It’s up to Indiana Senate to Protect Consumers, Free Markets.

In January, the Indiana House passed House Bill 1205 (HB-1205).  Contained within the bill are a series of anti-free-market and industry killing regulations that would impact the consumer legal funding industry.  Regulations so severe, it would most certainly send the consumer legal funding to its grave in Indiana.   

Now as HB-1205 heads to the Senate side for debate, Senators must decide what approach they will take as they discuss this dangerous piece of legislation.  The Senate will have two options as they proceed on this bill, one is to pass the bill as is and favor one business group over another.  The second is to add common-sense amendments into HB 1205 that will truly help protect consumers, while also allowing the consumer legal funding industry to continue to serve its thousands of consumers in Indiana.

So why has this even become an issue in the House and now the Senate in Indiana?

 

The answer is simple, as all roads lead to pressure being applied from the Washington, DC-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and large insurance company interests who are calling the shots from outside the Hoosier state.

 

Consumer legal funding serves citizens who are suddenly unable to work, usually those involved in a terrible automobile accident. It affords access to funding to pay for essential daily expenses such as rent, transportation, utilities or food while their legal claims are being settled.  Insurance companies rely on those consumers who are struggling financially in hopes they can settle with that consumer for far less than the going rate.  

 

You see, insurance corporations use a consumer’s accident and lack of financial security to force less-than-market-rate settlements. Relying on millions of data points as to the valuation of an injury, insurers have no incentive to settle quickly, except for well-below established injury values. Consumer legal funding bridges the financial gap from the time an accident occurs until a consumer has a chance to fairly settle their injury claim. Consumer legal funding gives consumers the strength to hang on in court proceedings or settlement negotiations despite having limited bargaining power against large insurance interests.

 

We hope the members of the Indiana Senate consider common-sense amendments to HB-1205, which help preserve the vital services of consumer legal funding that so many citizens in Indiana rely upon.  Unlike the House, who sided with large out-of-state insurance companies and Washington D.C. based lobby groups, we hope the Senate chooses local Indiana consumers and businesses.                                              

Let us remember the words of Abraham Lincoln

One of our greatest Presidents was Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln once said “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”  It would be nice if the US Chamber of Commerce and the Big Insurance companies would remember his words.

They are going around the country trying to push legislation to “help out consumers” to regulate Consumer Legal Funding. All they are doing is trying to pass regulations that will do one thing and one thing only, to put the industry out of business.

When was the last time you saw an insurance company step up and say, “We are making too much money so let’s lower our rates we charge consumers”. By the way State Farm and Allstate made in profit over 3 Billion EACH, yes with a B, dollars last year.

In fact State Farm recently went so far in Indiana to have a consumer who challenged their claims process arrested and thrown in jail and then filled suit against him for insurance fraud and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), RICO is what the Government uses against organized crime.

Luckily the legal system worked, and State Farm now has to pay over 17 Million Dollars in damages to the consumer. Here is a link to the case information (http://www.benthamimf.com/docs/default-document-library/reuters-article-16-12-13.pdf?sfvrsn=2)

So next time you hear “Like a good Neighbor” or “good hands” remember your neighbors hands may be coming after you the next time you file a claim they don’t like.

 

Chamber continues to push Insurance industry backed anti-free market policies in Tennessee.

In a recent op-ed published in the Tennessean, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s own Thurbert Baker kept the drum beat rolling for large insurance group’s attack on the consumer legal funding industry.  Within the op-ed, Thurbert continued to mask the truth about the consumer legal funding industry and continued to push for anti-free market price controls and other burdensome government regulations. 

The issue for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and large insurance conglomerates is not about the consumer, as they would like you to believe, but rather about how the consumer legal funding business is impacting the way large insurance companies prefer to deal with automobile claims.  The typical strategy for a large insurance company is to utilize long delay tactics against a claim, dragging settlements on as long as possible, in hopes the claimant becomes desperate enough to settle for pennies to what is actually owed, all while driving up an insurance company’s revenue.  

