Posted on 09/21/2005 10:01:23 AM PDT by george76
Insurer's operating chief responds to Mississippi suit...
Allstate Corp. won't pay flooding claims stemming from Hurricane Katrina, Chief Operating Officer Tom Wilson said on Tuesday, in a direct challenge to a lawsuit filed last week by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.
Controversy has emerged surrounding the devastating flooding that followed the storm. Standard homeowners' insurance policies typically exclude flooding, partly because a national, government-run program covers those risks. However, many homeowners hit by Katrina may not have bought this extra coverage.
Mississippi's Hood sued Allstate and four other leading insurers in the state on Sept. 16, arguing that their flood exclusions should be voided and that they should pay flood claims.
"Exhibit one for us will be just the national flood-insurance programs -- advertising programs, which they put on very aggressively every year," he said. "People know this is a separate coverage, so we're not having many issues with our customers."
Allstate's Wilson did concede that there will be "issues" when assessing what damage was caused by wind and what was the result of flooding.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Beat the crowd -- grab your ankles now!
I just finished payin a $917.00 bill for Flood Insurance. I've had the policy since 1978. I've never had a claim. But I'm in a flood zone, so I have the insurance. I also have a homeowner's policy. I don't really mind having two policies. I'm fortunate to be able to afford them. That said, I must be out of my mind to be paying that kind of money when I could just sue my homeowner's company! What the #ell was I thinking? Bottom line - homeowner's insurance doesn't cover flood damage. Never has. Live with it.
Allstate wouldn't cover the property damage I suffered due to last year's mountain flooding here in California. I didn't have flood insurance. It cost me $20k.
My bad.
Of course and isn't it amazing how clueless people are when it comes to a publically held corporations legal responsibilities to it's shareholders?
Any water damage is considered flood damage.
Yup,I remember him.What a foul %%*&^ he was.At least Gillis was reasonably polite if not completely in Karl Marx's camp.
no so. I think part of the issue is not the flood but the fact that insurance companies are trying to say ALL H20 damage is "flood".
Apparently Miss. law has a nuance which would require coverage. Thus when the companies entered Miss. they were on notice for the legal requiremnts.
This happens all the time with national companies which fail to account for state by state legal differences in law.
The lawyers will make out.
(in a related situation, retirees run into this when they retire and die in one state but have a will written under the laws of another state. The nuances can be very important.)
This sounds like a job for the Extortinator:
I assume that all homes that still have mortgages on them have banks that require adequate insurance. It's often the people who've paid off their home who underinsure.
Well, it's nice to hear from you again. Good job on remembering the origin of my nick. You probably remember Fred Houlihan. He goes by StopGlobalWhining on FR.
"Any water damage is considered flood damage."
Not exactly. If a pipe breaks insid your house, that should be covered. If the wind blows the roof off your house and the rain gets in, that may be covered. If the creek rised to your 2nd floor, that's not covered.
I don't think that's universally true.In a case where your water pipes burst/leak,as can sometimes happen in bitterly cold weather,the damage caused by the water is covered.
No, they'd all go bankrupt and Allstate would be the only company left. I'm an Allstate customer; I'll stay with Allstate.
My father always said, "Your in good hands with Allstate, until you try to collect on your policy".
I can imagine it being like the insurance company in "The Incredibles."
See #108
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