Beaumont Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It was decided that State Farm had no valid way of proving that certain claims were not caused by the wind before the surge finished the job. Actually, its MS law to the effect that if the predominant cause of the loss is covered, the entire loss is covered even if an uncovered cause contributed ... So, if you could prove that the windstorm was so bad that it would have damaged your house to the tune of 50% of its value or so ... under MS common law they owe for the full loss ... But it does not necessarily turn the burden of proof on its head ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 (edited) That's because that jack up my prices to pay for delivery to rural farm country. If they could just rid themselves of those hard to reach places I bet you we would all pay less for a stamp. Here we are discussing the possibility of insurance companies pulling out of large swathes of the country and this guy wants 2c shaved off the price of a stamp. Edited February 16, 2007 by Ursa Majoris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Exactly my point. So do we not deliver mail to the farmer much like some believe we should not provide insurance to those who are not as profitable to the private insurance companies. It's more expensive to deliver water and electricity to Farmer Joe too. Should we cut that off as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Question: If your house catches on fire and the fire-department shows up and sprays a bunch of water on it to put it out and it turns out that the overall damage is about 25% from the initial fire and 75% from water damage from the fire-department's efforts, would insurance companies only pay 25% of your claim since the rest was caused by "flood damage"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It's more expensive to deliver water and electricity to Farmer Joe too. Should we cut that off as well? Bad example as many rural people are indeed cut off from water (i.e. they don't have "city water" and instead have a well and a septic tank). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerbraves Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It's more expensive to deliver water and electricity to Farmer Joe too. Should we cut that off as well? No we shouldn't for the same reasons why we shouldn't cut off insurance to those who work and live in the gulf state region. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 Question: If your house catches on fire and the fire-department shows up and sprays a bunch of water on it to put it out and it turns out that the overall damage is about 25% from the initial fire and 75% from water damage from the fire-department's efforts, would insurance companies only pay 25% of your claim since the rest was caused by "flood damage"? I can see your point, but the way hurricane coverage works is that any damage caused by wind up to & including if your roof is damaged or a window breaks and water gets into your house. But the stipulation is the water must be "wind driven" which was one of the hangups of whether the storm surge was truly a "flood" and not pushed by the wind. Unfortunately for myself that is a battle that I know could not be won so all I was covered for was what damage happened above the water line. Luckily for me I had an independant adjuster & he was quite fair considering the circumstances. He still couldn't help me out on the flood damage, but he gave me some items, such as my privacy fence & doors, that I didn't think would be covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 But the stipulation is the water must be "wind driven" which was one of the hangups of whether the storm surge was truly a "flood" and not pushed by the wind. I'm sorry to hear that you thought you wouldn't win, but it is an absolute complete crock of sh|t to say that the storm surge was not wind-driven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 (edited) This story bothers me to no end how screwed insurance companies can be. It is the most crooked business on the planet. If I had them, I'd cancel my policy ASAP in support because who knows when it will happen to you. Their lawyers have twisted around the policy so much, they can squeal their way out of almost any claim. The average Joe doesn't stand a chance against them either. The regulators are too weak to do anything about it. They should all rot in hell for not stepping up and doing the right thing there. Edited February 16, 2007 by TimC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 State Representative Gene Taylor's response. "Don't let the screen door hit you in the rear." Taylor Says of State Farm: "That's Not the Kind of Company We Need" U.S. Representative Gene Taylor has been one of the most outspoken critics of the insurance industry since Hurricane Katrina. So his comments on State Farm's decision not to write any new business or homeowner policies in Mississippi should come as no surprise. Taylor told WLOX News, "Don't let the screen door hit them on their rear end. As horribly as they've treated the people of South Mississippi, taking a decade's worth of premiums and kicking people when they were down, that's not the kind of company we need doing business in South Mississippi." The 4th District congressman has requested a Congressional investigation of the insurance industry. He's even asking Katrina victims to send him their "insurance horror stories." (Click here to learn more about sending your story to Rep. Taylor.) Taylor feels Wednesday's announcement by State Farm may help coast residents in the long run. "It helps to build my case why we need federal regulation, all perils insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, and to take away their anti-trust exemption that they have used to abuse people," Taylor said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikesVikes Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Chavez please don't tell me you are a mail man. Not that there is anything wrong with that. You got a problem with dudes in blue shorts delivering mail to your front door? Go get your own mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Bad example as many rural people are indeed cut off from water (i.e. they don't have "city water" and instead have a well and a septic tank). OK, but the electricity example stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It is the most crooked business on the planet. its a close second... