Tropical Storm Hanna – Unpredictable!

August 31, 2008

Frustration at Allstate: McKinsey Unable to Predict Hanna’s Path!

While powerful Hurricane Gustav bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday, Tropical Storm Hanna swirled east of Florida, embedded in a complicated climatic environment that made it impossible to forecast its destination and likely strength.

The eighth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season could just as easily end up over Cuba, bring heavy rainfall to citrus country in central Florida or drift northward toward South Carolina. It was not possible to say if the storm might eventually end up in the U.S. oil patch in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane experts said.

“Unfortunately there is still considerable uncertainty with the forecast,” said Jamie Rhome, a hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. “It’s impossible to say that this system is going to do this or that.”

The cyclone was tangled up in a middle to upper level low that was making it difficult for Hanna to develop, and was likely to slow down in two days when it came across conditions of weak steering current that could make it meander.

Another trough would then swoop over the tropical storm, bringing with it considerable uncertainty as to the likely wind shear as Hanna drifted near the Bahamas. Wind shear — the difference in wind speed at different levels of the atmosphere — can tear storms apart.

“At the end of the forecast track the wind shear could let up a bit,” Rhome said.

None of the computer models used to predict storm tracks actually took Hanna into the southeastern United States at this point, Rhome said.

Some oil analysts reported on Friday that one of the myriad computer models available to forecasters had indicated that Hanna could eventually make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast near New Orleans where Hurricane Gustav was expected to come ashore on Monday as a dangerous storm.

Those reports triggered concerns in energy markets of a potential one-two punch by Gustav and Hanna on some of the 4,000 Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. crude oil and 15 percent of its natural gas.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed more than 100 oil rigs in 2005 when they roared through, causing oil prices to soar to then record highs. Katrina went on to swamp New Orleans, kill 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and cause $80 billion in damages.

Rhome said it was folly to highlight a single computer model, especially so far out. “It’s a mistake, and often a grave one, to focus on a single model,” he said.

The accuracy of hurricane forecasting has come a long way since the days when entire fleets of Spanish galleons sank in unexpected storms as they carried South American gold and treasure back to Europe.

But even with the start of “hurricane hunter” flights in 1944 and the advent of satellite imagery in the 1960s, long-range forecasts are prone to enormous margins of error.

The National Hurricane Center estimates the average error in its track forecasts is near 260 miles by day four and 345 miles by day five. The hurricane center does not project a storm’s track beyond day five.

Intensity forecasts are even more difficult. The hurricane center calculates that the error in its forecasts for a storm’s top sustained winds averages 23 miles per hour (37 km per hour) per day.

The last official forecast for Hanna takes it in five days to minimal Category 1 hurricane strength with 80-mile-per-hour (130 km per hour) winds by next Friday.

It might then be somewhere off central Florida. But its potential position at that point also encompasses the southern Bahamas, eastern Cuba, south Florida and South Carolina.

 

Labor Day Editorial: Northbrook and Gomorrah

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

We ask the question: What does Allstate stand for? This is a relevant question as we celebrate work and labor.

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J. MATT BARBER’S PERSECUTION OVER CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

By Michael Westfall

10-01-2005

INTRODUCTION

“The American Worker” is a series of papers developed around worker issues relative to the moral decline in America over the last 50 years.

There is no better recent illustration of the importance of this issue then the story of  “American Worker” J. Matt Barber. His dismissal from the Allstate Insurance Company for his opposition to same-sex marriage and his stand for one-man, one-woman marriage is a true indicator of where America stands in the cultural war today.

Our culture has changed tremendously since my childhood in small town Montrose, Michigan back in the 1950’s. Our towns back then were a much simpler place, not unlike Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. Andy Griffith must have crafted TV’s Mayberry after the small towns of that era.

Fathers would sit down and talk with their kids like Andy did with Opie. Kids had a moral compass because of the supporting culture of those times. To stand up for morality and values was the right thing to do, and when you did your neighbors supported you.

Mayberry was really about the entire town and the lessons learned from everyone. All of our small towns had characters similar to the excitable Barney Fife and down home Aunt Bea. They just had different names.

Montrose, like Mayberry and most of the other TV family shows of the era, was filled with patriotic folks that had a deep religious faith and would never relate nor tolerate the profanity or anti-family content of today’s television. The families in Montrose 50 years ago consisted of a one-man, one-woman marriage with kids. Yes, we don’t live in the 1950’s anymore, and America can no longer be defined as an innocent place.

Our culture has become loud, profane, disrespectful and in your face. In 2005, America now offers legalized on demand murder through abortion, living room pornography through our televisions, violent and vulgar music and films through our radios and movies. On top of these developments we now face the potential redefinition and destruction of the American family itself as powerful groups with help from big labor unions fight for same-sex marriage. Our culture is seething with anti-family messages and attacks on those who take stands for values and morality.  J. Matt Barber and his family have become a symbol of this.