On the other hand, consumer legal funding is a service that offers a claimant a counter to the large insurance companies’ delay tactics.  With consumer legal funding, a claimant has the opportunity to acquire non-recourse funding to help pay for essential items such as food, rent or other daily necessities.  This non-recourse funding can help sustain the needs of a claimant’s everyday expenses while allowing them to pursue a full and fair settlement regarding their injury claim.

The bad news in Tennessee is that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suspiciously talks about free markets and de-regulation policy when in the public eye, but is actively backing the insurance industries anti-free market price control regulations while masking them as consumer protection policies.

While groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, led by Thurbert Baker, create false stories about the consumer legal funding industry, the consumer legal funding industry stands at the ready to work with Tennessee legislators to enact real policies that truly help protect all consumers just as we’ve done in states like Ohio, Nebraska and Maine.

 

Unfortunately, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and large insurance conglomerates have no intention of working out a plan that truly protects the consumer.  The only result these two mammoth groups seek is to get rid of the consumer legal funding business altogether in Tennessee.  In their minds, getting rid of consumer legal funding gets them back to their old ways of doing business, leaving their pockets full of cash and consumers kicked to the curb.  

  

U.S. Chamber is consistently inconsistent as they attempt backdoor regulations to eliminate consumer legal funding in Tennessee

Nearly one year ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported consumer legal funding legislation in Oklahoma that wisely did not include anti-free market price controls.  Instead the bill, which became law, allowed for the free markets to dictate how a consumer legal funding company would price their products and services.

Fast forward to today in Tennessee. Why has the U.S. Chamber flip-flopped and decided that punishing price controls is key to regulating the consumer legal funding industry?

The fact of the matter is that the U.S. Chamber and the national insurance conglomerates that call the shots back at the headquarters in DC sense an opportunity to gain a competitive business advantage through the promotion of an anti-competitive regulatory regime that will force consumer legal funding companies to leave the Volunteer state.  

Large insurance companies see consumer legal funding as a huge threat to their own bottom lines. The consumer legal funding business impacts the way large insurance companies prefer to deal with automobile claims.  A typical strategy for a large insurance company, such as State Farm, is to utilize long delay tactics against a claim.  Usually dragging settlements on as long as possible, in hopes the claimant becomes desperate enough to settle for pennies to what should actually owed.  

Consumer legal funding on the other hand helps consumers work toward a fair settlement against insurance companies by allowing access to small amounts of funding to help pay for essential daily needs while weathering an insurance companies’ long delay tactics for settlement.  These consumers, through no fault of their own, have likely been injured in an automobile accident, are unable to work and are without a paycheck.  Consumer legal funding provides these small amounts of funding to help the consumer pay for things such as utility bills, transportation, housing and food while they wait for their settlement to be heard and finalized.

It is unfortunate that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and big insurance conglomerates continue to deceive state legislators about the consumer legal funding industry.  Especially since the consumer legal funding industry stands ready to work with all legislators to create sound policies that will truly help protect all consumers, while still providing access to the much needed services of the consumer legal funding industry. 

The intentions of the U.S. Chamber and the insurance industry have never been more transparent than what they are trying to accomplish in Tennessee.  Their push to eliminate the consumer legal funding industry through anti free-market price controls is a disservice to the consumers who rely upon the consumer legal funding industry every day.  We are confident Tennessee policymakers will see these maneuvers for what they are and reject these anti-competitive price controls.

A Look behind the Numbers reveals holes in NFIB’s claims on Consumer Legal Funding Industry.

At a recent Tennessee Legislative hearing regarding consumer legal funding, the NFIB surprisingly joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and large insurance conglomerates spreading myths about the consumer legal funding industry.  At one point in their “presentation” the NFIB claimed that 77% of their members would like to see the consumer legal funding industry “banned” from Tennessee.   A large number that clearly caught people’s attention.  However, a look behind the survey tells the true story.  Of the roughly 8,200 NFIB members in Tennessee only 400 members (or 5%) responded to their poll.

