Referendum 67 simply requires the insurance industry to be fair and pay legitimate claims in a reasonable and timely manner.

Please join us in voting to APPROVE Referendum 67 in November.

Dear clients and friends:

Referendum 67 is an important consumer protection measure on the November 6th ballot. If you are forced by your insurance company to file a lawsuit over a legitimate claim you’ve made, and you win, you will get paid for your claim but nothing more for the company’s wrongful delaying or denying your claim. Your own legal costs to recover against the insurer are not recovered.Referendum 67 fixes that by allowing the court to assess penalties against the insurer for that type of conduct. It therefore creates an incentive for insurance companies to treat their policy-holders fairly.Referendum 67 covers claims related to homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, long-term care insurance, property insurance and small business insurance.

4100 complaints are made annually to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner about illegitimately denied claims, which likely means there are thousands more unreported instances of this kind of behavior by the insurance industry. Ultimately this conduct can lead to denied medical care, loss of a business, and ruined credit for policy holders.

As you may recall, your state legislature enacted this consumer protection law and the Governor signed it in May 2007. Now the insurance industry is anticipated to spend more than $12 million to defeat Referendum 67 in a deceptive and misleading advertising campaign to overturn this law. (What else would you expect from the insurance industry?) You are probably beginning to see the flood of “Reject 67″ ads on TV sponsored by the so-called “Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates,” which is not a consumer group, but a front organization for the insurance industry.

In the past few weeks you may also have been one of about 850,000 Washington state residents who received a letter from a Ray Peretti, identifying himself as an “independent insurance agent”but who is actually an insurance industry lobbyist. His letter is full of deceptions and distortions. If you got this letter and read it, go towww.nwprogressive.org for the real scoop on Mr. Peretti and his allegations about Referendum 67.

Thanks,

Jay