There are many of us that are completely fed up and are fighting this darkness that is choking out our American culture.

America needs to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to go back home again to the real definition of family and America.

J. MATT BARBER

J. Matt Barber was a manager at Allstate’s Corporate Security Division headquartered in Northbrook, Ill. On his own time, in his own home and without identifying himself as being from Allstate, he wrote an article as a private citizen on his home computer. His article was put on a few websites. The piece followed his Christian beliefs and was critical of same-sex marriage and read in part…

“Marriage between one man and one woman, and the nuclear family have forever been the cornerstones of civilized society. Regrettably, there are at present, many within the militant homosexual lobby who wish to take a sledge hammer to those cornerstones – many who hope to undermine both the historical and contemporary reality of marriage and family- many who, through judicial fiat, aim to circumvent the constitution, the legislative process and the overwhelming will of the people in an effort to redefine marriage”.

An outside pressure group unhappy with the content of Mr. Barber’s article, complained to Allstate, and Allstate fired him saying that the article didn’t reflect the Insurance Company’s values.

What has happened to free speech in America? Don’t workers have the right to free speech? Has it flown out the window so ultra-liberal “so-called” politically correct fringe pressure groups who hide in the darkness can pop out at will, squash and march in lockstep over the constitutional rights of those they disagree with?

Has America turned into a nation where those that would destroy the family itself have the political power to get our workers fired and create tremendous hardship for these working Americans and their families?

Why do those who practice homosexuality have freedom of speech and Christians who voice their convictions on their own time get fired? There is something mighty wrong here that doesn’t pass the smell test.

Christianity is not something we only practice in Church. As citizens our actions and deeds reflect our Christianity. That is what Matt was terminated for. It had nothing to do with Allstate. Matt was a good worker. If anyone was to be terminated, it should be the people who were feeble minded enough to fire Mr. Barber in the first place.

Allstate is not a slave master where workers sell their Christian and ethical rights to work for them. Slavery died a long time ago.

What their workers do on their own time is none of Allstate’s business, and there are several questions that can easily be generated. Is Allstate in the business of promoting an unhealthy lifestyle?

Being in the insurance industry doesn’t Allstate have data, which shows that the homosexual lifestyle is a very unhealthy lifestyle with hefty healthcare costs? Why would Allstate fire one of its good workers who advocated a healthy lifestyle?

Why is it that Allstate harasses, persecutes and terminates their Christian workers for following their Christian ethics, values and moral beliefs on their own time, yet upholds a different biased standard and in fact actively supports the agenda for those who practice homosexuality?

Why would Allstate want to alienate its Christian customers with such Christian employee persecution when most of their customers are Christian? Why would any existing Christian customer want to continue doing business with Allstate after viewing the terribly wrong way in which they are treating Mr. Barber and his family?

CHURCH

As conservative Christians we know for certain where God stands on life, marriage and homosexuality. Christians, like Mr. Barber and the church body itself, have the right and responsibility to stand up for Biblical righteousness where and when we can. That is what Mr. Barber was doing with his article.

Over two hundred years ago in 1776 our deeply religious ancestors stood in rebellion against Great Britain after coming here and founding the colonies, which became the United States of America. At tremendous danger and sacrifice these people crossed the Atlantic in rickety little boats so they and their descendants could freely practice their faith and belief in God and his word, the Bible. It is time for another rebellion and revolution to take back our culture. We need a return to decency.

The Bible clearly states that the practice of homosexuality is an abomination to God. This is God’s word and that will never change.

For the practice of homosexuality to be considered “normal” in a Christian nation is an impossibility. It cannot happen.  The only way that this practice could  ever be considered acceptable is to eliminate the influence of the Bible. To those who think your personal religious liberties are not being targeted Mr. Barber is an example of why you are wrong.

Doesn’t Church mean a little more than ice cream socials, fish dinners and social functions? Shouldn’t churches be held more accountable? While there are churches and Christian based organizations like the AFA that have stepped up to the plate and are carrying the load, there are many other churches that remain comatosely quiet on these moral issues. They let others do it for them and refuse to do their part. That’s how anti-Biblical groups and issues garner power. That is how and why our culture has declined. These cultural changes were not a force of nature. On the contrary, they did not have to occur. These groups had no power but came in like a lion because of the “silence” of our church body.    

The power they now wield is the power we freely gave them. If we don’t reverse this cultural slide then the dark changes we have already seen will be but a down payment on what is to come. It is just the beginning.

It is time for “all” of America’s churches to crack open their Bibles and read what God’s word says about these issues. Then grow a backbone, join the fight and reclaim our culture. Our nation can no longer afford us to bury our heads in the sand, ignore the issues and even worse…support ultra-liberal politicians.

