Category Archives: Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

What Is a “Junk” Homeowners Insurance Policy?

Written On February 2, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written recently about the sorry state of homeowners insurance in Texas. With laws favoring the insurance companies and with an insurance department that consistently sides with the carriers, homeowners don’t get much for their money — despite the fact  we always rank number one or number two for highest homeowner rates in the country.
The [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Texas’ New Insurance Chief Being Watched by Consumers, Lawmakers, and Industry

Written On January 24, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Texas has long had one of the weakest insurance departments in the nation — a department controlled by the insurance industry, and not at all helpful to consumers who have complaints. But now there is a new head of the department, and we can at least hope for improvement. However, so far there does not [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Political and/or Judicial

Study: Insurers Often Cry Wolf to Boost Profits

Written On December 29, 2011 By Bob Kraft

To those of us who represent personal injury clients, this story is no surprise at all. It’s all a part of the phony “tort reform” movement that has swept the country in recent years. But the Raleigh News & Observer has an interesting article on the subject. Here are excerpts:
A new study produced by consumer and [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Tort Reform

Insurance Industry Accused of Making Huge Profits by Delaying Claims

Written On December 28, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Huffington Post reported, “Unlike many other businesses, the insurance industry is bound by law to act in good faith with its customers.” Insurance companies were considered “semi-public-trusts.” Yet, that changed in the 1990s when their focus shifted from service to profit making. Allstate is credited with originating this trend by adopting a plan crafted by [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Editorial: Complain to State About Unethical Auto Insurers

Written On November 23, 2011 By Bob Kraft

I wrote a few days ago about an investigation into shady auto insurance companies such as Fred Loya Insurance and Old American County Mutual Insurance. The investigation was done by the Dallas Morning News, and the newspaper has now followed up with an editorial about reporting sleazy insurance company tactics to the State of Texas. [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Vehicle Law or News

Texas Drivers Hit Roadblocks After Filing Auto Insurance Claims

Written On November 16, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Lawyers who represent victims of auto collisions in Texas have always known that insurance companies will use any legitimate means to deny a liability claim against their insured. But in recent years there has been a disturbing trend among some insurance companies of using means that stretch the boundaries of being legitimate. In fact, in [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Vehicle Law or News

State Farm Home Insurance Rates Exceed Most Rivals in Dallas Area

Written On September 29, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Texas has long ranked at or near the top of all states for highest homeowner insurance premiums, thanks to our toothless Department of Insurance and the Republican Legislature that took away almost all enforcement power. Now it’s no surprise to learn that State Farm is going to set new records for insurance premiums in the [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Administration Unveils Rules for Third-Party Review of Denied Health Claims

Written On June 27, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The AP reported, “The Obama administration says most Americans will soon have the right to appeal to a third party referee when their health insurer denies a claim for a medical service.” The regulations “released Wednesday carry out provisions of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Insurers generally give customers a couple of chances to [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

USAA Sued Again Over Medical Payouts in Car Wrecks

Written On May 25, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The Houston Chronicle recently ran an article about insurance company USAA’s practice of submitting claimants’ medical bills to be reviewed by a company in Alabama. That company is supposedly independent, but of course the Reviewing company knows that if it doesn’t produce the results wanted by USAA it will no longer receive business from the [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Vehicle Law or News

Wisconsin Insurance Changes Targeted for Repeal

Written On January 17, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Now here is something truly bizarre. In these times of escalating medical expenses, Wisconsin Republicans are going to introduce a bill this week to reduce the minimum amount of auto insurance each vehicle owner must carry in that state. The bill would lower the required levels of liability, underinsured, and uninsured motorist coverage.
Currently, the minimum level [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Tort Reform, Vehicle Law or News

Allstate Will Increase Insurance Rates Next Month for Texas Homeowners

Written On December 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I have written many, many times, here and elsewhere, about the ridiculous homeowners insurance system we have in Texas. For years Texas has had the highest homeowners premiums in the nation, surpassed for a brief time only by hurricane-prone Florida recently. In Texas, insurance companies can charge whatever they want, without asking permission from the [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Texas Legislature Must Cut Homeowners Insurance Costs

Written On November 30, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written about the ridiculously high cost of homeowners insurance in Texas many times, most recently this November 18. Now the Beaumont Enterprise has published an editorial on this subject, and I completely agree with the newspaper. Here are excerpts:
When the Legislature convenes in January, it has to do more than agree with fed-up consumers [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Insurers Gave U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Breathtaking” Sum to Combat Obama Health Care Law

Written On November 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Bloomberg News reported that the national insurance member group America’s Health Insurance Plans, armed the US Chamber of Commerce with $86.2 million “that was used to oppose the health-care overhaul law.” Bloomberg notes, “The spending reflects the insurers’ attempts to influence the bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will provide coverage to 32 million [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Contract Reveals VA Knew About Prudential’s Death Benefit Account

Written On September 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

CBS Evening News (9/14, story 4, 3:00, Couric) said “earlier this summer,” revelations that Prudential, the “country’s second-largest life insurer,” was “profiting from the death benefits of fallen soldiers was news to almost everyone.” Now, however, a “major development” in the story “points out that this was not the case at the US Department of [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Veterans Benefits

Texas Budget Cuts Could Gut Insurance Regulation

Written On September 8, 2010 By Bob Kraft

As if we actually had any meaningful insurance regulation in Texas now, a recent article in the Dallas Morning News says we may have even less in the near future, due to budget cuts. Insurance “regulation” in Texas has been a joke for many years, so I’m not certain that no regulation at all would [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Columnist Says Maryland Hospital Should Stop Denying Stent Problems

Written On September 3, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I wrote a few days ago about the strange situation at a Baltimore hospital where the top heart surgeon apparently placed unnecessary stents in hundreds of patients. The hospital originally admitted the errors, but then when the plaintiff lawyers got involved the hospital changed its story and began denying negligence.
Now Jay Hancock, in a column [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Medical Malpractice

Texas to Require Insurers to Justify “Unreasonable” Premium Increases

Written On August 24, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Will Texas really start to crack down on insurance company abuses, or is this just more empty talk from the Texas Department of Insurance? An article in the Dallas Morning News this week quotes state officials as saying they will now question “unreasonable” rate hikes from insurance companies. This change is being forced on the [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Attorney General Demands Deceptive Insurance Ad Be Pulled

Written On July 13, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The consumer group Texas Watch has been working to have a deceptive television commercial pulled from the air, and has been successful. The misleading commercial was by Travelers Insurance Company. Here is a press release from Texas Watch:
The state attorney general ordered Travelers Cos. Inc. to stop running an advertisement that he called deceptive.
In a [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Vehicle Law or News

Lawsuit Says Dallas Ambulances Overcharged Federal Government by Millions of Dollars

Written On July 1, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Has the City of Dallas been over-charging for ambulance services? That’s the gist of an article in the Dallas Morning News today. And now the city is facing a lawsuit from the federal government demanding repayment for as much as $40 million in overcharges and penalties. I don’t know whether these allegations are true, but [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Two Texas Auto Insurers Face Investigation Over Huge Number of Consumer Complaints

Written On June 17, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Finally, someone seems to have noticed the notoriously bad behavior of two of the worst auto insurance companies in Texas. The Dallas Morning News ran a lengthy story this week detailing the volume and variety of complaints the Texas Department of Insurance has received against Fred Loya and Old American County Mutual insurance companies. The [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News