Media Propaganda?

[Lindaloo]

Another laughable quote by State Farm.


Company Cites "Media Propaganda" In Bid To Move Insurance Trials

Oct 3, 2006 08:39 AM CDT


The jury pool in south Mississippi has been tainted by "media propaganda" about the insurance industry's handling of claims after Hurricane Katrina, a major insurer argues in a bid to move the trials for several lawsuits spawned by the storm.

State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. commissioned a survey of 3,600 registered voters in Mississippi that found a "substantial amount of bias against insurance companies" among Gulf Coast residents after Katrina.

The Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer claims the survey demonstrates that it can't get a fair trial here for the lawsuits filed by policyholders whose homes were damaged or destroyed by last year's storm.

State Farm is asking a federal judge in Gulfport to move at least three trials more than 300 miles north to Oxford, Miss., where the survey found "much less bias" against insurance companies.

Moving the trials from Mississippi's coast is "the only reasonable end to the pursuit of impartiality," State Farm attorney John Scott Corlew wrote last month in court papers.

Hundreds of Gulf Coast homeowners are suing their insurance companies for refusing to cover damage from Katrina's water, including wind-driven "storm surge." State Farm is believed to be the first company seeking to move a Katrina insurance trial from one federal court to another.

In court papers, lawyers for the policyholders argue that State Farm hasn't met the legal burden for showing that the case must be moved to ensure a fair trial.

On Friday, State Farm asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Walker to hear testimony from Kent Tedin, a University of Houston political science professor who designed and analyzed the survey for State Farm. Walker did not immediately rule on the request.

Tedin has designed similar public opinion surveys for several high-profile cases, including the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, which was moved to Denver. His survey for State Farm posed questions to 400 registered voters who live in the Gulfport court's jurisdiction.

The survey, which was conducted by SRBI Inc. and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent, found that:

54 percent said insurers should be required to pay for damage from hurricane flood waters. A federal judge in a different case already has ruled that a standard homeowner's policy excludes flood damage from coverage.

55 percent said insurance companies have been unfair in settling claims after Katrina, 19 percent said the companies have been fair and 26 percent had no opinion.

49 percent agreed with a televised remark by U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., that "there ought to be a national registry of child molesters and insurance company executives, because I hold them in the same, very low esteem."
"I submit that if potential jurors roughly equate insurance executives to child molesters, insurance companies have no chance for a fair trial among those who hold that opinion," Tedin wrote in his 23-page report.

Bias among voters in the Oxford area "pales" in comparison to the coast, where it is "acute to the point that a fair trial is almost certainly not possible," Tedin wrote.

Corlew, the State Farm attorney, blames the disparity on biased coverage by local media outlets.

"This media propaganda will make it impossible for State Farm to receive a fair trial (on the coast), particularly against the background of the personal economic loss experienced by such a large number of citizens in this area," he wrote.

The policyholders' lawyers argue that Tedin shouldn't be allowed to testify because State Farm hasn't designated him as an expert witness.

Jack Denton, one of those attorneys, declined to comment on State Farm's motion to move the trial because Walker hasn't ruled on it yet.

Zach Scruggs, an attorney whose firm also is suing State Farm on behalf of hundreds of policyholders, said it's "disingenuous" for the company to complain about bad publicity while spending millions of dollars on "feel-good" television ads touting its response to Katrina.

"Nothing in this (survey) tells me that they can't get a fair trial on the Gulf Coast," Scruggs added.

In a related development Monday, State Farm asked Walker to seal court papers that include "highly sensitive" information that supports its efforts to block five of the company's managers from being questioned under oath by Scruggs' legal team.

In court papers, State Farm said the undisclosed information "deserves confidentiality in order to protect the legitimate privacy rights of non-parties to this action."

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=5487521


Why block what I made bold? If you have nothing to hide let those people talk!


Also, State Farm has been summoned by a federal grand jury as to how they handled claims in the 1999 Oklahoma tornado. Seems there was a huge judgement against State Farm and Haag Engineering firm and their denying legitimate claims. This is going to be interesting!

[MGC]

Linda, did you read the report that Haag did on the OK tornado? Houses ripped in half and they claimed the tornado didn't do it. I just wonder if the insurance companies have had enough time to shread all the documents they had to......MGC

[Lindaloo]

Yes, I read the report. All I can say is State Farm is fixing to get busted WIDE OPEN!

I believe that those same documents are the ones they want to block. These insurance companies need to be outed, now!

[Dionne]

The last several days I've been repairing large plate glass windows that are built into frames on site. They are not factory windows. There was significant water damage around the supporting bases. The home is more than a hundred miles from the gulf coast. I am of the opinion that the damage was caused by wind driven rain during Katrina. I advised the homeowner to call her insurance agency which is State Farm. State Farm was very abrupt. The immediately stated they were not covering any water damage and refused to send an adjuster. The home is in the northern most declared Katrina disaster county, Copiah. The owner did not have the funds for a proper repair and had to settle for a quick fix. I hate doing work that isn't right.

[timNms]

The last several days I've been repairing large plate glass windows that are built into frames on site. They are not factory windows. There was significant water damage around the supporting bases. The home is more than a hundred miles from the gulf coast. I am of the opinion that the damage was caused by wind driven rain during Katrina. I advised the homeowner to call her insurance agency which is State Farm. State Farm was very abrupt. The immediately stated they were not covering any water damage and refused to send an adjuster. The home is in the northern most declared Katrina disaster county, Copiah. The owner did not have the funds for a proper repair and had to settle for a quick fix. I hate doing work that isn't right.

How can State Farm get away with not sending an adjuster to this site? Was the home in a flood zone? If not, then how can State Farm refuse to pay for any water damage if that water was wind driven? That would be like my insurance company refusing to pay for the water damage to my house when the shingles and attic vent blew off. Sure, it was water damage, but had there not been wind gusts to 120+ mph, it would not have occured. Sounds to me as if the "good neighbor" is ripping off their customers big time! Unless there is something in the owner's policy that says SF won't pay for wind driven water damage, I smell a lawsuit.

[Dionne]

The home is not in a flood zone. All the damage in Copiah county was from the winds. I was in Jackson, Mississippi yesterday.......on the drive south down I-55, I noticed that State Farm has started a billboard advertising blitz. All hurricane related slogans. As a contractor working with homeowners that are hurricane victims......there is no question that State Farm is the most difficult agency to deal with......damn near criminal. I hope that at least one person out there has had a favorable experience with State Farm?

[Lindaloo]

My sister who lives in Roswell GA is having a hard time with State Farm. Her air conditioner drain was clogged and it flooded her lowest floor. And I do mean flooded. She just had that air conditioner serviced too. The adjuster that came out told her that it was her hot water heater that was leaking and he was not going to pay the claim because that was considered normal wear and tear. She called a plumber and the hot water heater was dry and not leaking. The air conditioner man came out and unclogged the drain. She showed that adjuster all the documentation and he still refused. He told her that black mold takes a while to grow. I am like DO WHAT!! He is full of it. I told her to call his boss and ask for another adjuster. Her agent did not help her either. Matter of fact, he turned his back on her. Another adjuster came out and due to all the supporting documents that she had, he paid the claim. She has a three story home. The first adjuster told her it was a basement. I laughed at that too. So, it is not just Katrina stuff, they are like this all the time.

All I can tell the insurance industry is to BEWARE of Gene Taylor, Congressman for MS. He is not playing this time.