Lawsuit Finance Blog

The American Association of Justice has just released its report entitled “The Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America: How They Raise Premiums, Deny Claims, and Refuse Insurance to Those Who Need It Most.” The report ranks the tenworst insurance companies in America. The worst: Allstate, of course, gaining this elite status through it "deny, delay, defend" claims practices and its cover up of documents prepared by a claims consultant advising Allstate how to avoid paying policyholders on billions of dollars in legitimate claims. Here are the top ten worst insurance companies:

1. Allstate
2. Unum
3. AIG
4. State Farm
5. Conseco
6. WellPoint
7. Farmers
8. UnitedHealth
9. Torchmark
10. Liberty Mutual

According to the report, Allstate (aka "Allsnake") stood out above all others as the absolute worst insurance company. Company CEO Thomas Wilson is on record of having stated that Allstate’s “obligation is to earn a return for our shareholders.” This policy, unquestionably, comes at the expense of its' policyholders. The "good hands" company instructs its agents and adjusters to lie to policyholders. Former Allstate adjuster Jo Ann Katzman said: “We were told to lie by
our supervisors—it’s tough to look at people and know you’re lying.”

Number 2 on the list is Unum. This name should sound familiar to regular readers of this blog. On July 21, 2008, I posted a blog, at this location, entitled "Disability Insurance Run Around..." which told the story of the distortions, deceptions, lies, etc. uniformly used by Provident and Unum to deny deserved and legitimate benefits to countless disability policy holders. On the positive side, trial lawyer Rick Friedman kicked their collective asses and obtained a $60 Million on behalf of one of their victims. Rick and others have done the same thing to them before and will continue to do so until these policies change. Apparently it is more profitable to cheat everyone if you only get sued by a few, even if you get hit with multi-million dollar verdicts.

Number 3 is the world's largest insurance company, AIG. The companyhas a long history of
claims-handling abuses for both individuals and business clients. Its' executives have also been criticized for opportunistically seeking price increases during catastrophes. Its storied history of multi-billion dollar corporate greed and fraud has caused the company to be labeled “the new Enron”.

Number 4 is State Farm (aka "Snake Farm"). The "good neighbor" company is now infamous for its deny and the extreme lengths it has gone to avoid paying claims, including forging signatures on earthquake waivers after the deadly Northridge earthquake, and altering engineering reports regarding damage after Hurricane Katrina.

Number 5 is not well known to me because I never handled many long term care insurance litigation. With companies like this around, however, there should be plenty of successful litigation. Conseco, apparently, likes to use the deteriorating health of its policyholders to its advantage. It is infamous for delaying claims pay-outs as long as possible because it knows that the longer it delays the more likely the customer will die before they have to pay the claim.

Number 6 is Wellpoint. This is a west coast health insurance company that has a long history of protecting its bottom line by routinely canceling the policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients.

Number 7 is Farmers Insurance Group. This company is Swiss-owned and consistently
ranks at or near the bottom of homeowner satisfaction surveys. One of its company incentive plans: Pizza parties for adjusters who met low claims payment goals.

Number 8 is UnitedHealth Group, another health insurance carrier. Its claim to infamy are accusations that its greed endangers patients. Reimbursement rates are so low and so often delayed, that patient health is compromised. The company's former CEO is accused of lining his pockets with money that should have been spent on policyholder claims. He has faced
faced criminal and civil charges for backdating stock options. UnitedHealth has also used its association with AARP to jack up premiums on products aimed at seniors, products which, in reality, are no better than less expensive non-senior targeted products.

Number 9 is Touchmark which, by its own admission, was founded as "little more than a scam", according to the report. It has preyed upon poor people from the South for over 100 years. It is a holding company for a variety of subsidiaries that offer low cost burial insurance, cancer insurance, life insurance, and similar policies. The company has been accused of many
transgressions, among them, charging higher premiums to minority policyholders than it charges white policyholders.

Number 10 is Liberty Mutual which, along with Allstate and State Farm, hired consulting
giant McKinsey & Co. and adopted the infamous "deny, delay, and defend" claim handling tactics. Insurance regulators have also alleged that the company has engaged in systematic bid-rigging.

I encourage all of my blog readers to study this provocative and extensive report; read it in its entirety. A link to the full report is contained within the printed title of the report listed above. I note, with interest, that every one of the top ten worst have assets in the multiple billions of dollars and one, AIG, has assets over one trillion dollars. I guess it is quite profitable to screw policyholders, injured and disabled people. It has certainly been advantageous to blame victims for clogging up the dockets with so-called frivolous litigation. That's how so-called tort reform, restricting your valuable access to the courts, was passed in many states. Read the report; now that you know the truth, do something about it! Call a legislator or regulator and hug a trial lawyer; he/she is the only one out their fighting for your rights against these despicable companies.

Lawsuit Financial Corporation is a leading provider of law suit funding services. The case funding company provides non-recourse cash advances in Premises Liability/Slip & Fall cases and all other Personal Injury cases. Call us, toll free, at 1-877-377-SUIT (7848) or visit us on the web at www.lawsuitfinancial.com.