Comments on: A Race Issue? http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/ What is seen and what is unseen. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:23:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dameyel Welsch http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-602 Dameyel Welsch Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:00:36 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-602 Race and class is not an issue. Everybody is trying to make it a race issue. The media has a habit of exaggerating. People have different ways of dealing with insurance claims. Everybody does not move or work in the same speed. I know several African Americans who get paid just as quickly as White Americans. I guess this is another stereotype in society. The Times Picayune interview the wrong people. Race and class is not an issue. Everybody is trying to make it a race issue. The media has a habit of exaggerating. People have different ways of dealing with insurance claims. Everybody does not move or work in the same speed. I know several African Americans who get paid just as quickly as White Americans. I guess this is another stereotype in society. The Times Picayune interview the wrong people.

]]> By: Brittany J. Williams http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-559 Brittany J. Williams Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:14:09 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-559 I do not believe this is a race or class issue. Hurricane Katrina came aboard and didn't care if you were black, white, green or purple. It is an issue of the Insurance Companies playing games and stealing millions of dollars that are rightly owed to people who have paid claims for years. The U.S. government who regulate flood insurance is letting the insurance companies get away with not paying these claims. The tax payers are footing the bill. Yes, there are hundreds of black, whites, and underprivileged people who have not filed complaints with the insurance commissioner. However, there are hundreds who have filed complaints, only to be told again it was flood damage. We all know the wind and rain came before the levees broke and the flood water came. Do you all really believe the government and insurance companies are telling the truth, about all this damage only being caused by the flood waters. If the insurance companies paid out all the damages in homeowners insurance they would probably go broke or bankrupt and no one in south Louisiana would be able to insure their homes as the rates would be astronomical. I truly believe the government is protecting the insurance companies. As long as the insurance companies can say it was flood damage, they don't have to pay out any claims. Most people had limited or no flood insurance, the bulk of the insurance covering homes was the homeowners portion. There are residents with $500,000 homes who may have had only $100,000 in flood insurance and they are looking at $400,000 in uninsured damages. If you owned a $500,000 home you can afford to hire an attorney or wait and fight with the insurance companies. However, people with limited or no insurance, need whatever money the insurance companies gave them just to live on. It's not that all of these people don't know they can file a complaint. It's probably that they have limited incomes and funds to live on and need whatever they were given just to survive this nightmare. This is not only the United States worst natural disaster, this is the biggest cover up of insurance fraud and theft the world will never know about. Dr. Tuner, Econ 211, 3m I do not believe this is a race or class issue. Hurricane Katrina came aboard and didn’t care if you were black, white, green or purple. It is an issue of the Insurance Companies playing games and stealing millions of dollars that are rightly owed to people who have paid claims for years. The U.S. government who regulate flood insurance is letting the insurance companies get away with not paying these claims. The tax payers are footing the bill. Yes, there are hundreds of black, whites, and underprivileged people who have not filed complaints with the insurance commissioner. However, there are hundreds who have filed complaints, only to be told again it was flood damage. We all know the wind and rain came before the levees broke and the flood water came. Do you all really believe the government and insurance companies are telling the truth, about all this damage only being caused by the flood waters. If the insurance companies paid out all the damages in homeowners insurance they would probably go broke or bankrupt and no one in south Louisiana would be able to insure their homes as the rates would be astronomical. I truly believe the government is protecting the insurance companies. As long as the insurance companies can say it was flood damage, they don’t have to pay out any claims. Most people had limited or no flood insurance, the bulk of the insurance covering homes was the homeowners portion. There are residents with $500,000 homes who may have had only $100,000 in flood insurance and they are looking at $400,000 in uninsured damages. If you owned a $500,000 home you can afford to hire an attorney or wait and fight with the insurance companies. However, people with limited or no insurance, need whatever money the insurance companies gave them just to live on. It’s not that all of these people don’t know they can file a complaint. It’s probably that they have limited incomes and funds to live on and need whatever they were given just to survive this nightmare. This is not only the United States worst natural disaster, this is the biggest cover up of insurance fraud and theft the world will never know about.

Dr. Tuner, Econ 211, 3m

]]> By: Norbert Michel http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-551 Norbert Michel Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:01:30 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-551 These are some good comments. For the most part, all of us seem to agree that you have to fight for whatever is yours. Still, it doesn't seem that anyone caught the "hidden" line in the original Times article. The black couple that I quoted in my original post did NOT even have flood insurance. That's right, no flood insurance. This couple - as is the case with many of these "disputes" with insurance companies - successfully made a claim against their homeowner policy for damage that was caused by a flood. My own personal experience (I used to have a house in New Orleans) was that my homeowner policy paid out a settlement because a tree branch went through my roof. It did not matter that the rest of the house was entirely under water for weeks. I was happy to get that check because I DID have flood insurance. These are some good comments. For the most part, all of us seem to agree that you have to fight for whatever is yours.

