Posts tagged Consumer Law

• Jury to Begin Deliberations in Unfair Settlement Practices Lawsuit Against Allstate

  Staff Writer | October 09, 2007 9:50 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  A Kentucky jury will begin deliberations Wednesday deciding whether Allstate Insurance Company violated the Kentucky Unfair Settlement Practices Act by systematically lowering valuation of minor injury claims and bullying claimants into accepting artificially low settlements. The Plaintiffs alleged that Allstate systematically undervalued claims relying upon a consultant who, according to the...

• Are On-Line Pharmacies Trafficking Narcotic Drugs?

  Staff Writer | August 29, 2007 6:22 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Perhaps you have seen stories or received spam e-mail messages from on-line pharmacies offering instant access to prescription drugs at low cost. You want a percocet or vicodin but your family doctor did not prescribe it for you? No worries. Just log onto your spam-friendly Internet pharmacy, fill out a brief questionnaire, pay for your medication with a credit card and in no time, you will...

• Insurers Profits Rising Based on Bad Business Practices?

  Staff Writer | August 10, 2007 9:00 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  A recent article in the on-line publication Bloomberg suggests that anti-consumer insurance industry practices have led to a stark increase in insurance profits in recent years. According to Bloomberg, consumers have been bearing the burden of bad-faith insurance industry practices:Insurers often pay 30-60 percent of the cost of rebuilding a damaged home -- even when carriers assure homeowners...

• Frivolous Lawsuit Against Dryclear Dismissed

  Staff Writer | June 27, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  In early May, I wrote about an example of a likely frivolous lawsuit. If you recall, the drycleaning business in that case lost a pair of pants and the Plaintiff originally demanded compensation totalling $65,000,000 even after the business compensated him for the lost pants. In my earlier posting, I suggested that our system of justice has legitimate safeguards to prevent frivolous litigation...

• Insurer and Its Attorneys Sanctioned in 9/11 Litigation

  Staff Writer | June 25, 2007 10:41 AM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  In an unfortunate series of events, recently two law firms and an insurance company client involved in coverage litigation concerning the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy have been sanctioned a total sum of $1.25 million dollars. The judge sanctioned these parties for failing to disclose various key documents concerning applicability of insurance coverage and other discovery abuses which...

• Have You Been Victimized by Mortgage Fraud?

  Staff Writer | June 18, 2007 1:18 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  This past week, the Arizona legislature passed a bill criminalizing mortgage fraud. Specifically, the bill criminalizes so-called cash-back financing in which a prospective buyer pays an artificially inflated price for a home, receives a loan for the high sales price, and pockets the difference between the loan amount and the actual residential home value. According to the Arizona Republic,...

• Blue Cross of California Agrees to Settle Rescission Class Action Lawsuit

  Staff Writer | June 11, 2007 11:00 AM | 1 CommentPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Blue Cross of California recently entered a settlement agreement to resolve a class action lawsuit against the health insurer concerning the nature of its individual health insurance business practices. Blue Cross had been accused of using innocent mistakes on poorly worded insurance applications to rescind policies after insureds submitted costly claims. After concluding that it would lose...

• Health Insurance Coverage in Times of Need

  Staff Writer | June 05, 2007 12:00 PM | 1 CommentPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  In May, I wrote about problems with health insurance companies in California. Specifically, an insured with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California sued the company alleging bad faith arising out of the company's decision to rescind a health insurance policy based on high claims expenses. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the carrier accused the insureds of misrepresenting responses...

• Senator Kyl Holding Up Modification to Freedom of Information Act

  Staff Writer | June 01, 2007 2:00 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Ironically, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl recently invoked a tool to secretly object and withhold from consideration in the United States Senate a bill modifying the Freedom of Information Act. In contrast to Senator Kyl's initially secret actions, the legislation known as the Open Government Act had been drafted to make government activity less secret and more open to public scrutiny. Senator Kyl...

• Industry Lobbyist Withdraws Nomination to Head Consumer Product Safety Commission

  Staff Writer | May 24, 2007 1:19 PM | 0 CommentsPhoenix, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Based upon increasing public pressure, yesterday lobbyist Michael Baroody removed his name from consideration to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In another post, I questioned whether a lobbyist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) should head an organization which has conflicting objectives. The National Association of Manufacturers lobbies on behalf of many...