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 its a close second... So which is #1, the oil industry or pharmaceuticals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 So which is #1, the oil industry or pharmaceuticals? I'm guessing politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 but it is an absolute complete crock of sh|t to say that the storm surge was not wind-driven. Unless you're a complete weasel. Unfortunately, insurance companies are packed tight with weasels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Every once in a while I just have to respond to one of your insanely assinine posts and this is one of them! You are such a completly closed minded, always right, my way or the highway type of person that it amazes me that anyone can stand to be around you for more than 15 mins without getting violent! First you want to b1tch about the people down here who couldnt afford insurance at the previous rates. Then it's off to b1tch about federal tax dollars(that we also pay into) helping to get this region back on our feet again. Now you think it's a good idea for the Insurance companies to bail on us all together. Maybe you should look up the definition of INSURANCE! These companies have become nothing more than a large scale "Protection buisiness". They will collect money for so long as they dont have to pay out more than a small % of what is collected. Perch, may you never need to use your insurance. I can say with a great deal of confidence that if you were to run into a bit of bad luck and have say a tornadoe damage your home followed by say a fire or something along those lines you would quickly be dropped by your beloved "shareholders" er I mean insurance company. Be sure not to be involved in an accident or 2 because they arent really accidents but actually just another reason to raise your rates, or worse drop you all together. I have to ask, what the he11 happened to you in your life to make you so closed minded to the rest of humankind? Don't get me wrong, I have compassion for the people that lost all they had or even some of what they had. I just don't see that it is all that smart to rebuild in the same location. I've heard it said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Well, if you build your house on the side of a mountain in California, or below seal level in N.O. or on a coast known to get hit fairly regularly by hurricanes, then you are insane. The insurance companies have said enough of this insanity. Unfortunately those that live in that area, and our politicians who want their votes have yet to see that insanity. I have proposed in the past that we have the government give the people of the region the option of taking our tax dollars to rebuild further inland, rather than back where the same thing will happen in 5, 10, 20, or 50 years, so that we don't go through this again. My problem isn't with the government helping them, it is with the government throwing the money away only to do it again or be expected to do it again at some point in the future when this happens again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 For about 3yrs in the early 1970s, Geico didn't underwrite a single new car insurance policy because it wasn't profitable to do so. The decision to not write new policies in the Gulf area doesn't seem much different to me. PS - Geico paid on the policies they had written ... they just weren't issuing any new ones. Apparently the same can't be said for some of the home insurers in the Gulf. PPS - If you can get them, try USAA. If you or your parents (or maybe even grandparents) were in the military, you can be a USAA policy holder. IMO, they're a pretty good insurance company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I'm with Muck. I have no problem with insurers pulling out of an area. I have a HUGH problem though with insurers not paying up what they owe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REZ Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I don't really blame them for not writing new policies. Really, nobody should take them to task for that. Not paying on the claims that were made though is crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caveman_Nick Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 (edited) Chavez please don't tell me you are a mail man. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Chavez delivers more important things than mail... EDIT: He delivers things way more important then the freakin' mail!!! Edited February 16, 2007 by Caveman_Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caveman_Nick Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 You got a problem with dudes in blue shorts delivering mail to your front door? Go get your own mail. Maybe Rockerbraves found out later in life that the mailman was his real dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REZ Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Maybe Rockerbraves found out later in life that the mailman was his real dad. Maybe Rockerbraves has a secret man crush on his mailman?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerbraves Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Chavez delivers more important things than mail... EDIT: Now I'm worried. He's not a gay mail man is he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Insurance is a necessary evil. Many of us were raised with the mistaken impression that the customer is always right. Nobody at your insurance company gives a rats a$$ about you, your health, your vehicle, or your house. Unless you miss a premium payment. Big companies in general have no loyalty to you as a customer, to you as an employee, the air you breathe, the water you drink or the country you love (or hate depending on your political affiliation). Profit is all that matters and any insurance company that doesn't try and screw you is screwing their shareholders. profit IS what matters to a business (not just insurance), but in order to gain profit they need customers. and in order to gain and keep customers, they need happy customers. the problem with insurance, IMO, is that in so many areas of our lives it is mandated upon us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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