Post From Complaint Page

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I wanted to add this from our complaint page.

Name: Layla Fanucci
Address:
Email: lfanucci@comcast.net
Remote Name: 91.168.53.51
Date: January 11, 2010

Complaint

In the United States of America, The Game: Our daughter was hit by a car, thrown on the roof of the car, driven down the road and dumped in the street while the car kept driving on. She was 12 years old.

We knew we had insurance, to help her and the whole family through this most difficult time. We did .... but the insurance company would make us fight for every penny. We fought for 14 years....won....lost....won..... and in the end.... lost.

Here's the problem.... Insurance companies are NOT required to disclose whether their personal umbrella excess liability policies apply to the uninsured motorists portion of a policy. If the umbrella policy is not linked to the uninsured motorist the insurance company should advise the customer that they may go outside the insurance company to purchase such a policy that is linked to the in insure motorist portion. Such Umbrella policies can be issued on a stand alone basis under current California law.

AN INSURANCE COMPANY DOES NOT HAVE A LEGAL NOR MORAL OBLIGATION TO ADVISE CUSTOMERS of SUCH A LARGE GAP in their families coverage leaving customers exposed to tremendous loss to their loved ones.

We thought we were covered, we were told so, we paid our claims, we called several times through out the years. We were reassured in fact we were covered. Then the accident..... and suddenly..... we are not fully covered!

The cover up starts. This is where most people give up and give in. They have no choice and they know if they fight, they can never win. That's the game. Wear them down, wear them down. Include many loopholes to protect "the money" and paint a story that will not only be legal and believable but it will create doubt to the person who originally got the insurance in the first place! Wear them down, wear them down...that's the game.

After a brain injury and 7 years of working hard to get her brain to function normally, such depression, chronic neck pain, back pain. Our beautiful girl healed as much as she will ever heal. She still needs medication, still has chronic back pain, still intense neck pain. And yet the insurance company decided, (instead of paying us what they thought our policy amount was)...to make us an offer. Ok....your policy is $250,000. We will pay you $6,000. Do I hear $7,000? How about $7,500?? The full amount was not given without a fight...a twelve year fight that included lawyers, judges, law firms and multiple hours of work on everyone's part. Wear them down, wear them down....that's the game.

In America, insurance companies are legal criminals. They are allowed to lie, cheat and steal. The lawyers for the insurance company stated in a court of law that my husband and I actually convinced our daughter that she had a brain injury and that we took her to the doctor TO convince her that she had an injury!!! Can you imagine!! LIE. They paid a doctor on the stand in a court of law to change his MEDICAL diagnosis submitted at the time of the accident. The doctor, (bribed with money by the insurance company) changed his medical opinion and in fact said that being struck by a car to a little girl's 85 pound body would produce no greater injury than when one falls off a bike. LIE, LIE! After all the lies, we prove in court....she had injuries. That took TWELVE YEARS!! Wear them down, wear them down.

We are awarded 1.4 million dollars in damages. The insurance company appeals. Back to nothing. Now it becomes a contest...who is lying. Did my husband get this insurance with his agent many years ago prior to the accident or did the agent give the policy to me his wife who was not even in the room. Was my husband sane or was he as they said...incapacitated-? Lie! Lie! The game now has changed and the evil company will twist and turn to get what they want ....the money.!!

Next comes the jury. We will be tried by our peers in a court of law. HA! The system is a joke in every sense of the word. Thirty people are called to duty. Half of them raise their hands when asked by the judge if they have had trouble with their insurance company. They were all eliminated. Then, you are left with the ones who are sick, can't stay still for an hour, can't miss work, do not have a babysitter, are mental incapacitated and generally DO NOT WANT TO BE THERE for 4 days. We were left with 6 jurors that were frankly not bright enough to understand insurance laws, the full story of our 14 years fight, and loved the soap opera drama that the insurance company presented to them. The kind that is seen all too often on reality tv today. Even though it was as far from the truth as possibly imaginable. Riddled with misconceptions, make believe stories, tricks to make you say things that are not what you wanted to say. All to substantiate their lies and out and out outrageous claims that were simply SO FAR from the truth that I had to wonder how did we get to these facts.

