The State of Louisiana fired back today in what's become the ongoing saga of Allstate vs. Everybody Who Got Their Ass Kicked in Katrina- or didn't.
This first attracted attention with the news out of New Orleans last month that Allstate had begun dropping homeowners policies under a rule that allows cancellations if storm damage hasn't been repaired.
The kicker? More than a few of the properties in question - in fact, thousands more than originally reported -either recieved no storm damage, or were fully repaired months ago.
It should be noted that of the all the major insurers in Louisiana, AllState has been the only one pursuing this aggressively; Not Farmer's, not USAA, not Louisiana Farm Bureau, not Liberty Mutual, not even State Farm, the current eminence gris of Mississippi.
Well today, the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner ordered Allstate to immediately reinstate 4,772 policies that it had cancelled. Read all about it in the Times Picayune today. No word yet on whether Allstate will choose to comply, or follow the lead of State Farm in Mississippi and elsewhere, which has been diaried in detail by PolitiCalypso.
What you can do
- IF you've gotten a cancellation notice or if you just want to send the good guys an "atta boy", contact the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
- For those living outside the disaster zone, dump your policies with Allstate while you still can... and before they dump you.
- Ask your representatives to support The Insurance Industry Competition Act of 2007, which seeks to remove the industry's exemptions from anti-trust laws.