In too many cases today our underpaid and very dependent pastors feel compelled to go lightly on issues like homosexuality and abortion because one of their liberal church members might not like it and get their nose out of joint. Well let them get their nose out of joint! This attitude has created a slippery downward domino effect where these issues are not properly discussed in the church. If the people don’t read and understand their bibles on these issues, “and some don’t”, and then they see it accepted more and more in our culture, “like they all do”, then it gets accepted more and more, “which it has.”

Church, get active and…SPEAK OUT! Don’t wait until there is only one single church or Christian organization left speaking out on the moral issues. If you don’t speak out now then you could very well be opening up a Christian persecution, the likes of which hasn’t been seen for nearly 2000 years.

Our system is being poisoned and immorality is marching on in lockstep. If thinking moral people refuse to address this issue then our nation, as we know it, will fall.

CONCLUSION

What does this mean for other Allstate Christian workers? Does this mean that Allstate will now have a litmus test where Christians must recant their faith and beliefs at the hiring table when they are hired? If Christian workers speak out, will they be terminated or was this termination exclusively for J. Matt Barber to be used as an example? What has happened to Matt and his family is clearly a one sided biased position against his Christian beliefs and the word of God? “Allstate owes J. Matt Barber more then the return of his job and lost salary for the needless persecution and discrimination that he and his family have been forced to endure.”

When Allstate discriminates and quickly terminates one of its employees because the worker follows the word of God, then Allstate is turning its back on a power much bigger and greater then it they realizes.

I suggest that the leaders of Allstate and other business leaders as well who profess to be Christians stop and think about who they are really turning their backs on. We must stop undermining and reversing our societies values and morals.

J. Matt Barber fearlessly took on this major societal issue at tremendous personal sacrifice and did it for the defense of all our families. We owe him our support and we need to stand with him.

There is an old union saying that today’s union officials have “forgotten”. We used it many years ago relative to losing rights that you have. This old union saying is fitting and applicable to J. Matt Barber and the Federal Marriage Amendment. The statement is

 

………………“NEVER A STEP BACKWARDS”!

Carry on,

Michael Westfall

 

Allstate: Battle Stations!

August 28, 2008

As Tropical Storm Gustav spun toward the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, insurance companies were ready to send adjusters and appraisers to assess damage from the storm if it does make landfall in the United States. They were also prepared financially, having made changes in their coverage in the three years since Hurricane Katrina.

At State Farm Insurance Cos. headquarters in Bloomington, Ill., staff is on-call 24-hours a day while the company waits to see when and where Gustav will hit. Once a distinctive storm path is determined, more than 1,700 claims representatives will be sent into the affected area.

“We’re in a holding pattern, we are waiting to see where this thing is going to go,” said spokesman Kip Biggs.

Allstate Corp. and MetLife Inc. had catastrophe units as well as claims representatives en route to the Gulf region.

“We are preparing for Gustav to be a major event at this time,” said Tim Bowen, director of property claims at MetLife.

Meanwhile, after paying out $41 billion in claims payments since Katrina struck three years ago Friday, insurers have made sure they are financially ready for another storm; they have settled Katrina-related lawsuits, raised policy rates and also cut back on the insurance they offer in areas most vulnerable to tropical storms.

“Insurers have all taken a hard look at Katrina and made adjustments that they feel are appropriate,” said Robert Hartwig, an economist and president of the Insurance Information Institute, a New York-based industry group.

At Allstate, “we have reduced our exposure in coastal communities,” said Mike Siemienas, spokesman for the property, casualty and auto insurer. “We have 17 million households that we insure throughout the country and we need to make ensure we are not overexposed in any one area that is catastrophe prone.”

The value of coastal property exposed to hurricanes increased by 24 percent, or $1.7 trillion, from $7.2 trillion in 2004 to $8.9 trillion by the end of 2007, according to research and weather modeler AIR Worldwide Corp.

Gustav was not the only storm insurers were watching — on Thursday, Tropical Storm Hanna formed in the Atlantic, northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. It was too early to predict whether Hanna will threaten the United States, but Gustav was projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane over warm and deep Gulf waters, possibly hitting the Gulf Coast by early next week.

Katrina was the single largest natural disaster loss in the history of the insurance industry. Insurers paid $41 billion arising from 1.7 million claims for damage to homes, businesses and vehicles to policy holders in six states. Hurricane Andrew — the previous record holder — produced $15.5 billion in losses in 1992 and 790,000 claims.

Insurers typically keep money aside in order to pay claims that are much larger than a Katrina — or this summer’s Midwest flooding or California wildfires. “Insurers have to assume that a worst-case scenario can occur any year,” Hartwig said.

