OK folks, time to let me in on the secret

Gerald Nielsen, a blast from the past here on Slabbed is generating elevated site traffic. If one of you legal or insurance types would be kind enough to let me in on the reason for the interest I’d be much appreciative. Thank you.

4 thoughts on “OK folks, time to let me in on the secret”

  1. It has to be this point, right?

    “According to Nielsen, ‘Currently, virtually every major participant “Write-Your-Own Program” (“WYO”) insurance company in the NFIP utilizes Nielsen Law Firm, L.L.C. to handle its NFIP-related litigation on a national basis.'” – See more at: http://slabbed.org/tag/gerald-nielsen/#sthash.4GUgz3uT.dpuf

    The head of NFIP has resigned over the widespread use of fraudulent engineering reports to deny Sandy claims for foundation damage due to flooding. The question is what is the incentive for WYO insurers to underpay flood claims since adjustment and administrative subsidy payments are based on percentages of the claims payments. There has to have been some secret deal in there somewhere that incentivized WYO companies to have their engineering firms say that foundation damage is almost always due to pre-existing settling and/or maintenance problems and not to the storm surge.

  2. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060004116
    FEMA threatened by record legal fees that eclipse cost of Katrina

    The Sandy cases in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York represent the unfinished business of the damaging storm that struck almost 22 months ago. About 400 homeowners there, and about 450 in New Jersey, are suing the government for offering inadequate insurance payments from a program that provides a maximum of $250,000 in coverage.

    The lagging cases in New York have generated a record of bitter recriminations from lawyers on both sides of the courtroom. They happen to be neighbors; both firms are located in Metairie, La., from which they set off to the Brooklyn court for official business.

    Bryan raised her concerns to the court earlier this summer in a letter claiming that the firm of the main defense attorney, Gerald Nielsen, was prolonging the process by requesting interviews with construction contractors in order to verify that their costs matched the estimates provided by homeowners.

    In one case, Bryan said the Nielsen firm asked for nine depositions, five subpoenas and another inspection of the home. That would add about six months to the case, she estimated, and likely increase the legal fees to “double the amount” of money that the homeowner was seeking — about $55,000 above the insurer’s offer.

    The impact could be much bigger across all the cases, she said.

    “The current Nielsen strategy will drain the U.S. Treasury of 25 [million] to 50 million dollars in needless defense legal fees alone,” Bryan said in the court document. “The process will likely clog the Courts with litigation for the next three to five years.”

    It would be faster — and cheaper — if Nielsen would negotiate a settlement based on the cost estimates of the homeowner and the insurer, she added.

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