Lott Lawyer: State Farm Destroying Papers

[ShockediSay]

http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/04/10/ap/headlines/d8gtfb380.txt
(denying claims of Katrina homeowners)

BILOXI, Miss. - A lawyer for U.S. Sen. Trent Lott said Monday that State Farm Insurance Co. is destroying documents that could show the insurer has fraudulently denied thousands of claims by Lott and other policyholders whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Zach Scruggs, one of Lott's attorneys, says his client has a "good faith belief" that several State Farm employees in Biloxi are destroying engineering reports that gave conflicting conclusions about whether wind or water was responsible for storm damage.

Like thousands of Gulf Coast homeowners, Lott's claim was denied because State Farm concluded that Katrina's flood water demolished his beach-front Pascagoula home. State Farm says its policies do not cover damage from rising water, including wind-driven water....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's the insurance companies, stupid, in the business of collecting premiums, not paying claims IMHO.

[struggle4progress]

1. Aw, Trent, jest remind W he sed he'd help rebuild yer house.

[pitohui]

5. the double-you sez a lot of stuff

lott is effed, he can't win this suit, he has lost his home, but it isn't just him it's an entire neighborhood wiped out down to slab

and it isn't just a neighborhood it's the entire coastline

it's horrible to stand at the site of the isle of capri and look over and see the entire neighborhood of point cadet just...gone...as in not there any more

i can't drive over to pascagoula and see the slabs where lott used to live, because the bridge ain't there, it is crumpled up, it looks like an earthquake

but i can drive down hwy 90 from biloxi to almost waveland and it's nothing but slabs, slabs, slabs, just unbelievable in some areas

it makes camille look like a walk in the park

[TheDebbieDee]

2. I didn't know that anyone as prominent as............

Trent Lott was getting screwed over by the insurance companies......A man of his stature should be able to keep this fraud being perpetrated by the insurance companies fresh in everyone's mind!

[pitohui]

3. heh

in my humble opinion lott's house and entire neighborhood was destroyed by storm surge but what the hell, go for it, dude

too many people were given bad information abt and told they didn't need flood insurance, thus leaving them effectively uninsured

[merh]

24. Shows what you know.

The eye witness reports for most of the area affected by the storm surge reflect that the winds destroyed the structures prior to the surge.

You ought to stop talking about what you know as if you have all the facts.

That is one reason why so many of us being screwed by our insurance companies are so pissed off. It was the winds first that came in and broke our houses, leaving them so susceptable to the surge.

Eye witness reports and the forensic studies of meterologists that have studied the weather patterns as recorded on that day will tell you that the wind fucked things up and the storm surge (CAUSED BY THE FUCKING WINDS) just messed things up worse.

I don't often defend Chester T. Lott, but at this stage, he and his brother-in-law lawyer are doing is vital to the rest of us on the MS Gulf Coast that have been royally screwed by the worst of corporate america and that is the slimey insurance companies.

[tularetom]

4. This is how they force you to buy flood insurance

(by allowing the insurance companies to deny compensation for flood (water) damage from standard homeowners policies) and I'll bet if you took the time to do the research you would find that the legislation exempting flood damage from homeowners policies was pushed through by repubs at the behest of some bigass insurance companies. At least it would be karmic if that were the case. And it would be super cool if we were to find out that Lott was active in promoting the changes.

[demosincebirth]

7. I wouldn't doubt it one bit. I was think the same thing

[pitohui]

10. they DON'T force you to buy flood insurance

you're not getting how devious this is

the flood insurance program is not for profit, it's a nat'l program, the insurance companies make up every excuse in the book and tell you that you are in flood c and won't flood for 500 years and -- actual quote honey, it would be fraud for me to sell you flood insurance

selling flood insurance is a paperwork nuisance to them, they don't make money on it

lott and his neighbors were told a lie, thousands of people were told a lie

i was told the same lie but because of an activist neighbor i did get flood insurance

not everyone has an activist neighbor and for sure what activist neighbor is going to bother a freakn senator?

[tularetom]

18. Problem is if you are in a flood zone

you cannot sell or refinance your property without getting flood insurance. I have personal experience with it because I took out a home improvement line of credit a few years back. Between the time I paid off my original mortgage and the time I got the credit my property was reclassified into flood zone A. I could not get the loan until I got the insurance. I've lived here for 35 years and never flooded, even close and probably never will. Thats OK I fooled them as soon as I got the loan I quit paying the insurance premiums and nobody knows.

[Blackhatjack]

6. If you like this Trent, you will love tort reform ......

Just imagine that you not only lose your home, but you are not a US Senator, and you have neither the money nor the means to file a lawsuit to recover in court on your policy of insurance with the multimillion dollar Insurer.

This is what you will have to look forward to if Bush has his way of introducing "tort reform"(really tort de-form). Only the rich will have access to court, and everybody else will be on their own --just like medicare exclusions.

And when you look at how this came about, all you have to do is review the list of Republicans' largest campaign contributors to find your answer.

