[Puffer Fish]

For those of you who have wondered why insurance costs are so high in Progressive Left-leaning states, take a look at this.

Opinion: California Class-Action Lawyers Now Targeting Life Insurance Industry

After a brief two-year hiatus, California once again reclaimed the top spot in the latest Judicial Hellholes list in December 2021. The annual report released by the American Tort Reform Foundation shines a spotlight on the worst civil justice climates across the country.

California has little hope of removing itself from the top of this list as it continues to embrace novel theories of liability that dramatically undermine the state’s business environment and economic growth.

Widespread lawsuit abuse continues to wipe out billions of dollars of economic activity annually. The most recent economic data reports that every California resident pays a “tort tax” of $1,917 as a result of the state’s broken civil justice system. Unfortunately, for California residents and businesses, their tort tax is likely to get worse before it gets better.

For years, the trial bar in California has taken advantage of the state’s lucrative financial incentives for launching frivolous class action lawsuits. Now, they are turning their attention to a new target: lapsed life insurance policies. ​

The article goes on to describe a state Supreme Court ruling that applied a new law retroactively, which is unfair to those trying to play by the rules and violates the presumptions inherent in contract law.

The trial bar saw its opportunity to score a major new payday by opening the floodgate on class action lawsuits against life insurance companies.
What many don't realize is that these class action settlements far too often provide little to no benefit to class members, but instead serve to enrich the trial lawyers who bring these suits.​

Opinion: California Class-Action Lawyers Now Targeting Life Insurance Industry - Times of San Diego, Tiger Joyce, July 9, 2022


Maybe what those on the Progressive Left do not understand is that when companies have to pay out ridiculous multi-million dollar lawsuits, everyone pays for that.


Plenty of related other threads about ridiculous lawsuits:
Car insurance company must pay for woman catching disease from her boyfriend
Court orders utility company to pay billions of dollars for fire
Jury awarded black worker $137 million in lawsuit for being called N-word

[Fasces]

For those of you who have wondered why insurance costs are so high in Progressive Left-leaning states, take a look at this.

Are they?









(renters insurance, darker more expensive)

[Fasces]

Oh, and since the article is about tort costs rather than insurance...



LA is a pretty consistent loser here, and I don't mean Los Angeles.

[Puffer Fish]

LA is a pretty consistent loser here, and I don't mean Los Angeles.

There are some other factors there. LA has Gulf Coast storms that do a lot of home damage, flooding, poorer health, which again partly comes down to the climate, with the heat and humidity people are less active and more likely to become overweight. LA also has a higher African American population, which could be likely to make car insurance rates go up, for reasons I won't get into here.

LA is also an exception because it is one conservative-leaning state that has out of control lawsuits.
Dan Fagan: Lawsuits out of control in Louisiana | Opinion
"Is Louisiana the judicial hellhole some claim it is? Consider this: Our state leads the nation in auto liability lawsuits. In Louisiana’s most populated city, New Orleans, things are really out of control."

[Fasces]

But do progressive states have "sky high insurance premiums" compared to non-progressive states, as you argued?

[Fasces]

LA also has a higher African American population, which could be likely to make car insurance rates go up, for reasons I won't get into here.

Louisiana's black population is on par with Pennsylvania or Ohio, at 1.4 million - less than Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, or New York.

[Puffer Fish]

Louisiana's black population is on par with Pennsylvania or Ohio, at 1.4 million - less than Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, or New York.

But it is more concentrated, especially in the New Orleans area.
The below map shows the car insurance rates in Louisiana by zip code.
https://www.carinsurancecomparison.com/ ... -WyH0Z.png


"Car insurance in Louisiana is expensive because state lawyers strongly encourage lawsuits for even minor car accidents, dramatically raising operating costs for insurers."
https://wallethub.com/answers/ci/why-is ... 140709630/

Another source cites "The state's high number of uninsured and underinsured motorists" as a factor
https://onmyside.com/faqs/why-does-loui ... nce-rates/

"Additionally, 40 percent of drivers only have the minimum coverage amounts required by law, which is not always enough to cover the damages incurred in a collision. In order to recover adequate compensation from an uninsured or underinsured motorist, accident victims often have to file a personal injury lawsuit instead of or in addition to an insurance claim."

So it looks like some of this may be a multiplier effect. People don't want to buy maximum coverage because insurance is so expensive, but when everyone only buys the minimum coverage (so the theory goes), it ends up pushing up insurance rates for everyone else.

[Rancid]

rape

[Potemkin]

…seed oil is a good choice for cooking with.

[Rancid]

…seed oil is a good choice for cooking with.

The first time I heard of rapeseed was in the UK. We call it Canola oil here. It's less nefarious sounding.

[Rancid]

Are they?

@Puffer Fish is going to conveniently ignore this.