This of course is far from scientific and far from accurate in claiming that 77% of NFIB members would want to ban the consumer legal funding industry.

The truth is, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, large insurance companies and now apparently the NFIB in Tennessee don’t want you to know how the consumer legal funding business is impacting the way large insurance companies prefer to deal with automobile claims.  The typical strategy for a large insurance company is to utilize long delay tactics against a claim, dragging settlements on as long as possible, in hopes the claimant becomes desperate enough to settle for pennies to what is actually owed.  

Consumer legal funding on the other hand, was created to help consumers gain a fair settlement against insurance companies by allowing access to small amounts of funding to help pay for essential daily needs while weathering an insurance companies’ long delay tactics for settlement.  These consumers, to no fault of their own, have been injured in an automobile accident, are unable to work and are without a paycheck.  Consumer legal funding provides these small amounts of funding to help the consumer pay for things such as utility bills, transportation, housing and food while they wait for their settlement to be heard and finalized.

It is unfortunate the NFIB in Tennessee is using 95% percent of its members, most of which don’t even know a survey exists, to sell myths to local legislators while trying to eliminate the consumer legal funding industry.

While groups like the NFIB and the Chamber create false stories about the consumer legal funding industry, the consumer legal funding industry stands at the ready to work with Tennessee legislators to enact real policies that truly help protect all consumers just as we’ve done in states like Ohio, Nebraska and Maine. 

Tennessee Small Business Owners and Insurance Companies Crosshairs under Tennessee Senate Plan

Two weeks ago the Tennessee Senate passed SB-1360, a bill that would implement suffocating price control regulations onto the consumer legal funding industry, hurting both small businesses and consumers in Tennessee. 

Dan Cleary, the founder of Provident Litigation Funding, Inc., a small business owner based in Nashville, Tennessee has been helping Tennessean for years by providing the important services of consumer legal funding.  But due to the recent events in the Tennessee Senate, Dan is very concerned about SB-1360 and its potential impact to the business he has built over the years.

“If this statute is enacted, my employees will lose their jobs, and the people of Tennessee will lose access to consumer legal funding altogether,” Dan said.

Dan’s company is designed to serve citizens, like those in Tennessee who are suddenly unable to work, often due to an automobile accident, and left without a paycheck.  These consumers usually have no other option to access funds to pay for essential daily expenses such as rent, transportation, utilities or food while their legal claims are being settled.  Dan’s agreements with these consumers are non-recourse, meaning that unless there is a settlement, the consumer has no obligation for repayment.

 So, why among its very first items of business in the New Year, would the Tennessee Senate abruptly schedule a vote on legislation to put Dan’s industry out of business? Or why is Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) speaking on the senate floor about consumer legal funding as a “valuable service to people in need” one minute and passing a bill that sends the industry to its grave the next minute? And even more perplexing is why the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, an organization normally an advocate of free enterprise and small business, is leading such a charge at the statehouse?

The answer is simple, as it all leads back to major pressure being applied from the Washington, DC-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the billion-dollar national insurance company interests who are calling the shots from outside the Volunteer state.

While we all hope a citizen never finds themselves injured or in the financial constraints that require consumer legal funding, the truth is, it happens.  Unfortunately, these services and Dan’s business are on the brink of extinction in Tennessee leaving future citizens without the services so many have found to be so helpful. 

Consumer Legal Funding drives up insurance rates in Tennessee, REALLY???

One of the arguments the Big Insurance industry is making as to why they need to put the Consumer Legal Funding Industry out of business is; “because of its existence it drives up insurance rates.”

Let’s take a look at the facts, something they don’t like to do.

According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security in their 2013 paper on Tennessee Traffic Crash Data there was 48,079 traffic accidents that resulted in an injury.

On an average, one of the leading providers of Consumer Legal Funding, funded 313 consumers in the Tennessee that were involved in a traffic accident in 2012.

