OT.. Judgement Day

One of the local radio stations just announced that one of our illustrious
judges has overturned the ruling against the homeowners insurance
companies.. Didn't get many of the details .. the item was barely mentioned
and missed a large part of it..

What I got was that some judge has determined that the judgement requiring
homeowners insurance companies to roll back their premium prices 17%, was
unconstitutional and struck down the decision ..That being the case, isn't
it interesting that he made that ruling after the election ?

Get ready for the hard ride, folks.. That means that vehicle insurance rates
are going to go through the roof and homeowners will be raped, trying to
keep afloat..

LOL... what's that we keep saying.. "careful what you wish for, you just
might get it"..

I didn't get much of that little item and would sure like for someone who
was paying better attention, to provide some more information...

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

That's right.. Damn.. we got a mess going on, don't we ?

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

Here is the news on the insurance. I copied rather than pointing to a site
that requires a login.

Rollbacks in insurance rates overturned
State says dispute with State Farm, Farmers is not over

07:09 AM CST on Tuesday, November 9, 2004
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN - State Farm and Farmers won a reprieve Monday when a judge
overturned state orders that called for double-digit rate rollbacks in their
homeowners policies.
State District Judge Suzanne Covington ruled that provisions of the state's
2003 insurance reform law were unconstitutional and violated the companies'
due process rights. Her orders overturned the rollbacks ordered last year by
state Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor, who said the companies were
charging too much for homeowners insurance.
A spokesman for Mr. Montemayor and the Texas Department of Insurance said
they were disappointed, but the dispute is not over.
"We believe these rulings were based on process rather than the merits of
the rate reductions that were ordered," said Jim Hurley. "We have options
available to us, and we will aggressively pursue those options on behalf of
the customers of these insurance companies."
One of those alternatives is an appeal to a higher court.
Mr. Hurley said the commissioner "continues to stand by the reductions that
were ordered."
Farmers was ordered to trim its premiums by 17.5 percent and State Farm was
told to decrease its premiums 12 percent. The rollbacks never became
effective; they were suspended when both companies went to court to
challenge their legality in the fall of 2003.
Michelle Levy, a spokeswoman for Farmers, said company officials were
pleased with the ruling.
"We review our rates regularly and believe our current rates are fair and
reasonable and do not warrant rollbacks," she said. "Farmers has and will
continue to work with the Texas Department of Insurance to address this
matter in the best interest of all parties."
Farmers last lowered rates by 6.8 percent in November 2002 to settle a
lawsuit with the state. Its basic rates have been unchanged since then.
Sophie Harbert, a spokeswoman for State Farm, also applauded the decision.
"We felt there were substantive issues with the rate rollback order, and we
still have some fundamental differences with the insurance department
concerning how they came up with that rollback amount," she said.
"We are comfortable that customers are now being charged fair rates and
don't think any consumers have lost anything as a result of this ruling."
State Farm had argued that it lowered its rates about 10 percent before the
commissioner ordered additional reductions. Its rates have been basically
unchanged since January 2003.
A total of 29 insurance companies were told to lower their rates in the wake
of the insurance reform law. The law restored state regulation of homeowners
rates after more than a decade of little or no regulation of companies
selling home insurance.
Appeals were made to the commissioner by 12 of those companies, and 10
subsequently withdrew their appeals after reaching agreements with the
insurance department.
State Farm and Farmers, which sell about 40 percent of the homeowners
insurance in Texas, are the only companies that did not agree to lower
rates.
Consumer groups said Monday's ruling means that many homeowners will
continue to wait for significant rate relief.
"Unfortunately this is just one more sign insurance reform is not finished
in Texas," said Dan Lambe of Texas Watch. "This is just one more delay for
Texas homeowners who were promised hundreds of millions of dollars in rate
reductions."

 

Thanks Elmer.. Phew.. I was beginning to think I imagined what I heard on
the radio.. LOL.. Now .. we got something to work with.. That silly assed
judge needs to be replaced .. Any idiot judge who'd rule on Constitutional
grounds in favor of a corporation is not competent to sit.. Here we go..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker