Florida trial lawyers launch a symbolic petition drive with the stated goal of getting hurricane claims paid.
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.