How did the game get so twisted. In a court of law, where was the truth, honesty, integrity that are to be the foundation of our system, I found just the opposite was true. It was horrific to watch. It left me feeling sick to my stomach. You see all of us THINK we are insured we think we are safe and protected. The insurance companies will take our money but if something happens to us, not only will they never give you the money promised, they will Offer you a small amount to make you go away, they will lie, cheat and steal, they will wear you down, they will find every loophole possible and use it, they will twist the real truth, they will spend more money to break you down that it would have taken to pay the claim. They will find the most despicable people to represent them. As ugly on the outside as they are on the inside and they will stop at nothing to make sure you get nothing.

What kind of a country do we live in where insurance companies can get away with their lies and CRIMINAL activities. Where is the justice for the victims and their families. If we as a family did not have money to help our daughter and to pay out of pocket millions of dollars for her care, she would be dead. What kind of country do we live in where justice will be determined by criminal companies, by a jury that doesn't want to be there and can't understand difficult issues and laws, with a judge that sleeps while the trial is going on, a jury that sleeps when important information is being presented and an insurance company that plays their evil games to win. For them it is a game. How long can we keep the money, how hard will they fight for the policy they bought. How much can they endure. When will they break.

Wear them down, Wear them down. This is the game in The Unites Sates of America.

Layla Fanucci

[RatPak11]

*Ms. Fanucci's story really tugs at the heart. So much so, I checked to find other information regarding she and her family's heartbreaking ordeal with the immoral, malicious and sanctimonious Allstate Insurance empire.

Layla Fanucci's comments to Allstate regarding the announcement of their new COO, but first the article she responded to:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/na ... /55307.htm

Allstate Chooses Wilson as President, COO Beginning June 1
May 19, 2005

The Allstate Corporation announced that Thomas Wilson has been elected president and chief operating officer, effective June 1, 2005.

In this newly created position, Wilson will be responsible for all of Allstate's insurance operations, including those of Allstate Protection and Allstate Financial. Wilson will continue to report to Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of The Allstate Corporation.

"This move will enable us to continue the momentum that has been demonstrated over the last several years with the implementation of our better, bigger and broader strategy," Liddy said in commenting on the announcement. "We have been successful at driving profitable growth at both Allstate Protection and Allstate Financial. Bringing the two organizations closer will help us focus on accelerating that progress, and give us greater opportunity to leverage the Allstate suite of insurance and financial products on behalf of Allstate's customers. This approach further refines our delivery of an enhanced level of service to all our customers."

Wilson is currently and will remain president of Allstate Protection, which combines the Allstate and Encompass property and casualty offerings through Allstate and Independent Agencies, respectively. Since he assumed this position in October 2002, Allstate Protection has reportedly increased its profitability and has begun to grow market share.

He was chairman and president of Allstate Financial from 1999 to 2002, where he spearheaded that business unit's drive into the design and distribution of an expanded range of financial products aimed at meeting the retirement needs of Allstate customers.

Prior to his role at Allstate Financial, Wilson served as Allstate's chief financial officer. Wilson joined Allstate in 1995 from Sears, Roebuck and Co., where he had been vice president of strategy and analysis, responsible for strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, and special projects for the corporation.


http://www.insurancejournal.com/comment ... m&c=149231

Subject: Your'e in CRIMINL HANDS with ALLSTATE
Posted On: December 9, 2009, 10:56 am CST
Posted By: layla fanucci
Comment:
Mr. Wilson,
We have fought your company for13 years and watched your evil company lie, cheat and steal. One of the many lies......Allstate said that we
convinced our daughter to have a major injury after her accident ..can you imagine!! Allstate paid the doctor at the scene of the accident to change his medical diagnosis in a court of law! Fortunately, the judge saw through your lies and awarded us 1.4 million. You appealed and we lost in a jury trial because your agent LIED in court and jurors cannot understand the insurance laws and loopholes. But the fight is not over, it just changes! I have contacted Boxer, Clinton, Feinsterin and more and will fght to get insurance laws changed. This is a major crisis in America and I say to you personally, SHAME ON YOU for making sure that when people have an accident or are sick.. you deny them the coverage that is theirs and make them fight for 13 years for the little coverage you do give them.
Shame on you for NOT doing what we are meant to do on this earth, make the world a BETTER place and take care of each other. I will never rest until everyone hears my story and the laws are changed to protect...we the people.

