Insurers take on Toyota in acceleration lawsuits

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By GREG RISLING

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hundreds of disgruntled drivers have sued Toyota Motor Corp. over its sudden acceleration issues, hoping to get paid for their safety concerns with Toyota vehicles. The Japanese automaker now faces a more formidable opponent that legal experts say has plenty of time, money and resources to challenge it in court: insurance companies.

Seven insurers filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles last week, looking to recoup more than $230,000 to cover crashes blamed on sudden acceleration. Allstate Corp. also sued Toyota late last year.

While Toyota brushed off the latest litigation and said disputes between automakers and insurance companies are common, legal experts say the world's No. 1 automaker can't be pleased that it's squaring off against an industry that knows its way around a courtroom.

"This isn't David vs. Goliath," said Tom Baker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. "This has to be the worst news that the general counsel of Toyota has gotten in a while. If I'm Toyota and I see name-brand insurance companies suing me, I am definitely paying attention."


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110104/D9KHPMFG2.html

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. If the insurance cos were truly on their game they would sue the

fratboy who pulled funding from levee repair around NO.

[strategery blunder]

2. Why? Claim 100% of damage is flood damage, deny claim, problem solved.

:grr: