Affordable Car & Home Insurance
SANTA MONICA, CA -- A consumer group called on the U.S. Justice
Department to form a special FBI unit to investigate the controversial
bonuses being paid to executives at AIG. Consumer Watchdog said in a written statement Wednesday that the bureau
should take the lead in determining whether there was any misconduct on
the part of American Insurance Group employees who claim they have a
contractual right to a bonus.
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Washington, D.C. -- Congress should reject any proposal that would
deregulate insurance or otherwise override state insurance laws that
have successfully protected consumers during the current economic
crisis, said the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog today in advance of an
insurance hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and
Urban Affairs.
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Advocates Say No Bonuses Should Be Paid Until Law Enforcement
Conducts Detailed Review Of Any AIG Employee Who Wants to Enforce
Contract
Santa Monica, CA -- Consumer advocates said that federal law
enforcement agencies should create a special investigative unit
dedicated to unearthing any fraud or misconduct attributable to AIG
employees paid bonuses since taxpayers bailed out the company. The
nonpartisan, nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said that AIG executives and
employees who claim a "contractual right" to a bonus should be subject
to the strictest scrutiny by the FBI and Department of Justice.
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California Supreme Court Will Decide Key Proposition 64 Case on Class Action Consumer Suits
"It's some kind of a twilight zone where insurance gets to live and no
one can touch them," said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the nonprofit
advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and the author of the 1988
voter-approved Proposition 103, which cut insurance rates statewide.
"It's very disturbing to see what the courts are doing."
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The plan has drawn fire from the Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog,
formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which
believes the Royce-Bean plan would dramatically weaken regulation of
California’s insurance industry. In particular, the group believes the
proposal would gut Proposition 103, the 1988 California ballot
initiative authored by the group's leader and backed by national
consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The proposition created California’s
first elected insurance commissioner, sought to outlaw unfair and
discriminatory rates and beefed up the state’s regulatory landscape.
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Insurer, Producer Groups Remain At Odds On Renewed Push For National Oversight
Chiming in with its own letter to Mr. Geithner was Santa Monica,
Calif.-based Consumer Watchdog, which wrote that "while the need for a
financial regulatory overhaul is clear, it should not be used as a
stalking horse for insurance deregulation." Consumer Watchdog --
formed by Prop. 103 organizer Harvey Rosenfield, and formerly known as
the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights -- said the aim of
those who seek federal oversight is to avoid stringent state
regulations.
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Insurance industry critic Harvey Rosenfield, author of
Proposition 103, questioned some of what Poizner is doing. "The
tentative changes I've seen would let the insurance companies estimate
their future losses and also let them choose which years to include as
the basis for that," he said. "It's basically deregulation."
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A consumer advocacy group says it fears Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s financial services reform could become “a launching pad” for the federal deregulation of insurance.
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One detail effectively missing from the mainstream economic debate is consumer credit scores and their use for everything from buying homes to getting a cell phone. Credit scores should not be used to determine who is an insurance risk
since they have no connection to someone’s propensity to file a claim,
said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog, a California
public advocacy group.
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Insurance regulation should remain with the states, and switching to an optional federal insurance charter (OFC) would be tantamount to deregulation, according to a letter sent yesterday to the Treasury Department by Consumer Watchog, a consumer advocacy group.
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Recent Articles:
Consumer Group Calls For FBI Probe Of AIG
By Wire Reports, UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL (UPI)
March 18, 2009
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Congress Should Preserve State Insurance Regulation That Kept Insurers Stable While Financial Firms Crumbled Under Federal Oversight, Says Consumer Watchdog
CONTACT: Carmen Balber, 202-629-3043; or Doug Heller, 310-392-0522 ext. 309
March 17, 2009
Read More »
AIG Bonuses Should Be Delivered by FBI, Consumer Watchdog Says
CONTACT: Jamie Court, (310) 392-0522 ext. 327; or Doug Heller, ext. 309
March 16, 2009
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Consumer Lawyers Fighting Against Legal Tide
By Laura Ernde, LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL
March 2, 2009
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Move Afoot At Federal Level That Could Gut California's Prop. 103
By John Howard, CAPITOL WEEKLY
February 26, 2009
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