Subject: RE: Insurance companies:
Posted On: January 20, 2010, 3:18 pm CST
Posted By: layla fanucci
Comment:
http://www.youtube.com/laylafanucci2

Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: Insurance companies:
Posted On: January 26, 2010, 12:49 pm CST
Posted By: layla fanucci
Comment:
.INSURANCE COMPANY'S BEST KEPT UGLY SECRET

Car Hits Twelve-Year Old Girl While Standing On Sidewalk
Our daughter was injured as a pedestrian in a serious car accident while standing on a sidewalk with a friend when an underinsured driver jumped the curb while making a left turn and hitting our daughter straight on, flying her up in the air where she landed on top of the car hood and was slammed to the ground as the car continued on driving down the road without any regard to our daughter's well being. We learned from her doctors that she had sustained a brain injury resulting in cognitive impairment in addition to other physical injuries. Directly after the accident, she had to relearn simple math and forgot how to walk home from school as one of many examples. The accident occurred in 1997, and she has made substantial progress through great effort on her part and a relentless desire to get back what she had lost in the accident.
Allstate Denies Injury
Allstate contended that we had fabricated our daughter's injury and we had convinced her that she had suffered a brain injury despite medical testimony to the contrary. Despite Allstate's lowball offer of $15,000 to settle our daughter damage claim, the arbitrator awarded our daughter $1.4+ million dollars in damages for the injuries she sustained. Although Allstate represents that you are in "Good Hands," they offered only $15,000 on a $1,400,000 injury under our Uninsured Motorist coverage. During the arbitration proceeding, Allstate was even able through their crafty lawyers to get their own expert to change his testimony whereby he had written a prior report that indicated that my daughter had suffered a closed-head injury and had suffered some degree of unconsciousness as a result of being hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian. Again, my daughter was hit by a vehicle, thrown on the vehicle's hood, and was slammed to the ground as the driver drove off down the street without any regard to hitting my daughter. The Allstate expert changed his testimony during the arbitration hearing by indicating that my daughter did not suffer a loss of consciousness, which is often a material element in supporting a brain injury, since the force of a car hitting a pedestrian did not necessarily constitute sufficient force to render such an injury. These facts alone should speak volumes about what I consider Allstate's deceptive insurance practices in denying claims to their own customers. This is precisely why Allstate has one of the lowest ratings of all insurance companies in the United States.
Inadequate Insurance Coverage
Although I was advised repeatedly that the Personal Umbrella Policy that I purchased in the amount of $1,000,000.00 applied to my daughter's injury under the Uninsured Motorist provisions, Allstate prevailed in subsequent lawsuits through the appeal process, after we had won two prior verdicts, by convincing a jury that no such coverage ever existed with respect to Allstate's Umbrella policy. Allstate never offered such protection although they advised me on several occasions it was my fault for not reading cover to cover my lengthy policy with more loop holes than Swiss cheese. Instead of $1,250,000 of protection, we only had $250,000.
Umbrella Policies and Uninsured Motorist Protection-Buyers Beware
When I purchased my Personal Umbrella Excess Liability Policy from Allstate Insurance Company, I was advised that the $1,000,000 million of additional Umbrella was in addition to my underlying $100,000 of Uninsured Motorist coverage, which was later increased to $250,000, as well as to my bodily injury portion. Subsequently, when I asked to increase my Uninsured Motorist coverage, I was advised by Allstate that all I had to do was simply increase my Umbrella from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, which I did in order to protect my family in the event one of us were injured by an uninsured or underinsured motorists. Uninsured motorist coverage can be obtained at very little expense, and the protection to one's family is of most importance due to the high number of uninsured and underinsured motorists in the State of California. This is precisely why certain insurance companies do not advise their insureds to get additional uninsured motorist protection, since they do not want to pay large claims for injuries sustained by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.
