Declarations

Monitoring the process

“I will carefully monitor Allstate’s actions throughout this process to ensure that policyholders entitled to reinstatement are fully protected.”

— Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon, announcing a settlement with Allstate for the 4,772 policyholders in four south Louisiana parishes whose homeowners insurance was cancelled by the company. The Department of Insurance said Allstate’s home inspection process was flawed regarding these cases. Homeowners who feel they have been improperly cancelled should call the department at 800-259-5300.

Sponged-off

“It is more than ironic that two working class sponges are named Bob. Both characters are unemployed. Both characters live in a house concept.”

—Troy Walker claiming he created Bob Spongee, an unemployed cartoon sponge who lived with his family on Apple street, in 1991, upon which he claims Nickelodeon based its popular “Sponge Bob Square Pants.” Walker filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Nickelodeon, Viacom Inc., Paramount Studios and Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob. He demanded $1.6 billion in damages. Walker claims he made 1,000 Bob Spongee dolls and sold them throughout Northern California. He believes the doll inspired the producers of the show to duplicate his character.

Bank withdrawal

“Since the approval process is now likely to take years rather than months, we decided to withdraw our application to better focus on other ways to serve customers.”

—Wal-Mart President Jane Thompson explaining why her firm withdrew its application to start its own bank, which it first filed in 2005, rather than wait any longer. The retailer is one among 14 companies with applications before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to establish what are called industrial loan corporations, or ILCs. Various banks, unions and consumer organizations have opposed letting giant retailers into the loan business out of concern they could drive out local financial institutions. ILCs are allowed to issue credit cards, take deposits and make loans but cannot offer standard checking accounts if the bank’s assets exceed $100 million.

Not a local issue

“This is not a local issue. It’s a national one. What happened here could happen in my state. It could happen to an awful lot of people in this country.”

—U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democratic presidential hopeful, who said he’s angry with the insurance industry’s response to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. Dodd, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, said he expects to hold hearings on April 11. Dodd singled out Allstate for criticism, noting the Louisiana Department of Insurance’s contention that the company made incomplete “drive-by” inspections of homes and canceled policies after wrongly concluding that the houses were abandoned.