Suit Alleging Insurance Firm Conspiracy Grows
Ten more states Tuesday joined California and six other states in lawsuits accusing the nation’s largest insurers of conspiring to put together a liability crisis with crippling effects around the nation.
The original suits, filed in U.S. District Court and a state court in March, alleged that the companies collaborated in a secret scheme that limited and eliminated coverage on certain types of general liability insurance.
The new states in the federal court action are Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, Montana, Washington, Alaska and Michigan.
They joined California, New York, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Alabama. At the same time, Texas filed a similar suit in its own state court.
The suits named 32 insurance companies and underwriter agencies, claiming they plotted actions including the targeting for elimination of coverage for pollution accidents and general liability for damage discovered after expiration of a policy.
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