Yesterday, while I was busy in a Denver federal court successfully arguing against attorneys for State Farm on most points, the Colorado Division of Insurance announced a new regulation1 to provide some relief to policyholders suffering from the historic Colorado wildfires that have struck this beautiful state over the past several years.
The Oklahoma Insurance Department has released its 2022 Annual Report. Every year, the OID compiles a report summarizing the required financial disclosures of insurers in the state, highlighting new legislation, and breaking down certain regulatory activity taken by the department (although information about market conduct exams is noticeably missing). Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the more interesting information and statistics from last year:
Continue Reading Oklahoma Insurance Department’s 2022 Year in Review
The Florida legislature recently passed a sweeping property insurance bill that severely limited the ability of policyholders to sue their own insurance companies for wrongful claims conduct and took away a 100-year-old law requiring the losing insurance company to pay the policyholder’s attorney fees. To put lipstick on this pig of legislation, the legislature added language allegedly making it easier for the insurance commissioner to request a Market Conduct Examination of a property insurance company’s claims practices. While some policyholders may think this helps, the insurance industry knows that market claims examinations have little impact on curbing significant wrongful claims practices.
The post, Ding Dong the Wicked Insurance Witch Is Dead! Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Resigns!, generated a great deal of comments from readers. The Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie, and lessons are abundant in the story. However, some missed the point of the post, which is found in the last paragraph:
All policyholders and I can do is celebrate his resignation. Most of us have felt like the munchkins in a faraway land and ignored ever since Altmaier was appointed Florida’s insurance commissioner.
Continue Reading Thoughts From Readers About Insurance Commissioner Resignation
An insurance agent leader in the Florida Association of Insurance Agents has questioned Florida’s dominant insurance rating agency’s motive to downgrade Florida-based insurers. A post to its membership suggests that Demotech made the downgrade for a self-serving financial reason as a power ploy:
Continue Reading Insurance Agent Leader Questions Motives of Demotech to Downgrade Florida Insurers
The recent events by Demotech indicating that it may downgrade seventeen Florida insurance companies reminded me of the above scene from Casablanca. Florida’s Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier should try out for the role of the corrupt police Captain Louis Renault if the movie is ever remade.
Continue Reading Shocking! Shocking To Believe That Any Insurance Regulator Would Rely Upon Demotech
Yesterday’s post, Will Citizens Property Insurance Disputes Be Handled By Government Administrative Judges?, ended with the hope that Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation would respond to Citizens request for an endorsement by looking out of policyholder interests. In a comment to the blog post, Mike Cappelli commented by saying that Florida’s OIR was a “rubber stamp.”
Continue Reading The Revolving Door Connecting Insurance Regulators with the Supposedly Regulated Insurance Industry
In this installment of Know the Regs to Use the Regs, we examine additional excerpts from the California Code of Regulations’ Fair Claims Settlement Practices, Sections 2695.4 and 2695. To read more about California Code of Regulations 2695.7 in a past blog, click here, and for California Code of Regulations 2695.9, click here.
Continue Reading Know the Regs to Use the Regs – a look at California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations (10 CCR 2695.4 and 10 CCR 2695.5)
Note: This guest blog post is by Holly Soffer, Esq., a policyholder attorney and General Counsel to the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.
Unfortunately, we are singing the same old song again in Louisiana, having to report new administrative actions filed against public adjusters for the unauthorized practice of law and licensing violations. The pursuit of these types of actions by the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) has been dormant for a few years. As a result, some public adjusters have relaxed their concern about possible scrutiny by the LDI on their conduct. This is a mistake. Even armed with all the correct types of documents, however, one can still fall outside the law regarding conduct.
Continue Reading Beware Public Adjusters – Danger Ahead in Louisiana!
This blog follows up last month’s “Know the Regs to Use the Regs” on 10 CCR 2695.9. The purpose is the same – one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful course of action a policyholder or policyholder advocate can take to add value to a claim is knowing and enforcing your legal rights.
Continue Reading Know the Regs to Use the Regs – a look at California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations (10 CCR 2695.7)