So of the 48,079 accidents in 2012, only 313 of them may have received Consumer Legal Funding. That is 0.65% of the total accidents, yes less than 1% (ONE PERCENT).

Let’s look at this further; there are roughly 6,456,243 people that live in the State of Tennessee. So of the total population of the State of Tennessee about 0.00484%, let me say that again 0.00484% took out a Consumer Legal Funding to assist them while their accident claim was being processed.

Are you trying to say that an industry that affects 0.00484% of the population of the State of Tennessee can alter what State Farm made in profit 2012? By the way State Farm made $3,200,000,000 in profit in 2012, YES $3,200,000,000 PROFIT. That is just State Farm. Allstate didn’t make as much, their profit was only $3,080,000,000 in profit ending September 2013. Combined that is a PROFIT of $6,280,000,000.

So here is the bottom line, according to the Big Insurance industry 313 people in a state can alter $6,280,000,000 in profit…. REALLY???

 

Indiana Consumers Lose, Large Insurance Companies Win as Key House Committee attempts to Regulate Consumer Legal Funding out of Existence

Indiana Consumers Lose, Large Insurance Companies Win as Key House Committee attempts to Regulate Consumer Legal Funding out of Existence

                                                                                                                                               

Indianapolis, Indiana — A leading organization representing the consumer legal funding industry today said legislation approved Wednesday by the House Insurance Committee will handcuff the consumer legal funding industry through a series of anti-free-market price controls, killing jobs and depriving Indiana residents of a product that has served thousands without incident. 

 

Consumer legal funding helps consumers, who both have a pending legal claim and are represented by an attorney, by providing them much needed financial assistance to help them make ends meet while they wait for a fair settlement to be reached in their case.

 

“Today’s news out of Indiana is very troubling for consumers in Indiana,” said Eric Schuller, Director of Government Affairs for Oasis Legal Finance, one of the industry’s leading companies.  “This legislation places profit protection for large insurance corporations over consumer protection for Indiana citizens.”

 

Schuller noted that House Bill 1205, authored by Insurance Committee Chairman Matt Lehman, is a devastating blow to the thousands of citizens across Indiana who rely upon the services of consumer legal funding.  Unlike laws passed in states like, Nebraska, Maine and Ohio that protect the consumer and recognize consumer legal funding as an important financial product, HB 1205 begins the process of ending consumer legal funding in Indiana and increasing the disproportionate power the insurance industry has over injured consumers.     

 

“We stand ready to work with legislators to develop common-sense legislation that protects all of Indiana’s consumers.  However, a bill written by large insurance conglomerates does not accomplish those goals,” concluded Schuller.

 

Consumer legal funding is an industry that prides itself on helping the everyday consumer with financial funding needs during a litigation claim.  Typical legal claims involve those injured in an auto accident.  These needs usually arise when a consumer has unexpectedly been in an automobile accident that leaves them out of work, with limited financial resources to pay bills or put food on the table, all while awaiting their legal claim to be heard.   

 

About ARC Legal Funding

The Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding (ARC) represents its Members to ensure the proper regulation of the legal funding industry in the United States. ARC aims to accomplish this mission by advocating at the state level for rules containing appropriate pricing and a high degree of consumer protection—including adequate licensing and disclosure requirements, and suitable limitations on fees—and at the federal level by working with policymakers to help ensure the alignment of federal and state regulatory efforts affecting the consumer legal funding industry.  www.arclegalfunding.org 

 

A Plan in Mississippi Designed to leave Consumers Once Again at the Mercy of Big Insurance Executives?

If it were up to big insurance companies, such as State Farm, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the business of consumer legal funding wouldn’t exist in Mississippi.  When consumer legal funding began providing services in Mississippi, consumers finally had an alternative to cowering to big insurance company’s delay tactics and low-ball settlement offers for injury claims.  Citizens like Lisa from Blue Mountain, Mississippi or Richard from Horn Lake, Mississippi no longer had to agonize over their daily living expenses or be intimidated by billion-dollar insurance companies. Instead they could fight for what they deserved, a fair settlement on their injury claim.

