the good neighbor doesn’t want to play in the McIntosh neighborhood – Part 3: Rigsby sisters designate experts and disclose expert testimony

At your request, we have provided a report that we prepared regarding the Mucha Property at 2558 South Shore Drive, which is located less than 400 feet from the McIntosh house...

As can be seen from my Special Inspection report of the Mucha house, we concluded that the structure of the Mucha house was destroyed by wind before the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina arrived. The Mucha house was subjected to these conditions during the landfall of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 …

Mr. Mucha…stated that he saw the garage blow apart before 9:00 AM on August 29, 2005. This garage landed in the street in front of the house.

The disclosures of the Rigsbys’ expert witnesses  included the post-Katrina engineer’s report on the Mucha residence prepared by John A Fowler PE, President of Fowler Engineering.

There is over 1,000 feet of unobstructed open marsh behind the house which leaves a very large unobstructed path with for wind to come across the marsh from the south and southeast during a storm and damage the house. This is probably the reason why the Mucha house was destroyed by wind and some of the neighbors’ houses were not. The neighbors’ houses did not have an unobstructed path between their house and Hurricane Katrina as the Mucha’s did. With the Mucha’s house standing for some period of time before it was totally destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, it shielded the other houses in the neighborhood. The other houses in the neighborhood are also at varying angles to one another and shield each other, but this is not the case with the Mucha’s house.

With engineering reports like this replaced with one claiming flood damage, State Farm was unable to keep the whistleblowing Risby sisters down on the Farm.

Little wonder, then,  State Farm filed a Motion for Protective Order to limit the Rigsbys’ discovery to the McIntosh property only. After all, State Farm’s Protective Orders are Dispositive Motions in disguise -  a very thin disguise in the Rigsby qui tam after the Company’s local counsel Robert Galloway tossed his reputation for integrity to the wind in his Reply to the Rigsbys’ Response in Opposition to State Farm’s attempt to conceal evidence of the alleged fraud:

We have snow in the forecast in South Mississippi

I tell you what Nowdy, we’ll certainly link the Sun Herald’s weather forecasts more often if they keep the creative writing mixed in:

The National Weather Service is predicting possible snowfall in South Mississippi on Thursday and into Friday morning, furthering the prediction that the weather would change if the Saints won the Super Bowl.

A surface low is expected to develop in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday. As moisture increases across the area late Thursday morning and into the afternoon hours, a mix of sleet and snow will begin to fall across South Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, mainly north of Interstate 12.

A few areas as far south as Donaldsonville, La., and LaPlace, La., may see sleet mixed with rain through Thursday afternoon. As night rolls around the surface low is expected to track across the northern Gulf of Mexico near the Louisiana Coast.

A changeover to all snow should occur over South Mississippi. Accumulations of 2 to 4 inches will be possible overnight. The snow may be heavy at times, which could result in isolated amounts higher than 4 inches.

My many friends from up north of the Mason Dixon line assure me that 2-4 inches of snow is a huge amount. Stay tuned.

sop

Slabbed news miscellany: AROD remanded without bond. Backlash against government subsidized property and casualty insurers. UPDATED with scoop from the Ladder – Dr. Van Heerden filing suit against LSU!

We have so much going on here at Slabbed right now we could literally spend all our waking moments authoring posts on the various topics we’re covering but since Nowdy, Bam Bam and I all have day jobs that won’t happen. In order to save a bit of time I’m combining today’s other news in one post thus the title. Nowdy will be along later to chip in her two cents.

We start with a reader tip on Ashton O’Dwyer, a troubled man who now is in deep trouble. He has been remanded to federal custody without bond. Hopefully he is also being pumped full of meds and receiving some badly needed counseling.

Next up and certainly in keeping with today’s theme of folks that are delusional, here is a story from the National Underwriter on that Property Casualty Insurers Association of America meeting held last month in San Antonio which we began profiling yesterday. This report, written by my main man Sam Friedman, covered the remarks of David Sampson, president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. Here are some excerpts:

Property and casualty insurers could easily be trapped in the “wave of political populism” sweeping the country in the wake of the nation’s economic and leadership crises, an insurer association leader warned.

“Many may believe that because people are so focused on bashing the bankers and Wall Street that the public and politicians will leave insurers alone, but I am not so sanguine,” said David Sampson, president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

Of course Mr Sampson is not so sanguine as he certainly is aware the public is paying attention even though his script is not based in any sort of reality as we continue:

This just in from the War Department Part III

Robie makes his appearance at 2:22.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

How ya’ gonna keep ‘em down on the Farm after they’ve seen evidence linking Haag and FAEC to State Farm’s fraudulent billing scheme? Part 2: Rigsby sisters’ expert witness disclosures

“SF [State Farm] used pre-conceived notions as to the cause of the damage and directed the resolution of the claim so that the ultimate outcome conformed to that pre-conceived belief.”

The written disclosure of the Rigsbys’ Risk Management expert, Louis G. Fey, continued and identified the first evidence documenting State Farm’s pre-conceived notions as to the cause of damage:

SF obtained a regional engineering study and instructed their adjusters to use that report as a reference or as investigative input at the least or to use it as “the bible” at worst. The industry’s fair claim practices hold that each claim must be addressed on its own merits and no pre-conceived assumptions should be used to influence the outcome.

