Consumer Law

Calling All Real Housewives: Time to Condemn the Insurance Industry

By Joe Consumer

Century 21, 2001. It survived.

The Real Housewives of New York (RHONY) don?t always get it right but at least they try. Like the time they hosted an event to honor the work of our friend Bridie Farrell, a leader in the effort to change statute of limitations laws for child sexual abuse survivors. The event quickly turned into what Andy Cohen called one of the most ?cringeworthy? events in Housewife history, which is saying something.  At least a lot of people suddenly knew about Bridie.

Sonja Morgan is a RHONY star who hasn?t always gotten it right but clearly has tried. As fans of the show know, she recently did a deal with New York?s most famous discount department store, Century 21. She "was planning to be Chief Lifestyle Officer taking people on shopping sprees? helping ?people transition through hard times in their life?? such as providing ?wardrobes for people who need to ?get a leg up on a job interview,? or folks who are ?going through a sex change, coming out or coming back from the military.?? Who didn?t admire her for that and hoped it worked out?

Century 21, 2020. It didn't survive.

The insurance industry, that?s who. This industry?s greed has now destroyed Century 21 and with it, Sonja?s admirable plans. It should be noted that Century 21?s flagship story, directly across from the World Trade Center, survived 9/11. Back then, the insurance industry did the right thing, paid claims it owed, and helped Century 21 survive and grow. Isn?t that how insurance is supposed to work? You pay premiums (sometimes for years), and if something unexpected happens, insurers pay your claims.

Yet today, the industry is refusing to pay pandemic-related claims knowing that by doing so, they are destroying businesses like Century 21, and severely weakening the U.S. economy. In other words, it has now wrecked a company that the terror attacks couldn?t. Not to mention that it?s pulled the rug out from under Sonja Morgan.

The only thing insurers seem inclined to do during this pandemic is to hold onto all their money and add to their already huge $800 billion (give or take) surplus. The industry?s entire response to this pandemic has been either to try to escape responsibility for virus-related claims or dump risk while at the same time price-gouging customers with completely unjustified rate hikes.

In fact, as we?ve noted before, when this pandemic began, the industry had already started raising rates on its business customers using its go-to excuse ? ?out of control? U.S. juries, which rule in only 2 percent of cases. In fact, they created their own lingo for this so-called nonexistent ?problem?  ? social inflation. Blaming juries has always worked whenever the industry has wanted to jack up rates or cancel coverage. Incredibly, this is true even now, when the entire civil jury system is on hold and American jurors themselves are sick and dying of a pandemic and insurers are low-balling every claim. 

Back to Bravo world. Say what you will about the lifestyles of Bravolebirities, there is one interest that seems to be shared by a lot of them: pet rescue. While most sane people see pet adoption as one of the few silver linings of quarantine, the insurance industry sees it rather as a new way to screw their policyholders. According to them: Pet adoption means dog bites; Dog bites mean people running to court; People running to court means ?social inflation;? Social inflation means insurers being forced to cancel coverage and price-gouge. 

There is no actual data to back up any of this. That?s never stopped the insurance industry. And incidentally, way to encourage pet adoption, you creeps.

Your move, Real Housewives everywhere. Join us!

Full post as published by ThePopTort on September 14, 2020 (boomark / email).