Another win for Plantiff attorneys that will hurt the public as a whole. What a wonderful country we live in! It is often cheaper to settle than to fight while the attorneys rake in the cash.
Get ready for your insurance rates to increase and for companies like Allstate to nonrenew your coverage!

You completely missed the point. State Farm settled to shut down the criminal investigation and avoid having its management put in jail. Sure, let's turn a blind eye to corporate wrong doing so your insurance rates don't go up? You've got to be kidding me. You've bought all that "like a good neighbor" propaganda. Name one other industry where the government makes it a crime if you don't buy their product. If your insurance rates go up, you have only your state insurance commissioner to blame. You'll probably be able to find him at some boondoggle paid for by the insurance industry. Wake up. Insurance Companies are the evil empire!

Snake Farm agreed to settle because they got caught using fraud to avoid paying legitimate claims. I only hope that the Federall investigation continues and the crooks within the insurance industry go to jail where they belong.

Hey Carl...What happens when your house burns down or you total your car and your left with nothing? Is the insurance company such an "evil empire" then?
Seems to me that if you live on the coast then you should make sure you have the appropriate insurance coverage to help you with any type of loss that would occur in that area! Why wouldn't you look into flood insurance if your homeowners insurance clearly states it does not cover that type of loss. I've read my insurance policy, guess no one else reads theirs?

Even if you believe that certain employees acted wrongly, it is naive to think that the company had implemented any practice of intentionally cheating policyholders. I know the company's policies and procedures, and it's just not true, despite all the conspiracy theories. Plus, it wouldn't even make business sense - although the settlement seems huge, it's roughly 2-3% of State Farm's payments from this storm. It's would never be worth the trouble to try something unethical for such a relatively small "savings."

State Farm, like all other insurance companies, is NOT in the insurance business anymore. They are in the investment business. They are the worse paying company in the business. Their sue-record in Mississippi is the absolutely worse of all the others in Miss. Any way to get out of paying is just fine. But a contract is a contract. Oh, but alas, a claim appears and lo and behold, we just might have to honor our contract. Why the fraud and deceit? Why not just pay the claims like Alfa, and so many others, and move on. Oh no, they have to maintain their reputation as the mean-spirited, greedy, investment loaded, insurance company who has to keep its shareholders happy.

"Oh no, they have to maintain their reputation as the mean-spirited, greedy, investment loaded, insurance company who has to keep its shareholders happy. "

Well, State Farm is a mutual insurance company, owned by policyholders. There are no shareholders. All potential profits go to keeping rates lower than average, and community projects.

State Farm has no corporate incentive to defraud their policyholders. The agents are right there in the communities they serve. And again, any money saved through fraud would essentially just go back to policyholders anyway.

Like any large company, State Farm can have their difficulties and errors. I am sure there were a few guys out there trying to skimp on claims.

However, the bottom line is that homes damaged by water are not covered. The federal government has been preaching to coastal residents for over 20 years, "buy flood insurance".

When you buy a home, you are told of the importance and availability of flood coverage. And when you buy a homeowners policy, they make quite clear verbally and in writing that floods are not covered.

I don't understand why people get angry about getting caught without flood coverage. People make a choice to save a few bucks, then expect to be bailed out if it backfires.

And by the way, I have no affiliation with State Farm, nor are they my insurer. I live in the plains, and flood insurance is not available to me, as I am not in a flood zone.

This issue has nothing to do about whether or not coast residents had flood insurance or not. Even policyholders with flood insurance were denied wind claims. State Farm committed a criminal act (wait until all the evidence comes to light) Three Federal investigations are currently under way.

State Farm had a contractual obligation to investigate and differentiate the damage of the insured property. Instead State farm conspired to write new language not in the policy AFTER one of the worst natural disasters to hit these United States. While most executives of large corporations were sitting around their boardrooms trying to figure out how to get aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, State Farm executives were sitting around their boardroom drafting a NEW Wind-water protocol, (That’s their ticket to jail part) so they could deny legitimate claims. That is so hard to believe, but unfortunately it is true. So I ask everyone to please help me understand why would they do such a thing? Insurance companies made a profit of $46 billion dollars last year, Yes, Billion. That’s an 18% increase in profit over the most catastrophic year in history 2004 with four hurricanes in Florida. As testimony reveled in the Broussard’s case State Farm had listed on their balance sheet a category titled “ miscellaneous and unspecified “ the total was 3.7 Billion. It would have taken only a small percent of that total to pay those legitimate claims. Why would they do such a thing? Would their executives not have made their year-end bonuses? Why?

I have first hand experience that State Farm "uses fraud" to avoid paying claims. I am not surprised by this recent event. I also know as an employee for insurance companies that this happens. This has been going on for a very long time. There are other insurance companies using this tactic, including health insurance companies. They are not all bad, but continue to file complaints with your insurance commissioner and state representatives when you do have problems. This will not only help us as consumers, but the honest insurance companies. This MAY help avoid or reduce lawsuits.