For too long insurance companies in Mississippi and across the U.S. have gotten away with less-then-market rate settlements with consumers for automobile injury claims.  Insurance companies, like State Farm use anti-consumer methods to delay claims just long enough that an injured consumer becomes financially desperate, can’t wait any longer for a payment claim, and ends up taking a much lower settlement then what they actually deserve.  These tactics prey on innocent citizens who are injured, out of work and without a paycheck.   

Not until consumer legal funding products came along in places like Blue Mountain, Horn Lake and all over Mississippi, could consumers finally stand up to big insurance and say “stop intimidating me.”  With consumer legal funding, consumers who have an injury claim pending with an insurance company can obtain non-recourse funding to help pay for everyday living expenses like rent, utilities, transportation and food.  These small amounts of funding help alleviate the worries of the consumer’s daily financial lives and allows them to pursue a fair settlement for their injury claims with big insurance.

Consumer legal funding was crucial in helping Lisa and her family from Blue Mountain, Mississippi through a rough patch.  “[Consumer legal funding] has helped me to catch up on things [we were behind on] while not being able to work.”

For Richard from Horn Lake, Mississippi, consumer legal funding allowed him to keep his family in their home. “[Consumer legal funding] saved my family from being evicted.”   

Insurance companies, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose chairman is the CEO of State Farm Insurance, will spend millions of dollars to tell a story to consumers, legislators or anyone else who will listen that consumer legal funding is a product that is bad for the consumer.   

These campaigns by the insurance industry through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are, of course, false.   These are merely desperate diversions to their true intentions, of eliminating the consumer-friendly services of consumer legal funding in Mississippi in hopes of going back to their old ways of doing business. 

The insurance industry would love nothing more than to return to their monopolistic anti-consumer ways, by forcing consumers like Lisa and Richard into take-it-or-leave-it offers, saving billions of dollars for insurance companies and leaving consumers at the mercy of the insurance executives.

Tennessee Senate Misfires on Legislation Aimed at Eliminating the Business of Consumer Legal Funding.

Tennessee Senate Misfires on Legislation Aimed at Eliminating the Business of Consumer Legal Funding. 

Yesterday the Tennessee Senate passed SB-1360, a bill that if enacted would implement devastating rate cap or price control measures on the consumer legal funding industry and begin the process of driving the business out of the state for good. 

While the Senate bill was a win for out-of-state insurance conglomerates like State Farm and the Washington D.C. based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, it was a huge loss for local consumers who have relied on this important services for many years.

Consumer legal funding began doing business in Tennessee to help consumers gain a fair settlement against large insurance companies by allowing access to small amounts of funding to help pay for essential daily needs while weathering an insurance companies’ long delay tactics for settlement.  These consumers, to no fault of their own, have been injured in an automobile accident, are unable to work and are without a paycheck.  Consumer legal funding provides these small amounts of funding to help the consumer pay for things such as utility bills, transportation, housing and food while they wait for their settlement to be heard and finalized.

Historically, insurance corporations used a consumer’s accident and lack of financial security to force a less-than-market-rate settlement.  Relying on millions of data points as to the valuation of a customer’s injury, insurance companies have no incentive to settle quickly, except for well-below established injury values.   Consumer legal funding has bridged this gap by helping consumers gain an equal footing to its billion dollar foes, the insurance industry.  With today’s vote however, that bridge is in serious jeopardy of collapse.

As the Tennessee House of Representatives now takes the reins on SB-1360, we hope legislators examine the dangers the bill poses to the consumer legal funding industry and their own constituents who rely on this product every day.

As always we stand at the ready to work with Tennessee legislators to enact sound policies that truly help protect all consumers just as we’ve done in states like Ohio, Nebraska and Maine.  It is ridiculous to think that any legislator would want to put their name to a bill like SB-1360, a bill promoted as consumer-friendly but in truth is another profit protecting piece of legislation that favors wealthy insurance companies over everyday consumers.