Disaster losses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are likely to escalate in the coming years because of huge increases in development and rising building and repair costs, he said. “While 2005 was by far the worse year ever for insured catastrophe losses in the U.S., future storms could prove even costlier, reaching upward of $100 billion.”

To help offset some of that amount, some insurance companies have raised rates, most taking effect later this year.

In July, State Farm said it will boost its homeowners insurance rates by 12 percent to 18 percent in several Alabama counties. Some 700 policies on the state’s coast will also lose State Farm’s wind coverage over two years.

Earlier this month, two separate divisions of Allstate said they would raise homeowners’ rates for wind and hail coverage in Mississippi by an average of 13.9 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively.

State Farm is also raising homeowner rates in Mississippi by a statewide average of 13.6 percent, but State Farm policyholders without wind coverage will not see a rate increase.

Reasons for the increases: The rising risk and cost of doing business, State Farm’s Biggs said.

“In order to make claims we’ve got to have the money in place to be able to take care of people in a time of need,” he said.

To limit their exposure to catastrophic losses from natural disasters, many insurers in coastal states are selling homeowners policies with percentage deductibles for storm damage instead of traditional dollar deductibles, which are used for other types of losses such as fire damage and theft. Percentage deductibles are based on the home’s insured value.

There are also percentage deductibles for wind damage, varying from 1 percent of a home’s insured value to 5 percent. In some coastal areas with high wind risk, hurricane deductibles may be as high as 25 percent.

Mass settlements of homeowners’ lawsuits and a series of favorable court rulings have helped the insurance industry come close to resolving Katrina claims by the storm’s third anniversary.

Earlier this month, State Farm settled with Mississippi regulators over how the insurer handled Katrina damage claims in the state. State Farm has agreed to reopen some claims and pay more than $74 million more to Gulf Coast policyholders whose homes were destroyed by Katrina’s storm surge.

Two weeks ago, Florida settled an insurance dispute with Allstate, giving homeowners insured by the company an additional 5.6 percent rate cut. Allstate also agreed to insure 100,000 more Florida homeowners against hurricanes and other perils, forgive a $175 million loan to its Florida subsidiary and pay a $5 million fine.

 

Tropical Storm Gustav: Allstate’s Labor Day Disaster?

Tropical Storm Gustav: Allstate’s Labor Day Disaster?

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Tropical Storm Gustav churns toward Haiti

First it was Fay. Now, keep an eye on Gustav, which is headed in our general direction, forecasters said.

BY EVAN S. BENN – ebenn@MiamiHerald.com 

For the second time in two weeks, hurricane warnings and watches were posted around Haiti as a potent tropical storm threatened to unload two feet of rain and severe wind on Tuesday.

And though Tropical Storm Gustav is hundreds of miles from Florida, its five-day forecast cone could spell trouble for South Florida and the Keys during the tourist-heavy Labor Day weekend.

Gustav, the seventh named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, quickly developed Monday into near-hurricane strength with 70 mph winds, according to an 11 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

As the night went on, computer models shifted Gustav’s projected path more to the west — making South Florida a less likely target but still within the forecast cone, which is subject to wide margins of error.

”Once you get into the cone, people pay very, very close attention,” said Andy Newman, spokesman for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. “I think it’s prudent to pay attention, but hopefully the forecast track shifts even further so we get out of the cone well before Labor Day weekend comes.”

For now, forecasters expect Gustav to strengthen into a hurricane overnight Monday and cross southwestern Haiti with at least 75 mph winds on Tuesday. It spent the day churning over warm ocean water and was encountering very little wind shear — conditions favorable for intensification.

Forecasters upgraded Gustav from a tropical wave to a depression to a storm within three hours Monday because its winds had jumped from 35 mph to 70 mph and an eye began to form.

”It is very well defined, very tight,” Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said.

The shorter-term track projected Gustav to hit the southern coast of Cuba, not far from Guantánamo Bay on Wednesday as a Category 1 hurricane. At the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, spokesman Bruce Lloyd reported that military staff started inspecting hurricane shelters on Monday afternoon as a precaution.

Officials declared the 45-square-mile American outpost in the Caribbean at Condition Three — a medium alert that let the 8,000 or so residents know that hurricane-force winds were possible within 48 hours and they should begin checking their supplies. There was no immediate word from officials at the sometimes secretive prison camps there, run under separate Pentagon management, on whether guards were considering moving some detainees to more secure sites.

Tropical Storm Gustav was about 150 miles south-southeast of Port-au-Prince on Monday evening and heading northwest at 12 mph. It has the potential to drench Haiti with 15 to 25 inches of rain, forecasters said. Although longer-range forecast tracks are subject to error, if the storm were to continue on its current path, it could affect South Florida by Sunday.