California Law
California only requires by law that a driver carry a minimum of $10,000 of bodily injury coverage per person. For example, the woman who hit my daughter was only required by law to have $10,000 in insurance to cover my daughter's injuries which were in excess of $1.4 million. An umbrella policy offers substantially more liability protection in amounts of $1,000,000 or more at very little additional cost. In my situation, at the time I believed I purchased the polices, I only had $100,000 in Uninsured Motorist coverage when I was led to believe I had an additional $1,000,000 of coverage on top of that.
The uninsured limits were eventually increased to $250,000 only because Allstate now required higher underlying limits for the Personal Umbrella to apply. The Allstate agent testified in court that Allstate would never advise you to obtain more uninsured motorist protection once you met the minimum of underlying coverage for the Umbrella to apply since he would never advise you that the Umbrella did not apply ("sneaky"), again leaving their insureds subject to substantial risk and exposure if hit by an underinsured motorist.
Under California State law, an insurance agent is not required to advise their customers that they should obtain increased uninsured motorist coverage nor are they required to advise them that their particular Umbrella Excess Liability policy is not linked to the uninsured motorist portion. However, certain insurance companies doing business in California offer an umbrella excess liability linked to the uninsured motorist protection, such as Farmers Insurance Company. State Farm Insurance Company used to link the two but stopped doing so in 1996. I contacted a State Farm insurance agent on January 21, 2010, and asked if the two were linked, and she indicated she was not sure but would contact her underwriter and get back to me, whereby she was informed that State Farm no longer offered Umbrella protection linked to the Uninsured Motorist protection as of 1999. I then asked her what the maximum of uninsured motorist coverage one could obtain through State Farm, and she did not know off the top of her but after looking at one of her policies she indicated $250,000, which is not adequate in my opinion. When an Umbrella Policy purchased from Farmers Insurance Company (at least as up to a year ago when I last checked), the insured is offered an option of having the umbrella tied to the uninsured motorist portion by checking a box.
However, Allstate has no such election or coverage. It is also possible to go outside of the "Good Hands" Allstate Company and obtain a stand-alone umbrella policy which is linked to the uninsured motorist coverage.
Our Agent Mike Baldwin Goes Outside of Allstate to Get Protection
Not Offered by Allstate
In fact, our agent with Allstate, Michael Baldwin, did exactly that -- he went outside of Allstate and obtained such an Umbrella policy from State Farm that was tied to the Uninsured Motorist policy in order to protect his family. He admitted in a court of law that he never advised any of his clients over his 20-year career with Allstate that (1) the Allstate Umbrella policy was not linked to the Uninsured Motorist coverage, and that, (2) an insured can go outside of Allstate to obtain an inexpensive Umbrella policy that was in fact linked to the Uninsured Motorist coverage as he did. When I obtained an Umbrella policy, he had already gone out of Allstate to obtain such protection for his family that was never offered to me, since he testified that it would have been too confusing for me to understand this concept and this would be a recipe for disaster. The recipe for disaster were not having Umbrella protection for my daughter's injuries, a concept that totally escaped Mr. Baldwin. I had referred Mike Baldwin numerous clients including my mother and other friends. I also lectured at his church on estate tax matters. I considered Mike a friend but he concealed this information from me. He indicated that he did not have a duty or a moral obligation to tell me. He also admitted in a court of law that during his 20-year career, none of his customers ever asked whether the Umbrella was tied to the Uninsured Motorist coverage.
