The Louisiana Department of Insurance said it will investigate Hurricane Katrina-related claims-handling practices of St. Paul Travelers and Allstate.
Commissioner James Donelon said the probe of the two insurers follows a review of company complaint to marketshare ratio of all licensed carriers in the state.
Spokesmen for Allstate and St. Paul's, however, said such market conduct examinations are common following events of Katrina's magnitude and expressed pride at their claims handlers' accomplishments under trying circumstances.
The Louisiana department said that Allstate, which has 22 percent of the marketshare, had 1,287 complaints. St. Paul Travelers, with 4 percent of the market, had 230 complaints.
Department spokeswoman Amy Wittington said that among the most common complaints were those dealing with the "wind versus flood" issue and additional living expenses claims.
Both insurers pledged their full cooperation with the investigation.
The examinations could take several months and carriers face fines of $25,000 for each intentional instance of an unfair practice.
"This will take three months at the minimum," Ms. Wittington said.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