Still, it doesn’t seem that anyone caught the “hidden” line in the original Times article. The black couple that I quoted in my original post did NOT even have flood insurance.

That’s right, no flood insurance. This couple – as is the case with many of these “disputes” with insurance companies – successfully made a claim against their homeowner policy for damage that was caused by a flood.

My own personal experience (I used to have a house in New Orleans) was that my homeowner policy paid out a settlement because a tree branch went through my roof. It did not matter that the rest of the house was entirely under water for weeks. I was happy to get that check because I DID have flood insurance.

]]> By: Latonia Brown http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-550 Latonia Brown Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:48:36 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-550 The race issue doesn't have anything to do with the insurance companies, however, it has a lot to do with the mentality of blacks . The fact is blacks are aware of the surface facts such as paying the premium on their insurance. They know that if anything should happen to their property that they will be paid for their loses. Sounds simple enough? The truth is they are oblivious to the underlying formalities of paper work, documentations, statues and not to mention unforeseeable complications that are time consuming and costly, in which, they would have to hold there own until the insurance company issues a check. We are in the information age but many are not informed and are left behind because of the limited resource of education to many underprivileged, minority communities. The choices of their lives are based on a generational ignorance that stops them from going beyond what is just given to them. Some do go a little further than most, such as, the four hundred ,or so, insurance claims that where processed, even if it was for a fraction of the face value of the policy. Out of these few people that received a payment they where not satisfied, yet, they sealed their faith by giving up predetermining that they would lose anyway, "poor little me, no one wants to help me". Because, they are "oppressed" they feel that they won't get what’s justifiably theirs. Many whites are embracing this information age, look at history, the blue print of our westernized culture comes from them. However, everyone must know that we all have the right to pursue the American Dream of the pursuit of happiness, life, liberty and justice for all. BE INFORMED!!!! B.F. The race issue doesn’t have anything to do with the insurance companies, however, it has a lot to do with the mentality of blacks . The fact is blacks are aware of the surface facts such as paying the premium on their insurance. They know that if anything should happen to their property that they will be paid for their loses. Sounds simple enough? The truth is they are oblivious to the underlying formalities of paper work, documentations, statues and not to mention unforeseeable complications that are time consuming and costly, in which, they would have to hold there own until the insurance company issues a check. We are in the information age but many are not informed and are left behind because of the limited resource of education to many underprivileged, minority communities. The choices of their lives are based on a generational ignorance that stops them from going beyond what is just given to them. Some do go a little further than most, such as, the four hundred ,or so, insurance claims that where processed, even if it was for a fraction of the face value of the policy. Out of these few people that received a payment they where not satisfied, yet, they sealed their faith by giving up predetermining that they would lose anyway, “poor little me, no one wants to help me”. Because, they are “oppressed” they feel that they won’t get what’s justifiably theirs. Many whites are embracing this information age, look at history, the blue print of our westernized culture comes from them. However, everyone must know that we all have the right to pursue the American Dream of the pursuit of happiness, life, liberty and justice for all.
BE INFORMED!!!!
B.F.

]]> By: Faren Fleming http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-546 Faren Fleming Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:37:50 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-546 I believe that this is not a race issue. In my opinion, white people just may be a little bit more educated about their insurance and what they are entitled to than black people in New Orleans. For example, the white couple filed a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance and won full reimbursement for their repairs. The black couple simply gave up and took what their insurer gave them and was not even aware they could appeal to the state. I believe that this is not a race issue. In my opinion, white people just may be a little bit more educated about their insurance and what they are entitled to than black people in New Orleans. For example, the white couple filed a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance and won full reimbursement for their repairs. The black couple simply gave up and took what their insurer gave them and was not even aware they could appeal to the state.

]]> By: Mark Foret http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/comment-page-1/#comment-542 Mark Foret Fri, 27 Oct 2006 16:24:32 +0000 http://www.nicholls.edu/bastiatsbastions/2006/10/24/a-race-issue/#comment-542 I don't think this is a race issue. It is more of a class issue. People who can't afford to wait because of lack of available funds are forced to take what they can get from the insurance companies now so that they can start new. It may not be the full recovery of funds but at least they will have something to start with. In contrast, the higher class of people affected can afford to play the waiting game with the insurance companies and use their own funds to get a new start. However, I think that the people who settled for what they can readily receive, should follow up and challenge the insurace companies for the balance of their losses. If they don't put the effort to rebound and fight for what they rightfully deserve then shame on them. I don’t think this is a race issue. It is more of a class issue. People who can’t afford to wait because of lack of available funds are forced to take what they can get from the insurance companies now so that they can start new. It may not be the full recovery of funds but at least they will have something to start with. In contrast, the higher class of people affected can afford to play the waiting game with the insurance companies and use their own funds to get a new start. However, I think that the people who settled for what they can readily receive, should follow up and challenge the insurace companies for the balance of their losses. If they don’t put the effort to rebound and fight for what they rightfully deserve then shame on them.

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