Hold on to your wallet

Allstate Insurance may be picking your pocket.

Can we now demand a little more than meeting and press conference transcriptions from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times-Picayune? In covering the 3-1 vote by the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission to approve a 52 percent Allstate rate increase, I'd say they could have done a little more research.

In fairness, maybe the research couldn't be done before the story went to press (but hey, me -- a ranting little blogger who does this for free -- I found the evidence in a matter of minutes).

How is it that "insurance companies logged a record $44.8-billion profit last year even after accounting for the claims of policyholders wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and the other big storms of 2005"?

Thankfully, Peter G. Gosselin wrote an April 5th story for The Los Angeles Times answering that question, while also documenting how Allstate screwed Floridians after Hurricane Andrew:

A quick check of Allstate's regulatory filings from the mid-1990s through 2004 showed that the insurer earned $6 billion more in premiums in Florida than it incurred in losses. Add to that the premium earnings for last year, and the total rises to more than $6.6 billion.

Asked about what happened to that sum, Allstate spokesman Mike Trevino responded: "What Mr. Liddy meant to say is that … the four hurricanes wiped out all the profits Allstate earned from our homeowners line of business," not all lines.

Overall, the company made money.

This graphic accompanied the LA Times story: