Declarations – West

AIG Pays

“This important settlement is a significant win for California businesses and consumers and is the culmination of an extensive effort by insurance regulators across the country to investigate and ultimately correct serious issues of non-compliance by a major national commercial insurer.”

—Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones referring to American International Group Inc. (AIG) agreeing to pay California $15.6 million in penalties to settle allegations that its insurance companies underreported workers’ compensation premiums over several decades.

Wake-up

“This report is a wake-up call for consumers and regulators who are not aware of the many ways that computer claims software can be manipulated to produce unjustifiably low injury payments to consumers and tens of millions of dollars in illegitimate ‘savings’ for insurers.”

—Mark Romano, claims project director for the Consumer Federation of America, which issued a report that claims systems used by many of the nation’s largest auto insurance companies can be adjusted to make “lowball” claims payments to injured motorists.

Tangible and Intangible

“This motion for preliminary injunction raises the difficult intersection of a sale of a bankruptcy estate’s interest in all assets, tangible and intangible, and the rights of former officers of the debtor corporation to continue pursuing their trade after their employment with the debtor ceases.”

—United States Bankruptcy Court Judge Maureen Tighe, who denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the old owners of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based C.M. Meiers, a 76-year-old agency that went bankrupt.

Worker’s Comp Line

“Workers’ compensation, because of its direct connection to employment and the labor markets, has been the property/casualty line most significantly impacted by the continued difficult economic environment.”

—National Council on Compensation Insurance Chief Actuary Dennis Mealy commending on an NCCI report on the workers’ comp line.