, show that pride!!”

“Before I get the roof done, I have to tear off the remains of my two story chimney and rebuild that part of the roof.
I'm not going back with a fireplace.”

“I know we hate each other SS, but I sincerely hope you get your home situation squared away, and stick it to the insurance company if you can. I'm sure a class action lawsuit will spring up here and there.

HPM- Those roof parties are fun, but tough on the knees.�
Buddha Bear
11:23:47 AM
2/10/06”

“I guess the bottom line is that it could have been worse. Your house could have washed out into the Gulf. It's still a long time to have to live in a damaged house though.”

“You could go live on Trent Lott's porch... I hear it's gonna be beautiful.”

“It's OK.
Better than a lot of folks have.
It is a little 'airish' on these cold mornings.
LOL, at least I have not had any more raccoons coming in and setting up housekeeping.

Way better than a FEMA trailer.”

“SS, is FEMA going to cover anything? From what's on the news around here, it doesn't look too good.”

“And I wouldn't count on Federal Flood Insurance. I hear the government is running the program into bankruptcy. Something about charging less than market rates while encouraging people to build in flood prone areas. The shock!

http://www.env-econ.net/2005/09/washington_post.html

http://www.king5.com/localnews/environment/stories/NW_012506NABfloodinsuranceJK.3bc58f99.html


�The National Flood Insurance Program on Wednesday asked Congress to allow premium increases on as many as 1.2 million federal flood insurance policies that receive discounts and also suggested the government consider requiring millions more homeowners to buy coverage.�

The shock! A government agency runs its business into the ground and then has a solution: expand the program at public expense.


�David Maurstad, administrator of the program, said at the hearing that the program needs basic reforms as it grapples with mounting debt from last year's hurricanes. The program expects to borrow $23 billion from the treasury to pay claims from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma�

�Congress has twice increased the program's borrowing authority, most recently in November to $18.5 billion. Officials with the program, which has paid 70 percent of the 239,000 claims from last year's storms, said it would reach the debt limit by mid-February and needs another infusion of up to $5.6 billion.�

The shock! A government agency runs its business into the ground and then has a solution: increase government spending on that program at public expense.

The New Deal/Great Society crowd must be saying, �Yup, makes sense to me.�




Man, stove, I didn't realize you still had it so bad. At least you've got lots of camping gear.

I'd say you've got a place to stay here, but it'd be one hell of a commute.

I can't make it out your way to help rebuild for the foreseeable future.

If you've got any vacation, you've got a place to stay here.”

“My God people. My house is still standing!
Just has a few holes in it, and minus a lower level basement wall. ;-)
The flood water has dried.

My basement after hauling all the flooded crap out:

last edited: 2/10/06 6:59:45 PM”

“Ah, today is "Insurance Numbnuts" day. I just got a call from Allstate regarding our our flood insurance, saying A. we'd overpaid and B. why didn't I tell them we have 2 properties? Dumbass transcriber transplaced 2 numbers into their system (they screwed up a 2 and a 4) and they also confused my BROTHER-IN-LAW's policy with ours. Freaking morons! Learn to read!”

“insurance people are morons, it probably only takes a GED to work for them...wait a minute, I work for an insurance company

i would assume they're refunding this "overpayment"?”

“That's the thing, I didn't overpay them! The check's for the right amount, they just screwed up entering it.”

“shhhhhhh, demand a refund...remember, they only have a GED LOL”

“Good luck. Have patience! Hee hee hee”

“Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one suffering from problems that should not exist. I can't help but feel that things are headed downhill, and no one cares as long as they get their undeserved salary.”

“Hey Stovie and other coastal residents. If you hold an Allstate policy like I do look out! My Parish is one of the 18 coastal Parishes in Louisiana that Allstate wants to drop!!! I've had Allstate for 14 years and even though I've tried to get quotes from other insurance companies every year, I haven't had any luck finding any takers. My rent house is uninsured because no one will write a policy at any price. I think the era of live with the risk you take is upon us. You really can't force the insurance companies to write policies. At least I still have national flood.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl072506jballstate.2454d69.html”

“Maybe Insurance is bad like Unions?”