The reason that no customers ever asked this question is that the belief that such coverage under an Umbrella policy applies equally in a situation, that if the insured, someone or if someone in their family is injured, the Umbrella protection applies. Even insurance agents are under this mistaken belief as are attorneys, judges, as well as the average consumer. Even the attorney that was representing me in the court action with over 30 years of insurance litigation experience was not aware that his Umbrella and Uninsured Motorist protection were not linked until he took my case and checked with his insurance company. After checking with his insurance company, he immediately went outside of his insurance company to obtain an Umbrella policy for only a couple hundred dollars a year in premiums that was in fact linked to his Uninsured Motorist.
Dirty Secret
This is one of the dirtiest secrets in the insurance industry, and Allstate is one of the worst offenders and has one of the lowest ratings among attorneys who represent clients against Allstate for denial of claims. I strongly advocate that the law in the State of California as well as other states and perhaps even under federal law should be changed whereby an insurance company that does not offer Umbrella protection linked to the uninsured motorist provisions should be required to advise their customers that they can go outside that particular insurance company to obtain such a policy at very little expense and without terminating any of the insurance coverages with the primary insurance company. A better solution would be to require all insurance to offer Umbrella policies tied to Uninsured Motorist protection.
The Personal Umbrella policy which was sold to me protects everyone in the world for injuries caused by me but my family are the only ones in the world who are not protected under this same policy to the extent I protect total strangers. This is so hard to believe that my family happens to be the only ones outside the Umbrella. The ordinary consumers as well as sophisticated individuals are not aware of this serious potential gap in insurance coverage.
We believe that Allstate's conduct over a substantial number of years is despicable and immoral. We strongly advise the California Insurance Department change the laws in California to protect other insureds from the same fate that we suffered under the "Good Hands" of the Allstate Insurance Company.
Allstate Decreases Insurance
When I first met Mr. Baldwin to discuss my insurance needs, I had three times the uninsured motorist coverage then, than I had when I walked out of the meeting with Mr. Baldwin. Although he testified in a court of law that he never decreases the insurance coverage of an insured when he reviewed their existing coverages, he subsequently decreased mine by two-thirds of what I had in place before the meeting.
Although I was teaching income tax and financial planning at UC Berkeley, at the Graduate School of Finance level, attending the graduate law degree program through NYU law school in taxation, and working as a tax attorney for a sophisticated East Bay law firm, Baldwin stated in a court of law, but only after being prepped by clever Allstate attorneys after his deposition, which went poorly in my opinion, when he made no such claim that I was incapacitated to make any insurance decisions on behalf of my family and that my wife had to make all of the insurance decisions on my behalf.
He further testified that we declined any increased uninsured motorist coverage because my wife wanted to save $18. My wife was not even involved in discussions regarding our insurance needs since she was taking care of our two small children at the time. His testimony that I was incapacitated to make such a decision on behalf of my family clearly is without merit and a complete fabrication of the truth. This is further evidence that Allstate will go to any length to win a case in blatant disregard of the truth in my opinion.
Change Hands - Change the Law
We believe that the testimony of Mike Baldwin as well as Allstate's egregious actions in this case, should serve as the "Poster Child" and "Poster Company" for reform of the insurance laws in the State of California as well as on a federal level. Join me in making this a reality and forever changing the insurance laws so that when an insurance company represents that you are in "Good Hands" that you are in fact in "Good Hands" with all fingers attached and without serious gaps in coverage which they do not disclose to you. Please check with your insurance company to be sure that you have adequate insurance protection as well as having an Umbrella policy tied to your Uninsured Motorist protection. If necessary, change hands. We would never want anyone else to suffer the same fate that we experienced by not having adequate insurance protection for our daughter's injuries due to lack of disclosure as well as misrepresentation, in my opinion, on behalf of an unscrupulous insurance Company.

