Personal Injury Law

Is Allstate Prejudiced?

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals said yesterday that Allstate is entitled to be as prejudiced as it wants to be.

Of course, and sorry if you clicked on this because you were baited by the title, the court did not mean Allstate can discriminate based on race, creed or religion. Instead, the court said Allstate could discriminate against a slightly less protected class: people in the path of hurricanes along Maryland's eastern seaboard. In other words, the long discriminated against yet unprotected class of rich people who own bay or oceanfront property in Calvert, St. Mary's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties, and portions of Anne Arundel, Charles, Dorchester, Prince George's, and Queen Anne's Counties. (Perhaps I oversimplify a bit.)

After a rash of hurricanes a few years ago, Allstate panicked and told the Maryland Insurance Commission that it was no longer going to offer insurance to some property owners on or near the Atlantic Ocean or Chesapeake Bay. The insurance commissioner at the time, Ralph Tyler, who has since moved on to the FDA, agreed Allstate was entitled to withdraw offering coverage to these property owners.

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).