“http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/18/State/Insurers_told__All_or.shtml

Insurers told: All or none
By Jennifer Liberto and Joni James
Published January 18, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Florida lawmakers appear ready to deliver on one of Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign promises to punish insurers who have retreated from the state's property market while still writing other insurance in the Sunshine State, such as auto.

In a surprise voice vote Wednesday, the Florida Senate agreed to force Florida insurance companies who write property insurance in other states to offer it here if they want to continue writing any insurance in this state. The House has a similar proposal.

"The 'cherry-picking' in this state has got to stop," said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, as he proposed the new language on the Senate floor with co-sponsor Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon. "We've got to send a message to the insurance industry, because we've heard that message from our homeowners back home that they won't tolerate the cherry-picking in this state any longer."

The consensus on Crist's campaign promise came as the two chambers passed differing insurance packages that aim to lower insurance premiums by shifting more risk of hurricanes from insurance companies to homeowners and state government. The chambers are expected to begin negotiations today to resolve discrepancies.

"I'm very pleased," said Crist when he heard about the Senate's changed position. "It's not important because it's something I campaigned on. It's important because I believe it will help the people of Florida."

The prohibition on insurers is expected to have little effect on individual policyholders' rates, and Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, who heads the Senate's insurance committee, said he believed it could create a new crisis in the automobile market.

"That amendment, all by itself, has the power to in the long term destroy Florida's insurance market," said William Stander, assistant vice president for Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. "They think it will force companies to write all types of insurance. I think the consequences are the opposite, that it will force companies to re-evaluate their position in the Florida marketplace whether or not they do any business here."

Other agreements between the two chambers include: a rollback on rates to 2006 levels for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. customers and more options for policyholders to reduce their premiums if they agree to assume more risk.

The Legislature also agrees that they want to require building codes in Florida's Panhandle to match stronger codes in the rest of the state.

"We have extraordinary agreement on almost all the major points of legislation," said House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Miami Republican.

Yet, the biggest difference in the two plans remains on the one issue that could deliver the biggest rate relief: offering insurers cheaper reinsurance and forcing them to pass on savings to policyholders.

Reinsurance is insurance for insurers. In Florida, the state already provides cheap reinsurance for statewide damages above $6-billion and less than $22-billion.

The chambers moved closer together on the reinsurance issue Wednesday, when the House agreed with the Senate that any additional cheap reinsurance offered by the state should be for statewide hurricane damage above $22-billion.

Both chambers contemplate covering 90 percent of damages above that $22-billion threshold - the current limit of the state's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. But they differ on how much more coverage to offer, whether to charge for it and whether it would cover all insurers.

The House wants to offer up to $12-billion more in voluntary reinsurance coverage to private insurers, but charge for it. While the Senate has proposed a universal plan covering all insurers in which the state assumes an additional $23-billion in risk free of charge.

House leaders released data Wednesday suggesting their plan could save homeowners as much as 65 percent on their windstorm premium. But that's only a best case scenario, with every insurer participating. State Farm Florida, the state's largest private insurer with 1-million policies, said it might not participate because the reinsurance might still cost more than what it buys from its parent company.

And Senate leaders, who on Tuesday predicted their plan could save 35 percent on windstorm policies, also questioned the House numbers.

"One of our sets of numbers is wrong," said Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, "and I hope it's ours. But how can theirs save more money when they're charging for it?"

Times staff writers Alex Leary and Steve Bousquet contributed to this article.

What's on the table

Everybody seems to like:

- Requiring companies that offer property insurance elsewhere to offer it in Florida as a condition of selling other lines, such as auto.

- Freezing Citizens' rates for a year.

- Removing the requirement that Citizens charge the highest rates.

- Strengthening the building code for the Florida Panhandle to match the rest of the state.

House-only provisions:

- Factoring national profits of insurance companies into Florida rates.

- Preventing national insurers from creating new Florida-only subsidiaries, or "pup" companies. Many major companies already have subsidiaries in place.

- Replacing the board of Citizens.

