Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
The Texas Department of Insurance and Allstate entered into an agreement whereby the insurance giant will refund some money to policyholders and reduce their rates.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Allstate must pay $36.8 million in refunds for new and renewal policies written between Dec. 1, 2004 and April 23, 2006; give credits or refunds that amount to 3 percent of premiums for most policies written between Aug. 20, 2007 and June 1, 2008; cut homeowners rates by 3 percent on average statewide for most policies written between June 2, 2008 and at least June 1, 2009; and not increase rates between June 2, 2008 and June 1, 2009.
I’m skeptical of any agreements reached by Big Insurance and the lapdog TDI, particularly knowing how the insurance companies fight meaningful regulation tooth-and-nail. This could be good for consumers or it could just be window dressing (like when TMLT doubled medical malpractice insurance premiums prior to the “tort deform” debacle of 2003 and them hailed an 11% reduction a year later – yipee).
With all these “reductions,” consumers can go broke saving money.
Tags: consumers, insurance
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Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
Caps on damages, legislative protection, shifting responsibility, immunity from lawsuits…the list just goes on. Here in Texas, it’s a bad time to be an injured consumer looking for relief through the civil justice system. Criticizing the effects of “tort reform” legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2003, a recent editorial in the Houston Chronicle summed up the problem well:
“If Texas was once a playground for litigious plaintiff’s attorneys, the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of their corporate counterparts. Instead, citizens are now being shut out of the civil court system by laws that effectively immunize special interests from responsibility for the consequences of their actions and products.”
Equally as bad, where the Legislature didn’t stick it to injured consumers, the Texas Supreme Court usually does. A recent study released by the pro-consumer group Texas Watch gave failing grades to all nine justices on the state’s high court when it comes to consumer cases. In the court’s latest term, it ruled against consumers 84% of the time.
Tags: consumer safety, consumers, lawyers, texas
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