Insurance companies continue to profit at the expense of their policyholders and Georgia\u2019s serious automobile and truck injury victims. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today that property and casualty insurers\u2019 profits are continuing to sky rocket. Allstate Insurance Company reported a record $5 billion profit for 2006. State Farm Insurance\u2019s profit climbed 65% for the year. St. Paul\/Travelers earnings rose six fold in the fourth quarter and American International Groups rose eight fold.
\nThere are several reasons for these huge profits. First, insurers are shorting the people who bought their products, their own policyholders. Second, they are shorting injury victims of automobile and truck accidents by refusing to negotiate settlements in good faith. CNN recently aired an investigative report in which it featured several people who had been involved in automobile collisions. A former insurance insider was interviewed who explained that two of the largest insurers routinely utilize \u201clowball\u201d and delay tactics in handling smaller personal injury and property damage claims. Essentially, they offer injured people less than the actual amount of their medical damages and lost wages and then take a \u201cso sue me\u201d attitude toward the claims. The injured victim is forced to retain a personal injury lawyer and then incur fees and expenses to try to get full compensation.
\nThe insurance industry has become very adept at using crisis of varying types to justify enormous rate increases. Whether they blame so called \u201cfrivolous lawsuits\u201d, \u201crunaway jury verdicts\u201d, the \u201cmalpractice crisis\u201d or hurricanes, any excuse will do to raise rates. The bottom line is they are increasing profits by pushing more and more risk and costs onto policyholders and refusing to timely negotiate and pay legitimate injury and property damage claims. State insurance commissioners and other regulators need to wake up. We need insurance reform, not ‘tort reform’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Insurance companies continue to profit at the expense of their policyholders and Georgia\u2019s serious automobile and truck injury victims. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today that property and casualty insurers\u2019 profits are continuing to sky rocket. Allstate Insurance Company reported a record $5 billion profit for 2006. State Farm Insurance\u2019s profit climbed 65% for the year. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-1544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-injury-wrongful-death","tag-personal-injury"],"yoast_head":"\n