We all dutifully write out checks for insurance coverage each month, assuming that if the worst should occur, we'll be protected financially. But what we don't know about the insurance business could - and most probably will - hurt us. "Vulture Culture" is a hard-hitting expose of the sorry state of the industry, from tales of rampant, widespread corruption to inconsistent state regulations and the inability - and often unwillingness - of the federal government to protect the rights of denied claimants.The book takes readers into a world of bid-rigging, fraudulent commissions, and secret payoffs, revealing shocking abuses and ominous new trends. Readers will hear about a rogue's gallery of shady executives, including a CEO whose massive claim denial schemes eventually got him fired ...at great cost to consumers. From the Hurricane Katrina fiasco of unpaid claims, to a revolving door in which former insurance executives regulate their own industry before returning to it themselves, this is a shocking account of an industry on the brink of collapse, and what must be done to fix it before it's too late.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments Part One: The Crisis Introduction Chapter 1 The Crisis: A Long Time Coming Chapter 2 How the Industry Got Where It Is: A Rogues' Gallery Chapter 3 How the Industry Got Where It Is Today: Unpaid Claims and the Storm after Hurricane Katrina Chapter 4 How the Industry Got Where It Is Today: Foreign Takeovers, Unregulated Reinsurers, Insurer and Claimant Fraud Chapter 5 The View from Outside: A Report Card on State Regulation Chapter 6 Trends: The Next Decade Chapter 7 The Public Uproar and a Crescendo of Distrust Part Two: The Solution Chapter 8 Fifty Nonuniform State Fiefdoms Chapter 9 Winds of Change: How to Improve the Industry Chapter 10 The Solution: UFOIL-A Two-Step Process of Consumerization and Federalization Index About the Author

Author Biography

ERIC D. GERST (Newtown Square, PA) has practiced law nationwide for more than 25 years, with a specialty in insurance law. In addition to testifying before Congress on insurance industry abuses, he has represented corporations and individuals involved in the insurance business, as well as those outside of it.