Insurance

Allstate to Settle Overtime Claims;

September 2, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Insurer, which admits no wrongdoing, will pay as much as $120 million to California adjusters.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Allstate Corp. said Thursday that it would pay as much as $120 million to settle claims that some of its white-collar employees in California were routinely required to work long hours without overtime pay. The case is the latest in a series of class-action lawsuits putting pressure on California employers to revamp their white-collar pay policies. Previous settlements by RadioShack Corp., Bank of America Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. highlighted the practice of classifying workers as managers or administrators to avoid paying overtime.</p>

State needs to back plan to shake up earthquake insurance rates

September 1, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Cutting premiums would benefit all sides</h3><p class="source">The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California)</p> <p>The state consumer group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights endorsed the reduction last week. In the long run, more homeowners in the pool could mean rate reductions for valley residents. More homeowners Mean more potential claims so the state has to balance the actuarials.</p>

No-Fault Auto: Heading for a Sunrise or Sunset?

September 1, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Florida Underwriters</p> <p>No-fault has failed to live up to insurers promises of lower insurance rates. Lower premiums can be achieved by repealing failed no-fault laws and instituting strict rate regulation, said Harvey Rosenfield, of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. He is also advocating doing away with the no-fault law in Massachusetts.</p>

Medical insurance left them hanging

August 29, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Penn Valley couple shocked by big bills</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>"No other policy sells patients health care coverage that promises so much yet delivers so little," spokeswoman Carmen Balber said.</p>

Seismic insurance shift;

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>State earthquake authority votes to reduce coverage rates 22.1 percent. Review is in works.</h3><p class="source">The Orange County Register (California)</p> <p>Doug Heller, an insurance industry watchdog, does not have earthquake insurance on his Los Angeles home, but would reconsider if rates came down. "As the rates come down, it will be much more accessible,'' said Heller, executive director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It's far more efficient to be insured before an earthquake than wait for government assistance afterward.''</p>

State board approves rate cut for earthquake insurance

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"This was a key moment for California homeowners, because getting the approval of the earthquake authority was so important to lowering rates," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Santa Monica.</p>

Concerns Voiced on Bid to Buy PacifiCare

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan, a spokesman for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, brought two small pigs to the hearing to protest the executives' bonus packages, which he said would match the cost of a year's worth of health coverage for 150,000 uninsured people.</p>

State Plans Cut in Quake Premiums;

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The cost of residential coverage would drop by an average of 22%. But some areas, including Palm Springs, could see a dramatic increase.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Consumer groups applauded the planned cuts. "This decrease will mark the beginning of an essential expansion of coverage in the state," said Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica.</p>

Merger critics target execs

August 26, 2005  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p class="source">The Orange County Register (California)</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan, an activist with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, brought a pair of pigs to illustrate what he called a "pork-out" by top PacifiCare executives, who stand to earn $ 230 million in cash and stock if the merger is completed before Feb. 1.</p>

Plan would drop California earthquake premiums 22 percent

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p> <p>Groups representing policyholders, including the San Francisco-based United Policyholders and Santa Monica-based The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, support the larger decrease, arguing it would provide relief to homeowners as well as encourage more of them to buy earthquake insurance.</p>

Quake insurance could get cheaper;

August 25, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Schwarzenegger on panel looking at rate reduction</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>A consumer group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, endorsed the reduction Wednesday. Its executive director, Douglas Heller, said the proposed reduction would be a boon to government as well. "Only as rates come down and homeowners purchase earthquake insurance will the public treasury see its risk in the wake of earthquakes diminish. In other words, in order to save taxpayers from being the de facto earthquake insurer in California, rates must come down."</p>

California board considers reduction in earthquake insurance rates

August 25, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>"One of the key reasons people have not bought or have dropped coverage is the rates are so high," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "There is no financial justification for the current rates. They must come down," Heller said. The rate cut will expand coverage in California and ease the financial risk to the state if a major earthquake hits, he said.</p>