Insurance Watchdog Petitions California Insurance Commissioner

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Press Release Source: Ray Bourhis

Insurance Watchdog Petitions California Insurance Commissioner

Garamendi to Bar 'Outlaw' Insurer From California

Tuesday September 5, 2:59 pm ET

Asks Commissioner to make good on his promise to boot UnumProvident

out of California, put an end to mishandling of disabled consumer

claims.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Ray Bourhis, the San

Francisco lawyer who won dozens of record, multi-million dollar

verdicts and settlements against UnumProvident (NYSE: UNM - News),

the Country's largest disability insurer, and who helped put the

Company on 60 Minutes, Dateline and on the front pages of hundreds

of newspapers nationwide, is at it once again. Bourhis, who assisted

in Eliot Spitzer's investigation resulting in Unum being fined $15

million and ordered to reopen 115,000 denied claims and who worked

with California Insurance Commissioner Garamendi in an

investigation which resulted in another $8 million fine and another

26,000 claim re-openings, has had it " with Unum and its absurd

excuses. "

He's upset.

" Garamendi was right last October " Bourhis says " when he called

UnumProvident an 'outlaw company.' That's exactly what they are. And

Garamendi should make good on his promise to kick them out of

California if they continue breaking the law. "

Last October, California Commissioner Garamendi announced the

completion of a three-year CDI investigation of Unum. The

investigation concluded that the Company was engaged in widespread

violations of State insurance regulations and in fraudulent denial

practices. These included using phony medical reports, policy

misrepresentations, low-balling tactics and biased investigations as

pretexts for cutting off legitimate claims of disabled, and often

destitute, policyholders.

" The company was out of control, " says Bourhis. " So, following a

line of unanimous trial and appellate rulings by state and Federal

courts, Spitzer and Garamendi fired a shot across Unum's bow.

Levying the largest fines in insurance regulatory history.

Garamendi ordered the Company to 'shape up or ship out.'

" But what Unum did, " according to Bourhis, " was to duck under the

table and wait for the storm to blow over. Now, the SOBs are right

back to the same old tricks. "

Bourhis cites the case of Torrance-Nesbitt, a Los Angeles

woman stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. Nesbitt and her company,

which is headquartered in England, bought a disability policy from

Unum. " The woman is clearly, and obviously, disabled, " he says. " But

Unum, through its headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, looking

for an excuse to cut Nesbitt off in order to save itself millions of

dollars over the life of her policy, ordered Nesbitt to submit to a

Los Angeles medical exam by one of its so-called 'independent'

doctors. Two weeks ago, the Company then cut Nesbitt off, using the

medical exam as an excuse to do so. It's a complete sham, " says

Bourhis. " It's the same thing they did to thousands people all

across the country.

In other recent cases, including lynne Saccaro v. UnumProvident

and Randall M. West, D.O. v. UnumProvident, the Company continues to

cheat its policyholders by under-paying them for disability benefits

clearly owed, in order to save UnumProvident millions of dollars.

" The truth is that no matter how much you fine them, it still pays

for them to do this. In addition to situations like Nesbitt " charges

Bourhis, " the Company is making the disabled, destitute,

policyholders whose claims it was ordered to re-open, wait -- often

for years -- for their reevaluations. This is despite the fact that

the law requires claims to be handled 'promptly, fairly and

expeditiously.' People with little or no money coming in, who were

cheated out of their disability benefits in the first place, are

simply being hung out to dry.

" Not only that, but Unum is telling these people that they have to

give up their right to recover for their actual losses in order to

receive the reevaluations that have been ordered. And if the Company

offers a claimant even 5 or 10% of what it owes them, its Unum's

position that its insureds can't do anything to get the rest.

" The same characters that were calling the shots for Unum when they

had 'no comment' for 60 Minutes and Dateline are still there -- and

are still calling the shots.

" The only solution, " says Bourhis, " is for Commissioner Garamendi to

make good on his promise to kick the Company the hell out of the

largest insurance market in the world. And that's what I am calling

on Garamendi to do. Period. "

A copy of the letter to California Insurance Commissioner

Garamendi is available through this link:

http://www.insulttoinjury.org/unum_letter.htm .

For additional information, and the transcripts of some of the

numerous reports issued against the Company, please go to

www.insulttoinjury.org

Contact: Ray Bourhis 415-392-4660, 415-407-7773

Cowan 415-392-4660, 415-407-7773 Debbie

800-552-5454

Source: Ray Bourhis

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HEY, GREAT NEWS! I'M DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB ;')

Hi Jim, keep sending me this stuff! Excellent job!

Okay here is some info re: UnumProvident. In California, public

school teachers are not elligible for SDI - State Disability

Insurance. You can work for Mcs and be covered by SI, but not

if you are teacher! You can be an illegal alien and if you get a

paycheck your covered with SDI. So what can teachers do? Most

California public school teachers have to protect themselves by

joining a Union. Most teachers belong to the CTA, California

Teachers Association. Unfortunately, the CTA spends most of its

time with politicking concerning turf wars and partisan politics NOT

the reason for a UNION mainly employee rights and benefits. So when

I was asked by teachers to explain how disability insurance works, I

found that UnumProvident is THE recommended CTA carrier for

disability insurance for teachers.

I ran a Google search and found that the CTA actively campaigns

against ANY other disability insurance company. I have contacted

CTA HQ, and sent them copies of info about UNum crimes, including

links to your sites and others. When I got to the CTA website under

benefits, and I clicked disability insurance, I was connected with

what looks exactly like an internal CTA website, except the domain

name address registration copmes out to be UNUMPROVIDENT. I use

www.Samspade.org for this research. The supposedly CTA telephone

numbers for dsability, are answered by Unum Provident clerks-not CTA

clerks!!.

I complained and the CTA won't listen, they don't seem to care that

teachers really have NO disability insurance if they insure through

Unum. I asked a UNUM sales person (at the CTA telephone number) and

she said " ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE CROOKED, I am new and here

only 5 years " . " My CTA account is 25 years old, I don't know why

the CTA endorses us " . " It must have been something that happened 25

years ago " .

Okay three questions/statements: 1) Why don't teachers get SDI

benefits (Was Unum somehow behind this strategy)?

2) Why won't bigshots with the CTA discuss or explain their

obsession with endorsing UnumProvident? Are they getting kickbacks

or special " incentive fees " ?

3) If what is true in California occurs in other states as well, I

have a plan. Publicly embarrass each state teachers Union starting

with CTA, to kick UNUM out, cutting off the much needed revenue

(from teachers premiums). We need to go after teachers unions one

state at a time, to squeeze Unum out of our lives. BTW the Unum

salesperson (disguised as a CTA rep) told me that their million

dollar fines that were paid by Unum to California DOI for fraud last

year, is the " old " Unum. Unum doesn't do " that " anymore? What is

the " that " she is referring to? maybe " fraud "

Undisclosed Source (Hey, if the VP can spend all his time at an

Undisclosed Location, I can use an undisclosed source - I'm still

more reliable than the NY Times