That would be less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Fay made its first of four landfalls in Florida, soaking the state and causing significant flooding and 11 deaths in Central and North Florida. On Monday, federal emergency managers approved up to $20 million for cleanup and humanitarian aid in Florida for Fay.

Also on Monday, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez visited with forecasters at the hurricane center in West Miami-Dade County for a briefing on Fay and an update on the then-unnamed Gustav.

”Even without reaching the height of a major hurricane, Fay did an awful lot of damage to Florida,” Martinez said. “And now there does appear to be another tropical storm that could come into our neighborhood.”

 

Allstate and Sterling: Not a Level Playing Field!

Allstate Acquisition of Sterling Collision Centers: What Does It Mean to the Industry?

Posted 6/15/2001

By Robert L. Redding, Jr.

As the industry treads into new territory with Allstate’s acquisition of Sterling Collision Centers, everyone is asking the same question, “How will this impact the industry? 

Collision repairers learning of the recent Allstate Corporation acquisition of Sterling Collision Centers, Inc. are not faced with a clear “negative or positive” analysis of the purchase. Clearly the industry is moving quickly into new areas but one can not ignore trends over the last years.

From single collision facilities to companies expanding to multiple locations during the 1980s, the industry has been moving parallel to other business interests. The increase in the number of direct repair programs (DRPs) was not dissimilar to the health care industry and what we now see in the lumber supply as well as other building trade areas. During the ’90s, consolidation of repair facilities was the topic of the day. Key players in the industry sold their facilities to well-heeled companies and many times stayed with the company in some professional role. At least one of the consolidators was funded by a major international insurer.

Now Allstate has purchased Sterling, the consolidator with 39 shops in seven states. Many of these are in various metropolitan areas of these states. The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has received many inquiries from members, the trade press and business publications regarding the acquisition.

Most of the questions are the same. How will this impact the industry? On its face, you have 39 facilities in a universe of approximately 50,000 shops nationwide. This will have minimal nationwide impact. If you review the concentration areas of these 39 shops, it could change the dynamics of the local marketplace.

Isn’t the Allstate/Sterling deal a warning for the independent repairer? These well-heeled shops could continue to expand and eliminate independent shop market share. Depending on specific variables, those shops now involved in Allstate programs could suffer. Where does it stop? Rumors are rampant that other insurers are negotiating with consolidators even today. Finally, this is one more entity competing in an already tight employee market. Will their benefits and salaries outpace what independents are able to provide?

Is there any positive impact from the acquisition? The industry now has one more well-funded buyer in the marketplace. With an aging ownership and increasingly expensive facilities, business owners may see this as an opportunity. Will these types of purchases aid in increasing the value of repair facilities? Quite possibly. Has a standardization of procedures and escalation of competition from the consolidators raised the quality and productivity of the independent repairer? Many would argue that the critiques of independent facilities afforded by consolidators has worked to advance the rank and file in the industry. Without question, collision facilities are now reviewed by the business community with such scrutiny that the availability of equipment, training and information is at a level that any repairer has the opportunity to compete with providing a quality, efficient repair.

Finally, these new members of the collision industry could provide more employment opportunities for those that desire collision repair as a vocation.

Surely this association and others will scrutinize this transaction to a great degree, but one must note that we function in a free market system. By their definition, collision repairers are independent and enjoy the fruits of a competitive marketplace. This automatically creates hesitation in criticizing the Allstate purchase. But it is imperative that we as independents compete on a level playing field. Is this playing field level?

One can assume that Allstate has studied with fervor the steering statutes of those states with Sterling facilities. Do these states prohibit direct repair facilities? As a whole, no. One of the states does have restraints on aggressive DRPs, but will still allow programs or lists. Clearly the laws in these states vary. It is our responsibility to review the adequacy of these regulations to protect the independent repairer and to assure their enforcement. But the object is not to prohibit a free marketplace, only to ensure that the playing field is level. Several of these states have little protection against aggressive DRPs. One of the states will allow almost any type of program. So a hurried response that “they can’t do this” would be inappropriate. Yes they can.

ASA has summarized state direct repair laws and has this report available through its national headquarters or its Web site (www.asashop.org). There has never been a greater moment for repairers to unite behind a common effort to protect the free marketplace. This is one more validation of the need for the free association of individual businesses toward a shared good.

Our policy has historically focused on the right of the consumer to choose where a vehicle is repaired. Does this limit consumer choice? Are these state laws sufficient to protect the consumer? These questions will be answered in months to come.

ASA will continue to monitor the industry and work to ensure a level playing field that places consumer choice first.

 

Allstate Abuses-and Loses-Access to DMV Data

Allstate Loses Access to DMV Computer Data

By Kenneth Reich

January 17, 2003

The state Department of Motor Vehicles on Thursday revoked Allstate Insurance Co.’s electronic access to confidential drivers’ records, after finding in a nine-month investigation that the company had violated state confidentiality rules 131 times.

