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Awards not to win
America’s largest personal
lines insurer Allstate ranks
as the worst US insurer for
consumers, according to a new
report that details thousands
of legal documents uncovered
from litigation, testimony and
complaints filed with state insurance
departments.
The report, produced by the Washington-
based American Association of Justice
(AAJ), shows a distinct pattern of
insurance industry greed among 10
companies that refuse to pay legitimate
claims, employ rough tactics against
policyholders, reward executives with
extravagant salaries and raise premiums
while making excessive profits.
Best for Business
Singapore has achieved top spot out of
181 countries in an international survey of
business regulation.
NZ was ranked as the second-best
country to do business with for the third
consecutive year.
The survey by the International Finance
Corporation and the World Bank
compared regulations and ranked each on
10 key factors of business regulation. The
rankings do not cover macroeconomic
policy, quality of infrastructure, currency
volatility, investor perceptions or crime
rates.
Singapore leads the global rankings due
to its simplified online business start-up
service. NZ was second, with the report
praising its single online procedure for
business start-up, lowering the corporate
income tax and creating a new insolvency
regime.
The US ranked third in the survey with the
UK in sixth place, Canada in eighth and
Australia ninth.
Lightning Kills
Three Players in
Cambodian Football
Match
A lightning bolt killed three
Cambodian football players
and put three others in hospital at a
match played in Phnom Penh during a
monsoon season thunderstorm in June
last year.
The president of the Cambodian Soccer
Federation, Sao Sokha, told Reuters
the victims, all in their 20s, were taking
part in a tournament organised by the
government to introduce young people
to the game and to build the strength of
the national team.
Players and coaches have been warned
not to play on fields while thunderclouds
loom overhead, a regular occurrence
during the May-October rainy season.
“We encourage children to play the
game, but they should not do so during
bad weather,” Sao Sokha said.
Keo Vy, of the national disaster committee,
reported 40 people had been killed by
lightning in Cambodia so far this year,
nearly as many as the total killed for the
whole of 2007.
Death by Boules
By Henry Samuel in France
The gentle French Pastime of boules has
taken a tragic turn after a player was
accidentally killed by a flying metal ball
during a game.
Petanque, or boules, is traditionally seen
as a tranquil sport played by pastis-
sipping retirees in Provence. But the heavy
iron balls used can prove lethal. Frank
Hourcade, 39, was struck by a fellow
player’s ball as he bent to check how close
his own was to the cochonet – the smaller
wooden target ball. He was rushed to
hospital in Lourdes but pronounced dead
on arrival.
Petanque has hit the headlines recently
due to a rise in “le bouliganisme”, when
players have come to blows. The unrest
has been blamed on increased prize
money, alcohol and a rise in uncivil
behaviour in France.
Source:
Telegraph, London
Sporting Injuries Cost
$127 per Participant
Recent American research indicates that
the average cost of sporting injuries in
amateur sports in the United States is
$127 per participant per year.
After surveying the top 10 most popular
US sports at amateur level, the study by
TheSportDoctor.com calculated this price
tag for sporting injury treatments, such
as sprained ankles, ligament damage and
broken bones.
The study also revealed that many of
those suffering from sporting injuries were
forced to pay out of their own pocket,
with a number of insurance policies failing
to cover some sporting injuries.
Oona Walsh of
TheSportDoctor.com
indicated the rising cost meant more
and more grassroots sportspeople
were requiring injury insurance
to safely enjoy their pastimes.
“What we’re seeing with these rising
costs is a growing trend on the part of
health care providers to bump up costs for
specialist procedures. And what’s worse,
many health insurance policies don’t
cover injuries picked up in the course
of sporting activities, like those we see
on a daily basis. Unfortunately now this
means amateur athletes may need to look
into individual insurance policies to cover
themselves against the growing perceived
risks.”
The report says Allstate
set the standard for
insurance
company
greed, conspiring with
consulting giant McKinsey
& Co in the mid-1990s to
place profits over policyholders’
interests.
“While Allstate publicly touts its ‘good
hands’ approach, it has instead privately
instructed its agents to employ a ‘boxing
gloves’ strategy against its policyholders,”
AAJ CEO Jon Haber said.
Disability insurer Unum ranked as the
second-worst insurer, with AIG – which
the AAJ described as “the new Enron”
– coming in third.
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