[napi21]

8. I glad to hear someone with a megaphone the size of Lott's

push this out into the open! So many others have been screwed by insurance companies over the years, and the damn insurance companies keep winning! Just maybe, this time, Trent and his lawyers can make enough noise to make something change!!!!!

[atreides1]

20. And Yet

The good Senator didn't say anything until he was affected. The man is a hypocrite, thousands have been hurt because of the questionable practices of insurance companies, and now Lott is concerned?

And do you really believe that Lott is doing any of this to help others? No, he's doing it for himself. Face facts if he hadn't been personally affected by Katrina, he would be sitting on his front porch without a care in the world.

[entanglement]

22. That is SO true

n/t

[napi21]

23. Of course he's doing it for himself, but if it exposes the

illegal and imoral practices of the insurance companies, the rest of us will benefit!

I hate to say this, but the fact that Lott did nothing until HE was affected personally is a very human characteristic. That's why you don't hear a hugh public outcry about the war, the illegal actions of our Pres, and every other darn thing that's a big problem in the Us today! Until people are affected PERSONALLY they usually just ignor the issue.

[spag68]

9. Trent Lott

is a vicious Mississippi pol. who would dump anyone he had to. Wasn't miss. one of the main areas of KKK stuff. of course it was.

[pitohui]

11. sure trent lott is a bad man doesn't mean his neighbors were

one of the neighbors interviewed living on a tent near her slab is in her 90s

i doubt she is going to lynch anyone any time soon, she just wants her life back and some indoor plumbing, ya know?

[cantstandbush]

12. What about the Katrina victims who still don't have a home? n/t

[pitohui]

14. there are plenty of them

gene taylor for sure has proposed those who were told wrongly abt the need for flood insurance be allowed to pay for the past 10 years worth of flood insurance to be able to receive recompense for their destroyed homes

i would hope senator lott supports taylor's proposal, lawsuits are all well and good, but lawsuits take years --sometimes decades -- and folks don't need to be living on the coast in vulnerable trailers and tents for decades

now flood insurance is capped at $250K and trent lott's home was, he says, worth $750K -- so the rich man is not going to get back all he needs to be whole

but the poor people will, no way those homes swept away at, say, point cadet, biloxi sold for any $250K, more like $75K -- enough cash to make a huge down payment and get started again somewhere else

[burrowowl]

13. Many are being denied their claims

RFK Jr. had this on Ring of Fire 2 sundays ago.
Amy Goodman also has some stuff on this on today's Democracy Now!
All insurance companies are doing this and they also do it for health insurance.
Lott who wanted so-called tort reform, etc. is getting bit in the ass, but other people are getting royally shafted because of the likes of him.

[pitohui]

15. this isn't tort reform

as you can see, lott is perfectly free to bring suit

what bit him in the ass is insurance companies telling you that you don't need flood because they don't feel like writing a damn policy for a nat'l program that doesn't make them an obscene profit

[salin]

16. Rather sad that it takes a rich/famous/powerful person

who has been screwed over by the company to call attention to the very serious problem.

It also indicates that there are some idiots working for the company - otherwise to "spin" they would have allowed the rich/famous/powerful person to get their claim (while denying everyone else) in order to prvent those with a big voice from airing the problem.

Then again, perhaps the person receiving the Lott claim had concerns about the company policies and pushed through the "consistency of treatment" for the rich/famous/powerful because it would become more likely that someone would sound the siren per the company's behavior.

[Ouabache]

17. Maybe Trent should sue State Farm ?

Or maybe he won't be able to with the so-called tort reform passed by he and his republican cronies.
It would be the right Karma for him, for sure.

[Mind_your_head]

19. All this "says" to me is.....'don't matter WHO you are'.....

(even a US Senator). Corporations respect no-one, no-body.....except their bottom line. (And Mr. Lott, for ALL those years.....you supported the rise of corpo-fascism.....Mr. Lott, meet your "rude awakening". A corporation has no loyalty to anything 'human' ~ including, and especially YOU. You've been a rube! Hope you ENJOY the fruits of your works (as so many of us are 'enjoying' the same right this very minute)!


on edit: the preztzel-nut said he couldn't wait to be 'sitting on your new front porch' ~ or some such nonsense......Has your trailer home arrived yet????
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :sarcasm:

-------

you're obviously just "trailer trash" now too you know....

[hedgehog]

21. On the other hand -

I know someone who just built a very expensive home on a barrier island. She actually has a civil engineering degree from Cornell, so she should understand the risks! When I asked her about it, she said that's what insurance is for!

[Mind_your_head]

25. Soooooooooo, she feels that the 'insurance industry' has adequately

addressed the victims (even the 'rich'/fully insured victims) of Katrina adequately .....and your friend has 'no worries'? After all, she graduated (with honors perhaps?) from Cornell?

That should 'take care of everything!'..... isn't that correct Mr. Lott?

edit: can't spelllll sometimes *sigh*