DMV Director Steven Gourley said he would ask the state attorney general’s office to seek fines against Allstate before its access would be restored. He said the maximum fine allowed per violation is $100,000, but made no estimate of what the fine would total.

Allstate is California’s third-largest auto insurer, with 2.2 million policyholders, or 10.5% of the state’s insured drivers.

Company spokeswoman Emily Daly said that while “Allstate regrets that its security and customer confidentiality procedures, including the requirement to follow appropriate DMV regulations, were not followed in some cases.

Although Gourley said Allstate retains the right to obtain the records manually by submitting requests in writing to DMV offices, the company said, “The processing delays that will result from the department’s actions will only cause inconvenience to California drivers.”

Gourley said the DMV initiated its investigation after a complaint that “an Allstate customer’s confidential address had been released, which resulted in a written threat to that person.”

When DMV investigators began visiting Allstate offices, he said, they found frequent cases of DMV passwords being used in public view, and uncovered instances in which Allstate employees had sought the records of relatives and friends without good business reason.

Gourley said Thursday that companies sign contracts with the DMV to keep such information private.

 “It turned out in our investigation that they were not keeping tabs on the confidentiality,” he said. “They were putting our password numbers on the computer so anyone could see them or access them.”

A few of the Allstate offices visited also “wouldn’t let our auditors in, or they threw them out,” Gourley said. “That alarmed me. When they’re so defensive, it arouses our suspicions.”

Late Thursday afternoon, a senior spokesman for Allstate, Peter Debreceny, said the company has initiated discussions with the DMV in an attempt to settle the matter. The discussions have “been good, and the prospects are promising,” he said.

But Gourley said he would be in no hurry to resolve the matter, short of getting full satisfaction.

Consumers Union’s advocate on auto insurance, Norma Garcia, said, “Our position is that these are very serious allegations, and we would hope that there will be a full inquiry by both the DMV and the Department of Insurance. Release of information of this sort is very sensitive.”

 

Fay: Allstate’s Good Hands or Boxing Gloves? Only Time Will Tell!

August 23, 2008:

The Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, Louisiana, activated its flood-watch teams Saturday in anticipation of Tropical Storm Fay’s westward movement.

The storm has battered the central and upper coast of Florida with heavy rain and severe flooding. It has been blamed for 11 Florida deaths and one in Georgia.

Fay, which hugged Florida’s Gulf Coast on Saturday, is expected to make landfall north of Lake Pontchartrain on Sunday afternoon and move west into Baton Rouge on Monday and Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said. The lake is west of New Orleans.

Teams will “mobilize to their duty stations 8 a.m. Sunday and monitor canals and levees in the city,” the Corps said in a statement Saturday.

Col. Alvin Lee, New Orleans District commander, said the actions were “precautionary measures for the safety of the public.”

“We are prepared to close the gates and run the pumps should the need arise.”

After Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans in 2005, the Corps took responsibility for not having built sufficient levees against flooding.

The hurricane center predicts heavy rain and isolated flooding next week in southeastern Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, the Florida panhandle and Mississippi.

At 5 p.m. ET Saturday, the center of Fay was about 105 miles east of Mobile, Alabama. Forecasters said it would move over the western Florida Panhandle today and tonight, and near or over the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday.

Mobile County opened five shelters and called in swift-water rescue teams in anticipation of flooding, said Steve Huffman, spokesman for the county’s emergency management agency.

“The storm is actually weakening; that’s not to say we’re not going to have rain,” Huffman said. “We’re still expecting some flooding because of this. We’ve got everything on standby. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

The hurricane center said isolated areas of eastern Louisiana could get 20 inches of rain. In Florida, rainfall totals by Friday afternoon reached 26.65 inches in Melbourne, 22.83 at Cape Canaveral and 20.75 at Palm Shores.

Water was waist-deep Friday in parts of Fort Pierce, Florida, more than halfway down the state’s 1,200-mile Atlantic coast from Jacksonville.

Fay is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over the next two days across the western portion of northern Florida, the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Georgia, the southern and central portions of Mississippi and Alabama and eastern Louisiana, the hurricane center said.

“Regardless of its exact track, Fay will be moving rather slowly during the next several days, posing a significant heavy rainfall and flood hazard to a very large area,” the hurricane center said.

The storm made its sixth landfall Saturday morning — its fourth in Florida — as it moved slowly westward at a 7-mph pace.

“It’s making me miserable,” said Lauren Bowers, who was at work at the Boston Market restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida, as rain fell in sheets. “I’d rather be at home than at work.”

Bowers was at Daytona Beach, Florida, this week when Fay struck there. Then the storm swung back, heading west.

