State Farm Practices Suffer Collision With California Class Action Lawsuit

- ailment AND lawyer interview AVAILABLE - LOS ANGELES, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Type A social class action lawsuit
(Case #CV08-03184), was filed today in United States Federal Soldier Court, Central
District, alleging that State Farm Mutual Car Insurance Company is
enriching itself with payments rightfully belonging to its insureds in
violation of Golden State law, particularly the "Make Whole Rule." When State Farm policyholder Gilbert Stuart Raymond Chandler of Fresno, Calif., was
rear-ended, his personal auto coverage policy entitled him to a
rental auto while his car was being fixed. Under Chandler's car policy,
State Farm paid 80 percentage of the $317.45. Raymond Raymond Chandler was charged for his
rental car, leaving Chandler to pay 20 percent, or $63.49, in out-of-pocket
expenses. State Farm then went to the other party's coverage company to collect
the money it had paid out to Chandler. That coverage company reimbursed
State Farm $70 for the rental car. The ailment avers that pursuant to
California's "Make Whole Rule," State Farm should have got refunded Chandler
from that amount the $63.49 for out-of-pocket disbursals he incurred before
it could reserve any of those finances for itself. Instead, the complaint
alleges, State Farm kept the full amount for itself, ignoring the fact that
Chandler have not been fully compensated for his loss as needed by law. "California common law supplies that when a policyholder endures a loss
from a auto accident, the policyholder must be reimbursed for ALL of his
losses before State Farm have a right to reimbursement for any money it paid
out under its policy," states Long Beach, Golden State complainant attorney
Stephen M. Garcia of The Garcia Law Firm. This regulation is known as the "Make Whole Rule," and is a common law
exception to an coverage company's subrogation right. The "Make Whole
Rule" basically states that before any of the recovery is allocated to the
insurer, the insured who suffered the loss must be fully compensated for
all the elements of damages, not just those for which the insurance company has
indemnified the policy holder. According to State Farm's website, the company sees more than autos any
other insurance company in the United States and handled 12.3 million sum claims in
2007. "Mr. Chandler's lawsuit is just $63 and change," states Garcia. "Imagine $63
times the 10s of one thousands of claims State Farm manages in California
alone. We believe that State Farm is enriching itself with money that
rightfully belongs to its policyholders." For information, contact Sir Leslie Stephen M. Garcia at The Garcia Law Firm,
(800) 281.8515 or . CONTACT: Geri Harriet Wilson of The Garcia Law Firm, +1-626-403-6741,
+1-626-487-2235 (cell),