Finally, someone was brave enough to tell a major insurance company that they were not allowed to continue to rip off people with outrageous premium payments. That person was Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.
According to a story in Thursday's St Petersburg Times, McCarty issued an order Wednesday banning Allstate from writing new auto insurance policies in the state until the company complies with subpoenas sent by state regulators in October.
McCarty was reported to have gripped the lectern and leaned into the microphone and said, "We're going to hit them where it hurts".
McCarty abruptly halted a public hearing looking into Allstate's underwriting and claims-paying practices in its homeowners insurance business, saying the company deliberately failed to turn over documents key to the investigation.
It's a simple question: Regulators want to know why Allstate has not complied with legislation passed last year that directs insurance companies to lower their homeowner rates. instead, Allstate has asked to raise its homeowners rates an average of 42 % statewide! "Who are they to tell us what's relevant?" McCarty said.
The suspension applies to Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity Co., and Allstate Property and Casualty Co, all of which are the company's primary sellers of auto insurance. Did you know that Allstate wrote nearly $2-billion worth of auto insurance in Florida in 2006?
A frequent critic of property insurers in the state, Gov. Charlie Crist said, "I'm of the belief that they are probably violating the law. It's greedy and it's wrong".
Allstate's 1.7-million auto policies represent more than three-quarters of the company's business in Florida. The company sells about 3500 new auto policies a week statewide, so the financial impact of the suspension could be immense. "They're going to lose a lot of money", said Steve Parton, the Office of Insurance Regulators general counsel.
McCarty said the suspension will not affect current Allstate auto policyholders, who are free to renew their policies with the company.
See, that's where I would have went even further and ordered that Allstate couldn't renew any current policies either! I would have even ordered the state to cover all current policyholders for 30 days to allow them to find other coverage! I would try to bring Allstate to their knees in the state of Florida!
McCarty could have fined the company each day it refused to turn over the documents but he was limited to a fine of $10,000 a day and he knew that wouldn't hurt them at all. "If Allstate is willing to pay $25,000 per day in fines to a Missouri court for its ongoing failure to provide similar documents," McCarty said, "it's obvious to me that it will take more than a monetary sanction to get them to comply with our subpoenas".
That just proves my point about the insurance companies and the oil companies. They think they are above the law and above their customers and can do whatever they want and charge whatever price they want! I put a pox on them all!!
If you have Allstate insurance please hunt for a new insurance company and switch as soon as you can. Believe me, there are cheaper rates out there. I am a person that researches things to the Nth degree. When it's time for find new insurance companies I check them all out. I've saved hundreds of dollars with my car insurance by going to Amica. I used to have The Hartford through the AARP which was cheap but then I found out that Amica was even cheaper. Just do some phone calls and check their rates. I KNOW you can find a cheaper company than Allstate! Write me and tell me when you do it. I'd love to know that I was responsible for hundreds of people dropping Allstate and finding a cheaper company!
Lastly, here's a great link to a place you should save. http://www.allstateinsurancesucks.com/
I think that says it all!
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Not true, the loss of auto policies don't really do a thing. It takes 7 years for an auto policy to turn a profit -if- that person files no claims for 7 years on the average, because everyone else sucks at driving and they use your money to pay out their claims. Money is typically made on Property policies such as Homeowners, Condo, Renters and Life Ins policies. (ESPECIALLY LIFE INS POLICIES)
Are you saying that if the insurance companies lose some auto policies it doesn't hurt them?? Of course it does, that's one of their biggest money-makers next to life insurance! Hardly any insurance company in Florida is selling home-owners policies. They're all selling auto as the majority of their business. Take that away and see if they could survive on their remining business.
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