Today we had a standard sampling of the letters exchange over Washington Referendum 67.

I guess I should not be surprised that The Spokesman-Review departed from virtually every other newspaper in Washington when it failed to endorse R-67, the consumer-oriented insurance fair conduct bill recently passed by our legislature. (...)
What I find galling is its rationale that the insurance commissioner has the authority to penalize unreasonable insurance companies, not so subtly implying that such penalties are a sufficient deterrent to unreasonable insurance claims practices. If this were true, why has the Office of the Insurance Commissioner endorsed the passage of R-67 as being in the best interests of the citizens of this state? Moreover, if increased premiums were a real issue, why has AARP (comprised of constituents who scrutinize any such increases) solidly endorsed R-67’s passage? (...)

Frank Danby
Spokane

(...)Over the past 35 years we’ve owned numerous rental properties and vehicles. During this time we’ve had 12 insurance claims against our policies or someone else’s. In 10 cases the insurance company promptly paid an amount that more than covered the damage. In one disputed case, involving a deductible for vandalism, I called the state insurance commissioner’s office and found that the adjuster’s decision was correct. Our other disputed claim involved an unrealistically low insurance damage estimate for a major fire. In response I got higher quotes from two other contractors, and we settled on a middle amount.

When I see the political ads vilifying insurance companies, I can only conclude that it’s the sponsors of this new law who are the rip-off artists.
Jim Shamp
Cheney

I admit it: I don't watch much television, which means I've missed most of the ads regarding this issue. But the other day I did see the one that touted newspaper and insurance commissioner endorsements. And I can relate stories of being very well handled by insurance companies.

Do you think the S-R's rejection of 67 will carry any weight?

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