Lawyers vs. insurers a stormy battle
By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
Published August 23, 2006
With the first anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina just days away, two groups with enormous financial stakes in the plight
of hurricane victims - insurance companies and trial attorneys - took their war
of words to a new level Tuesday.
Armed with a scathing report titled "Pattern
of Greed - How insurance companies put profits over policyholders," the Academy
of Florida Trial Lawyers launched a national petition drive to make insurance
companies "pay fair and just insurance claims."
Drawing from previously reported insurance
industry data, the report says that "while insurance companies were denying
claims made by policyholders in times of need, these companies were also
enjoying record profits."
Dozens of homeowners gathered at a public
library in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday for the start of the drive, many
complaining that their claims, some dating back years, have not been settled.
Backers of the initiative acknowledged the
effort - which aims to gain signatures from people across the country - was
largely symbolic, but said they hoped it would motivate politicians to mandate
changes in the insurance industry.
"At some point the politicians are going to
realize that they have to stop pandering to the corporate interests and start
helping people," said Edward Zebersky, president of the Academy of Florida Trial
Lawyers, which is behind the petition. "The people have to keep reminding them
who they represent."
The lawyers' group, an affiliate of the
Association of Trial Lawyers of America, which is also sponsoring the petition
drive, said it would work with consumer groups to gather signatures. They
expected many of those signing would do so online at PeopleOverProfits.org.
Zebersky urged property owners to pursue civil
lawsuits if their claims were still stalled, but said lawyers were not
attempting to capitalize on such victims.
"We would love there to be zero lawsuits," he
said. "If the insurance companies did the right thing and paid these claims
there would never be these lawsuits."
A few hours later, the Florida Insurance
Council, a trade group that represents most of the state's insurance companies,
fired back with a news release claiming the Pattern of Greed report "to be
totally without merit."
"While the insurance industry is busy helping
hurricane victims, the trial bar appears to be hell-bent on deconstructing the
insurance industry," said Sam Miller, the FIC's executive vice president in
Tallahassee.
The insurance industry release touted such
data as the 95 percent of claims that have been settled in Louisiana and
Mississippi totaling nearly $15.5-billion.
"The insurance industry is a very easy
industry to dislike," acknowledged Joseph Annotti, a spokesman for the Property
Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade association representing more
than 1,000 insurance companies. "It's a product that most people buy because the
bank tells them to buy and they hope they never have to use."
Annotti said consumers were feeling the
effects, particularly in storm-prone areas, after years of prices being kept
down by regulators.
"All that overdevelopment and all those years
of underpricing products thanks to overregulation are finally coming home to
roost," he said.
Numerous people whose homes were damaged by
hurricanes voiced their frustration Tuesday with insurance companies they said
happily collected their premiums, then repeatedly avoided payouts when storms
hit. Many of them, including Ellin Alexander, a 40-year-old caterer from Boynton
Beach who said her home suffered about $100,000 in damage from Hurricanes
Jeanne, Frances and Wilma, said they were tired of excuses.
"They have done every bit of fancy footwork
possible to avoid paying," she said.
Information from the Associated Press was used
in this story. Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8247.
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