20th Century Insurance Claims

* Because of [20th Century Insurance Co.’s] strong commitment to its customers, the communities in which we do business and our employees, I find it necessary to clarify the poor characterization of 20th Century’s handling of claims reported in the Nov. 17 article “ ’94 Quake Victims Still Fighting Over Damage Claims.”

In profiling the case of Roy Liebman, the article omitted key facts:

* There was no finding of damages for bad faith against 20th Century.

* 20th Century had attempted to settle Liebman’s disputed repair claim without going through the time and expense of a trial. 20th Century offered and was willing to to pay $50,000. Liebman and his attorney demanded $500,000. The jury’s award of $36,571 was substantially less than even our offer.

* 20th Century is not appealing the jury’s award for the appropriate repair cost. Our appeal decision concerns only the issue of what we believe is an incorrect award of the attorney’s fees.

Following the quake, adjusters moved quickly to inspect homes and resolve the many claims. In this process, 20th Century has extensively utilized the advice of experts in hazardous materials abatement, geology, soils, engineering and architectural repairs.

We are very proud of our claim department’s effort, resolving 70% of reported claims within three months of the earthquake, 80% within four months and 94% within the first year. Currently, only 685 of these claims remain open and, of the 46,300 we received, less than one-half of 1% involve litigation.

Since the Ashkar and DeCaro cases, also mentioned in the article, involve pending litigation, we are not in a position to comment until the court proceedings conclude.

RIC HILL

Woodland Hills

Hill is vice president for corporate relations for 20th Century Insurance Co.