Subject: RE: RE: RE: Insurance companies:
Posted On: January 25, 2010, 12:20 pm CST
Posted By: layla fanucci
Comment:
http://www.youtube.com/laylafanucci2

You're not in good hands


Subject: THE TRUTH
Posted On: January 26, 2010, 12:58 pm CST
Posted By: layla fanucci
Comment:
Mr. Wilson, If you care about your customers,
contact me at www.laylafanucci.com.
I wish to share our story and our 14 year fight with your horrible insurance company. I know it is easier to ignore the people you serve but in the long run true progress happens when both sides come to the table to discuss in an open and HONEST way. I challenge you to do the right thing, for once.
Layla Fanucci

[RatPak11]

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:7L ... clnk&gl=us

Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA 1st)

6th-term Democrat from California.
Subject:
Insurance companies and their crimial activities

To:
President Barack Obama
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Barbara Boxer
Rep. Mike Thompson

December 11, 2009

I am sick and tired of insurance companies, their lies, their CRIMINAL practices.
From health care to umbrella policies. We need to change the laws, we are not protected..at all.!!! My daughter was in a car accident at age 12. The court awarded her 1.4 million dollars in damages. Our insurance company fought us for 13 years , lied, cheated, fabricated stories and won. My son had lyme disease, they wouldn't cover the
visits to the doctor, they wouldn't cover the lab work, they wouldn't cover the antibiotics until I had had enough. Back to fighting. I fought and fought for a month and got the antibiotics covered. Then, he needed injectable antibiotics......NO THEY SAID.....Blue
Cross will never ever cover this prescription they told me. I fought every day for a month and spent over 40 hours on the phone until finally they covered it. I had one claim with Allstate in 20 years, a small water leak. My insurance agent lied to me saying it was not covered, he tried to intimidate me. After I insisted they come out, they did and paid a 600.oo claim. They then CANCELLED my homeowners insurance. ENOUGH!!!
Please let me know how I can effect change. I am tired of the little clauses and loop-holes that insurance company use to not pay claims, I am tired of the lies, I am tired of their evil practices. How can I help change the laws once and for all so we are protected when we need it the most.
I have many stories to share!!

Layla Fanucci
http://www.laylafanucci.com

saint Helena , CA

[RatPak11]

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:Tt ... clnk&gl=us

Arbitrator's $1.4 million award excessive as it was more than UM policy limits
Publication: California Insurance Law & Litigation Alert
Date: Friday, February 15 2008

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's decision to vacate its previous decision to reduce an arbitrator's $1.4 million award to $1.15 million, and further reduce the award to $150,000, finding that the trial court's previous review exceeded its authority, and that the arbitrator's award exceeded the policy limits.

Robert Fanucci and his daughter, Michelle, were insureds under an uninsured motorist (UM) policy issued by Allstate Insurance Co. The policy had a policy limit of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. The policy provided that the parties would arbitrate a disagreement as to the insured's right to damages or the amount of damages.

Michelle was standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross the street when a driver hit her. Michelle suffered permanent brain damage. The driver paid Michelle $100,000 from her liability policy, constituting the limit of the liability policy. Thus, Michelle sought UM benefits from Allstate.

Michelle and Allstate underwent arbitration for the claim. Allstate conceded to liability, but the arbitrator decided issues of causation and damages. The arbitrator awarded Michelle over $1.4 million. Allstate sought review from the trial court, contending that Michelle was only entitled to $150,000 -- the difference between the policy limits and the amount Michelle received from the tortfeasor.

The trial court initially reduced the award to $1.15 million, finding that Allstate was estopped from denying coverage because Fanucci purchased an umbrella policy, believing that it applied to the UM policy. However, the trial corrected its decision and reduced the award to $150,000. Michelle appealed.

UM award shall not exceed policy limits.
The court of appeal found the arbitrator exceeded his authority by awarding Michelle more than the policy limits.

The court of appeal also found that the trial court's initial review of the arbitration award beyond issues of causation and damages was an error. Thus, the trial court's analysis of estoppel exceeded its review authority. The court of appeal affirmed the trial court's decision to award Michelle $150,000, reflecting the policy limits minus the amount received from the driver.

Counsel for Fanucci : Elise R. Sanguinetti, Hinton Alfert & Sumner, 925-932-6006, Walnut Creek, Cal.

Counsel for Allstate : McNamara Dodge Ney Beatty Slattery Pfalzer Borges & Brothers L.L.P., 925-939-5330, Walnut Creek, Cal.; Christina J. Imre, Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold L.L.P., 213-426-6900, Los Angeles.

Source: California Insurance Law and Litigation Alert, 02/15/2008