A policy of giving gifts, donations to lawmakers

Re “Fire Victims Feel Burned by Lawmakers Tied to Insurers,” Feb. 27

This article stated: “The committee’s members and insurers alike said donations and gifts had no influence on legislative decisions.”

I almost died laughing when I read this, but, luckily, I remembered that my life insurance policy excluded this manner of demise from any payoff, so I managed to stop in time. Guess they would have had too many claims if they included it.

ANADEL MILLER

Whittier

*

If The Times wants to tell its readers about unfair homeowners’ insurance practices, perhaps it could let us know who these insurance companies are and exactly what they did wrong. Instead, you report an anecdote about a claimant who is upset because the unnamed insurance company asked her what property was lost. The rest of the article is about those wealthy insurance companies (would anyone want to be insured by one that wasn’t?) lobbying lawmakers -- a perfectly legal, moral and widely known practice.

Homeowners’ insurance is a complex but highly regulated and standardized product. There are scores of insurance companies competing to sell this product in our state.

Because consumers cannot really know which companies behave well unless they have a claim, let The Times tell them about the bad insurance company behavior that other consumers have experienced by investigating the dispute and naming the bad players.

That Farmers Insurance Group lobbies our state Legislature is not news.

JOHN FORTMAN

Valencia

*

Insurance reform snuffed out by state legislators who received campaign contributions, gifts and trips from the insurance industry is another miserable reflection on politicians at all levels of government who have their hands out and pockets open to the lobbyist and business groups.

Incidentally, since Farmers Insurance coughed up $1,300 for Assemblyman Ronald Calderon’s trip to the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, for which no legislative consideration was given by Calderon (D-Montebello) nor expected by Farmers, do you think that Farmers would pay for my wife’s and my upcoming trip to Las Vegas?

DAVE HELSEL

Orange