“I thought I’d be done with it,” she said. “You just feel soggy.”

Another death was reported in Cairo, Georgia — about 35 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida — where a teenager playing near a drainage area was swept away in rising waters, the National Weather Service reported.

Fay’s sustained winds remained at 45 mph, with higher gusts. No major change in intensity was expected in the next 24 to 36 hours, although the storm could wander into the Gulf and make landfall again in Perdido Key before leaving Florida,

Isolated tornadoes were possible Saturday in parts of northern Florida, southern Georgia and southern Alabama. Tornado watches were posted for parts of Georgia and Florida until 3 p.m.

Longer-range forecast models suggest Fay will continue westward until Tuesday, when it is likely to turn north and east as a tropical depression.

Fay’s torrential rainfall and powerful winds struck southern and central Florida from the Gulf to the Atlantic this week before turning west and recrossing the state, leaving floodwaters that have caused millions of dollars in damage.

A tropical storm warning remained for the northeastern Gulf coast from Suwanee River, Florida, westward to the mouth of the Mississippi. A warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 24 hours.

A tropical storm watch, which anticipates storm conditions within 36 hours, was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Grand Isle, Louisiana, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, forecasters said.

Up to 4 feet of storm surge flooding above normal tide levels was possible in areas of onshore winds, forecasters said.

Florida officials said Saturday that they have requested a presidential declaration for areas hit by Fay that would provide individual assistance to eligible residents.

President Bush has approved an emergency declaration for all counties in Florida. That money can be used for debris removal and other costs associated with the storm.

Dan Foley: Legislator, Allstate Agent, Sole Source Contract Winner…

All this, and Foley is still an Allstate agent?

Talking about your Christian beliefs gets you fired. Engaging in procurement fraud does not.

You’re in Good Hands With Allstate!

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Albuquerque Journal

Published: Saturday, August 02, 2008

By Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal By Colleen Heild Journal Investigative Reporter

A state contract that offers supplemental insurance to government employees has proven profitable for a top Republican legislator over the past year.

Last week, a Chaves County commissioner asked the state attorney general to look into business ties between state Rep. Dan Foley, R- Roswell, and the contract the state awarded to Allstate last year.

Foley, who is an Allstate agent, said the company pays him a 10 percent commission on all policies sold under the contract. So far, an estimated 500 state and local government employees have purchased the insurance, meaning Foley’s cut would run into the thousands of dollars.

Foley said he has done nothing improper and added that the contract was awarded through a competitive process. He dismissed the request for an AG investigation as “purely a political ploy.”

The request came from one of Foley’s critics, Chaves County Commissioner Harold Hobson, who lives near Roswell.

At issue is the state’s decision in 2007 to allow Allstate to sell supplemental cancer, accident and universal life insurance to government employees.

Foley, who serves as House minority whip, said he has had no contact with state officials about the contract. State General Services Department spokesman Alex Cuellar confirmed that in a recent e-mail message to the Journal.

Foley said Allstate pays him the commission because he was the one who noticed the state was soliciting proposals for the insurance on the public General Services Department Web site and alerted his company.

“I mean any Allstate agent could have done that,” he added. He said he also worked with Allstate “getting them pointed in the right direction” on how to respond to the request for proposals.

“We didn’t win it (the contract) before, but we won it this time because (of) my two cents that I gave them,” Foley said.

Foley said he routinely checks the Web site for business prospects.

A state Web site for supplemental voluntary insurance lists Foley as one of Allstate’s 19 participating agents. Foley said he has been one of Allstate’s top sellers of supplemental insurance. A September 2007 memo showed him earning six times more “points” (which are based on business generated) than more than 30 New Mexico Allstate agents or agencies. In a July 29 letter to Attorney General Gary King, Hobson noted that New Mexico law bars state agencies from entering into a sole source contract in which a public officer or employee of the state has a “substantial interest.” Hobson said an inquiry is especially relevant with the special legislative session to begin Aug. 15.

“As part of the elected Republican leadership in our legislature, Rep. Foley will be involved in negotiations on proposed legislation for universal health care or expanded health care coverage that Governor Richardson is promoting,” Hobson said in his letter.

He alleged that Foley’s involvement in supplemental health care policies represents a “direct conflict of interest as the impact of any proposed legislation may reduce the need or the method of these supplemental policies for state employees.” Foley, a Roswell insurance agent for 11 years, has served in the Legislature since 1999 but lost his bid for re-election in June’s primary. His term ends Jan. 1. Attorney General’s Of f ice spokesman Phil Sisneros said the letter had been received and would be forwarded to the appropriate legal section.

Foley said Hobson’s argument has no merit because state law defines sole source contracts as being awarded without competition. He noted that Allstate participated in a competitive request for proposals process. However, Allstate was the only health insurance provider to submit a proposal to offer that specific supplemental insurance, Cuellar said.

