If you could do one simple thing to save your family from a $200 increase in your insurance rates, would you? (No, you don’t have to switch insurance companies!)
Now, what if you knew that while saving your family — and families across the state — from higher insurance rates, you were also preventing a dramatic increase in frivolous lawsuits? What if you had the power to insist on fair lawsuit awards instead of undeserved “jackpots” and huge fees for plaintiffs’ lawyers?
Simply voting to reject Referendum 67 will put a stop to all this nonsense. Your vote to reject Referendum 67 will say no to more frivolous lawsuits, no to jackpot triple damage awards and guaranteed attorney fees, and no to a law that a new economic study says will raise insurance rates for a typical family by as much as $205 per year.
Referendum 67 is on the ballot in November to give all of us the chance to reject a law written and passed by trial lawyers this year in Olympia. They passed this law to make it easier to file lawsuits against insurance companies, win awards amounting to three times actual damages, and walk away with guaranteed attorney fees for themselves.
Trial lawyers say consumers need more protection. But they never mention that our state’s insurance commissioner is elected and given broad power to protect consumers and investigate insurance companies. Even though he doesn’t have to intervene very often (only about 1 percent of insurance claims result in a complaint to the insurance commissioner and even fewer are judged to be violations), the commissioner has the power to fine insurance companies or even take away their license to operate in Washington.
Plus, current law already allows people to sue insurance companies if they feel they’ve been mistreated. And they do it! Did you see the recent story about the dentist who put fake boar’s tusks in the mouth of his anesthetized patient and took pictures of her as a joke? His patient sued him, but his insurance company wouldn’t defend his “joke” in court. He paid his victim $250,000 to settle, but then sued his own insurance company — and won $1.7 million!
Unless you and I reject Referendum 67 in November, virtually any disputed insurance claim could become a lawsuit seeking triple damages and mandatory attorney fees. That will clog our courts with frivolous lawsuits, force insurers to settle questionable, frivolous (and even fraudulent) claims, and increase the cost of settling insurance claims.
You know what that means: higher premiums for all of us who buy insurance for our cars, homes and businesses.
How much more? According to the respected national economic research firm Milliman, Inc., passing Referendum 67 will cause insurance rates to rise for families and businesses in Washington by an extra $650 million statewide — or as much as $205 more per year for a family with insurance on a home and two cars.
Frivolous lawsuits. Clogged courtrooms. Higher insurance rates. Could this really happen? It already did. A law very similar to Referendum 67 was in effect in California for nearly a decade, thanks to a state court decision.
While California’s law was in effect, the number of lawsuits in the state’s courts climbed 88 percent. Bodily-injury claims costs paid per accident tripled. And insurance rates jumped 14 percent on average statewide.
Thankfully, the California Supreme Court ruled against the law after eight years of court congestion and skyrocketing insurance rates for consumers. When California trial lawyers talked the Legislature into re-enacting the bad faith law there, irate voters went to the polls and rejected that bad faith law by a 3 to1 margin.
Now it is our turn to say no to the trial lawyers who passed this unfair and costly law before they have the chance to jack up rates and increase their fees. Many of the state’s leading businesses, organizations and consumers have already joined the campaign to REJECT Referendum 67.
The National Federation of Independent Business, the Washington State Medical Association, the Washington Business Roundtable, many chambers of commerce and independent insurance agents across the state are urging voters to REJECT R-67.
In November, you get your chance to save money and reject an unfair law. Say no to higher insurance rates. Say no to frivolous lawsuits with mandatory fees for plaintiff lawyers. Say no to clogged courtrooms and increased costs. Join me in voting no, to REJECT Referendum 67.
Paul Masten is a principal of BlueRidge Associates in Lynnwood.
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