This “bible”, the Haag Report, was the cornerstone of “pre-conceived belief” that a coordinated effort could reduce State Farm’s exposure by attributing damage to the excluded flood water.  SLABBED examined the Haag Report in the September 2009 post Haag in the Church of What’s Happening Now in Rigsby qui tam.  According to the “bible”, water came before the wind – a prophecy that would be revealed as Haag ascended into State Farm’s Wind-Water Protocol, FEMA’s Expedited Claim Handling Process, and guided by hell’s own angel, Lecky King, into the reports of Forensic’s engineering.

The Rigsbys’ Risk Management expert continued his report stating, “SF failed to meet its obligations to NFIP and FEMA with regard to the proper use of engineers”.

Catching up with the news. Barney Frank threatens the NFIP with the nuclear option. Slabbed provides the analysis.

Representative Barney Frank is one of those Democrats that has been demonized by right wing ideologues for years so it is not surprising the man is so roundly hated in the Gulf South. One of the first openly gay members of Congress, Representative Frank has been a convenient target for the social-tolerance challenged souls that make up the right-wing of the GOP. He has also gone out of his way trying to help the people of the Gulf Coast by tirelessly championing Gene Taylor’s multiperil bill HR 1264 in the US House of Representatives. From our perspective here at Slabbed he is also his own man, one of a group of congressmen that is not owned by special interests and despite the importance of the committee Frank chairs to the Wall Street crowd he stands in stark contrast to soon to be former $enator ¢hris Dodd who is wholly owned by Wall Street interests. It is from that perspective that I write this post which includes some insight from our sources in the capitol along with some conjecture from the Slabbed editorial board. Let’s begin with this Arthur Postal report from the National Underwriter:

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants another House committee to take jurisdiction over the troubled and controversial National Flood Insurance Program.

A spokesman for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) voiced “skepticism” over Mr. Frank’s comments, saying he doesn’t see how “switching committee jurisdictions will adequately address the underlying problem, which is that Congress needs to set for itself a reasonable schedule to consider a comprehensive NFIP reform bill that includes a five-year reauthorization.”

About these repeated requests that I join Facebook

OK folks, for the umteenth time I’ve received an email from Facebook inviting me to join.  The last one was funny as it listed several people that did not invite me though I surmise they must have searched for my name because one of those listed as a potential friend was none other than my main man from Oxford Tom Freeland.  (Tom will have to ratchet that old-south planter’s mentality driven ego down a few notches for that to ever happen.)

I’ve resisted  both Facebook and Linkdin because I did not want to make it easy for State Farm or others with less than honorable intentions to conduct ye ol’ neighborhood canvass on yours truly. I have nothing to hide in the conduct of my personal life but I try to avoid mixing blogging and my personal life beyond Mrs Sop’s continued blessing to spend time on this endeavor.

So I’ll open the question to my readers. Do I connect or not? Email replies also welcome.

sop

A few Superbowl odds and ends: I’m glad I didn’t die before I got old (talkin’ bout my generation…)

Jeff Duncan at the Times Picayune strongly suggested it this morning and the AP made it official, Superbowl 44 was the most watched TV show of all time, eclipsing the final episode of M*A*S*H shown in 1983.

The New Orleans Saints’ victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H” to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.

Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the attempt at a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership. Football ratings have been strong all season.

“It was one of those magical moments that you don’t often see in sports,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.

Nielsen estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched Sunday’s Super Bowl. The “M-A-S-H” record was 105.97 million.

The viewership estimate obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl — last year’s game between Arizona and Pittsburgh. That game was seen by 98.7 million people, Nielsen said.

Also a very good friend who lives in Coral Gables gave me a head up to check Dave Berry in today’s Miami Herald. Dave’s column is laugh out loud funny, here are a few snippets:

Sam if it is a fight you want bring it on. Disconnect remains on display at the National Underwriter.

Of all the other blogs that we’ve linked, National Underwriter Editor in Chief Sam Friedman’s blog certainly resides in our top 5 for mentions here at Slabbed.  We link Sam because of many of his insights are keen and because we respect his sincerity. I’m also certain Sam does not know what to make of this blogger, a hard hat CPA from the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a penchant for delivering hard-hitting comments.  They must hurt to the core as Sam can’t bring himself to publish some of my missives even though they were non profane and directly salient to his blog topics.

Last July I took Sam to the woodshed here on Slabbed despite the respect we accord him and his trade journal but it was equally clear from his comment on my post he simply doesn’t get it. Of course I didn’t have to email Sam that post as the National Underwriter is a frequent guest here at the Do Slabb Inn along with every major insurer and investment bank in this country as we’ve dutifully detailed the systemic corruption of Wall Street and follow the money to their pet politicians and regulators.

Sam is still at it as he has morphed from journalist to cheerleader. I don’t know if Sam views himself as that mythical insurance adjusting teevee superhero he pumps but I do know if he is spoiling for a PR fight he doesn’t have to look very hard to find an opponent that is not incentivized in the system.

We don’t have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on shills like Robert Hartwig or trade groups with oval office connections. And I can’t imagine  that the average editorial board at the local newspaper would see me or Nowdy on a walk in basis to hear us speak about an esoteric topic such as insurance finance. Such access is reserved for folks like Hartwig. But we have something none of the shills possess and it is called the truth. In today’s day and information age it is indeed a mighty sword.

Our friend Amy Bach at United Policyholders in the news

Founded in 1991 in the aftermath of insurer bad faith following California wildfires, United Policyholders continues to fight for consumer rights to this day. One of my proudest moments moderating Slabbed was being contacted by United Policyholder executive director Amy Bach, who then listed us on their Katrina Claims Library as policyholder resource.  Amy was on ABC News last week and she gave an extensive interview on Homeowners Insurance that is a must see for every home owner in America. I’ve embedded it below the fold.