Other companies were selected to offer other types of insurance such as pre-paid legal services, home and auto insurance, and whole life.

Foley also said he hasn’t directly sold the insurance to any state employee and hasn’t solicited any state employee to buy it.

“I felt like it was probably not right for me as Rep. Foley with my red (legislative) license plate to pull into the Department of Transportation (or any other state agency) and say ‘I’m here to sell you something.’”

An Allstate spokeswoman on Friday wouldn’t comment about any particular agent’s commission but said the state procurement was a “very transparent process.” She said individual agents usually don’t sell the insurance because it is offered at annual employee enrollments in the workplace.

Rates for Allstate cancer insurance range from $9 to $24 per paycheck and from $7 to $51 for accident coverage. The state Web site for employee benefits did not list specific rates for life insurance premiums. Cuellar estimated that about 500 state or local employees have signed up for the voluntary insurance through payroll deduction.

Employees can also make personal payments to Allstate. The state Risk Management Division had no contact with Foley regarding the Allstate contract, Cuellar said.

Supplemental insurance was offered effective July 1, 2007, after the state Risk Management Division “conducted an internal member survey asking for insurance product suggestions.”

The state went to a request for proposals, after gaps were identified in the employees’ benefits package.

As a contractor, Allstate makes no payments to the state. It offers employees a group rate for which Foley said employees pay 100 percent of the cost.

History of criticism A request for proposals issued in the spring of 2007 allowed vendors to bid on any or all portions of the voluntary benefits insurance products required by the RFP. Six other companies submitted proposals, Cuellar stated in his e-mail, but none for the three types of insurance Allstate is providing. Hobson, a Roswell area farmer, has been critical of Foley in the past, and on primary election night in 2006 the two had a public verbal altercation. “He was yelling at some women and I told him to stop,” Foley said. Hobson, in a letter to the Roswell Daily Record, contended the “attack required two deputies to jump in between Mr. Hobson and Mr. Foley.” Hobson also wrote a letter to Foley last week calling on him to “recuse himself from any participation in negotiations, debate or votes on legislation dealing with state insurance during the special session. It’s impossible for the public to know when Dan Foley ‘the Legislator’ is speaking and when Dan Foley ‘the state insurance contractor’ is talking.” Foley responded that Hobson “is just throwing mud against the wall to see what sticks.”

 

A Complaint from Idaho Against Allstate Agent Sam Zenor

Christian made this complaint against the Sam Zenor Allstate agency (1233 N. Meridian, Meridian, ID 83642 208-888-5455) on 11/27/2004.

Sam Zenor a representitive of Allstate has overcharged me for 3 years. I called Allstate headquarters and explained my problem. After months of investigations and a letter to the Better Business Bureau, complaint #1505225, I got a refund check.

In October of 2004 Sam Zenor again tried to overcharge me. Again I went to Headquarters. Sam Zenor’s advise…’Go to a different company’. I did…saved $100.00 going to Geico.

Sam Zenor filed an accident on my drivers license from 2 years ago! I hit a bike rack! A 5 dollar part was damaged. Now after 20 years without an accident or ticket my record is flawed. He filed the accident AFTER I filed my report with the BBB. Allstate is ‘investigating’ once again.

Allstate also would not allow me to switch to a different representative. My wife and I had been with Allstate for 24 years. Now that is service. Thank God Geico understood what Sam Zenor was doing to me and allowed me to enjoy a cheaper rate.

Do yourself a favor. Do not do business with Allstate. If you must, stay as far away from Sam Zenor as you possibly can. He will lie, steal, and cheat you any way he can. And, when caught with his hand in the till he will not respond.

Fay: Were You in Good Hands With Allstate?

August 22, 2008

Were you in good hands with Allstate?

The storm’s death toll rose to six in Florida and nearly 30 overall since Fay first struck in the Caribbean. Florida officials said four people died in traffic accidents in the heavy rain and two others drowned in surf kicked up by the storm. Before the storm ever blew through the state, a man testing generators as a precaution also was killed.

Tens of thousands of people from Melbourne to Jacksonville to Gainesville were still without electricity, and residents of Florida’s storm-stricken Atlantic coast faced a weekend of cleanup after chest-high flooding. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said so far nearly 4,000 flood claims from Fay had been filed.

“The damage from Fay is a reminder that a tropical storm does not have to reach a hurricane level to be dangerous and cause significant damage,” said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who toured flooded communities this week.

On Friday, Crist asked the White House to elevate the disaster declaration President Bush issued Thursday to a major disaster declaration. Crist said the storm damaged 1,572 homes in Brevard County alone, dropping 25 inches of rain in Melbourne.