ACE hit with another lawsuit
ACE is among four insurers accused of consumer fraud and price fixing in a federal class action suit filed with a US District Court yesterday.
Massachusetts consumer lawyer Robert Bonsignore is seeking class-action status in US District Court in Boston. According to the Boston Herald, the 29-page lawsuit accuses insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Inc. of running a price-rigging ring and engaging in systematic consumer fraud.
The lawsuit follows New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer ?s charges last October alleging that Marsh illegally steered accounts to AIG, Ace Insurance and the Hartford. Mr. Bonsignore?s suit however not only targets ACE Insurance Co., American International Group and Hartford Financial Services for allegedly paying kickbacks for business to Marsh. It also names MetLife as part of the conspiracy.
The Boston Herald reports that Mr. Bonsignore said a ?whistle-blower?? at Marsh has provided documents to him implicating MetLife. ?We?re following up on that evidence,?? he said.
Mr. Bonsignore could not yet put a price tag on the damages if his case is certified, but he told Insurance Journal the suit could be ?huge.? Mr. Bonsignore, who is the son of an insurance salesman, hopes the class action will lead to major changes in the industry.
The Boston-based consumer lawyer accuses the insurance industry leaders of claiming a ?litigation crisis? and blaming victims of accidents and malpractice when in fact ?they were the ones harming consumers and causing rates to go up through unscrupulous deals.?
Mr. Bonsignore told the Herald: ?As a result of (the companies?) price-fixing, consumers overpaid for their insurance.?
?It?s time for (these companies) to kick money back to the consumers,? he said.
He also wants to see the chief executives at major insurers lose their jobs.
?Insurance is not corrupt,? he told Insurance Journal, ?It?s the people who have been making these deals that have to go. There needs to be a cleaning out of the executives.?