Keeping up on the trends of property insurance law is why so many people come to this blog. U.S. District Judge Michael Moore recently made a point that some policyholder protection laws have no teeth because the policyholders that are harmed cannot enforce the insurance laws designed to protect them. He recently wrote:1

For better or worse, Plaintiffs are right to point out that Subsection (5)(a) will, at times, create a violation without a remedy—i.e., instances in which an insurer is found to have violated only the interest provisions of Subsection (5)(a) without any other violations meriting an omnibus benefits suit. For instance, were Plaintiffs’ legal and factual contentions to bear fruit in the case at bar without the ‘sole basis’ clause, the Court estimates that Plaintiffs would stand to recover about $30,000.00 in damages.

The Court is troubled by such a regime: Subsection (5)(a) explicitly prohibits conduct while simultaneously providing that conduct with a safe-harbor. And perhaps more-than-coincidentally, the Court notes a clear pattern of this Defendant facing allegations of failure to pay interest under Subsection (5)(a). We are not here to decide whether State Farm has been a good neighbor. But rightfully or wrongfully, State Farm has been implicated in several similar cases (some of which this Order rests upon.)… Yet the fact remains that any flaw in this framework is legislative in nature, as would be its fix. The Court shall not second-guess a purposeful legislative scheme without firmer statutory or legal basis to do so.


Continue Reading Not A Good Neighbor—State Farm Escapes on Technicalities of Poorly Written Florida Law

A colleague suggested that I read When McKinsey Comes To Town—The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm. Chapter 10 was about McKinsey’s work with Allstate Insurance Company. McKinsey publishes Insights on Insurance which is worthy of reading. Long after completely changing the Allstate Insurance Company claims processes, McKinsey continues to work intimately with many insurance companies, including State Farm.

Continue Reading Lessons Policyholders and Insurance Regulators Should Learn From McKinsey and State Farm

I have been working on a number of active State Farm lawsuits involving its claims practices. My research came across a recently filed class action lawsuit in December alleging systemic racial discrimination in its claims processing.1 The press release to the lawsuit indicated the following:

Continue Reading State Farm Accused of Systemic Discrimination in Class Action Lawsuit

In Oklahoma, we’ve been keeping a close eye on State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and its claims handling practices, as it seems something within State Farm has changed, making litigation against it more frequent. This graphic depicting the trajectory of insurance-related lawsuits involving State Farm in federal courts throughout the country is telling:1


Continue Reading Two Oklahoma Juries Find State Farm Acted in Bad Faith

State Farm Insurance Company is 100 years old. It is the largest property and casualty insurance and largest automobile insurance provider in the United States. State Farm has a huge presence in the insurance marketplace. A recent New York Times article, Where State Farm Sees ‘a Lot of Fraud,’ Black Customers See Discrimination-The giant insurer is facing lawsuits from customers, agents and former employees accusing it of racial discrimination,1 caught my attention. The article stated in part:
Continue Reading Discrimination Concerns at State Farm

United Policyholders is the one organization that policyholders can count on to stand up and comment on what insurance companies are trying to push through departments of insurance. United Policyholders Sandy Watts and I will be presenting today about insurance gaps created in new language found in insurance policies. One policy form we will be talking about is the one State Farm is pushing for approval in the California Department of Insurance.
Continue Reading State Farm New Policy Filing In California Should Be Concerning To All In the Property Insurance Industry—An Example Is the New Appraisal Language

A recent article addressing virtual adjustment of State Farm’s 34,000 broken pipe claims in Texas caught my attention. State Farm Adjusters Go Virtual as More Than 34,000 Claims Roll in for Texas Winter Storm, is worthy of consideration by all property claims adjusters.
Continue Reading Are Virtual Adjustments Better? Join Tuesday at 2 With Chip Merlin for a Discussion About New Claims Handling Trends