Happy Day for Insurance Execs

Xavier had been suing its insurer, Travelers, claiming that the catastrophe that flooded our campus was manmade, and thus should be covered even without a flood policy. Sadly the LA Supreme Court yesterday decided with the insurance industry. We still plan to get more reimbursements from Travelers, it is just that we'll have to do in now by pointing out how grossly we were underpaid for our campus' wind damage. Thousands of families are going through the same struggle, and were all disappointed by yesterday's ruling. Attorney John Houghtaling , who represented the state of Louisiana against the insurance industry, said, "This is the end of the road here. This is a very, very sad day for anyone who isn't an insurance executive." Marc Racicot, who represents the insurance industry and whom I had the distinct displeasure of meeting when I testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about how Allstate had mistreated us, said that the decision "showed great courage." He also said that if the decision had gone otherwise it would have kept insurers out of the area and hurt our recovery. So the insurance industry had been stockpiling billions in reserves in case they had to pay these claims. Now that they won't have to, do you think anyone in the Gulf South will get a rebate or lower premiums, or will the money go to insurance execs who already have record profits? Nobody except LA Citizens is writing policies for homes that flooded, now almost 3 years after Katrina. I don't expect that to change anytime soon. So enjoy your luxury bonuses and golden parachutes, evil evil insurance executives.