- Allowing homeowners to insure for just the value of their outstanding mortgage.

- Allowing insurers to buy more reinsurance from the state, providing a total of $28-billion in cheaper, backstop insurance for a hurricane season with insured losses of up to $34-billion.

Senate-only provisions

- Having the state self-insure 90 percent of losses between $22-billion and $40-billion per hurricane season, sharply reducing insurers' need to buy costly reinsurance, ultimately lowering policyholders' premiums.

- Eliminating laws taking effect March 1 that will make it harder for nonhomestead homeowners to get coverage from Citizens Property Insurance.

- Allowing Citizens to offer more multiperil policies.

- Expanding the pool of who pays for Citizens' deficits from just property insurance policyholders to holders of car policies and other lines of coverage.

- Requiring insurers to offer more coverage options, such as higher deductibles or contents-optional coverage.

Governor's plan

- Banning private insurers from canceling existing homeowner's policies for up to four years.

- Allowing Citizens to offer more multiperil policies.”

“I thought republicans were against price fixing?”

“Damn that nanny government! Telling a Company how it may do business!”

“Tax rate changes ain't price fixin,let me get my abacus.”

“Unlike you poor peeps, I don't feel bound by your ridiculous ideological constraint that there is only one solution to a problem.
I look at all solutions and find the best that works. ;-)”

“Unlike you poor peeps, I don't feel bound by your ridiculous ideological constraint that there is only one solution to a problem.
I look at all solutions and find the best that works. ;-)”
StoveStomper
3:07:23 PM
1/18/07



LOL! you mean be against it unless it works against you, no?

;)


I have allstate everything. Guess I'll stay away from the coasts.
last edited: 1/18/07 2:18:18 PM”

“Silly bear. ;-)

Alstate turned out to one of the less evil insurancers here.
State Farm just had the hammer dropped on them in a lawsuit won by one of their victims last week. Several hundred thousand $ in damages. More lawsuits lining up.”

“I think is has more to do with the local politicians feeling the heat from the voters.

The residents of the big dick in Tallahassee (Yep, that's what the state capital looks like) historicly gives favorable treatment to the insurance industry and as soon as a storm comes around they cut and run. So now the dicks have to try and not appear to be in the pocket of the insurance companies.”

“So now the dicks have to try and not appear to be in the pocket of the insurance companies.”

humanpackmule

Sooo...

Is that a new insurance policy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“Kinda wanting to live together again, treebait? ;-)”

“Better watch it or Laurel will wind up with a new baby brother or sister.”

“both”

“Hey bear, most insurance companies rank right up there with child rapists as far as I'm concerned.”

“Well then we look at Mississippi where there is a dearth of OB/GYNs for towns less than 100,000 since the insurance costs were so high they (the docs) left town.

I can see where the major companies will pull up stakes and leave....leaving the fly by nights to come in....write insurance for a few years, then a BIG one hits (you know like this year) and you call the claim office and the line is disconnected.”

“NEW ORLEANS - State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. engaged in a "pattern of racketeering" by manipulating engineering reports on Hurricane Katrina damage so the company could deny policyholder claims, lawyers for a group of Mississippi homeowners allege in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The federal suit against State Farm represents a new legal strategy for attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, who has played a prominent role in challenging the insurance industry for its handling of Katrina claims.

Hundreds of homeowners in Mississippi and Louisiana have sued their insurers for denying their claims after the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. The suits typically accuse insurers of bad faith and breach of contract for refusing to pay for damage from Katrina's storm surge.

Wednesday's lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi Gulf Coast homeowners is the first in which Scruggs and his legal team accused an insurer of violating the civil Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act, commonly known as RICO.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19337558/”

“Go Dickie!!”

“Those engineers should lose their licenses if they let the insurance company affect their reports. There are lots the things that are gray. I've seen lots of damage that you couldn't pin a specific cause to, even after a big event.....but if they're trying to change how the report was written you gotta stand up to them. That's easy for me to say sitting here with work and those guys don't even have an office anymore to work in, but it's still wrong.”

“I just read the article. I've never heard of the Hoover, AL company mentioned.”