Chuck Quackenbush

The following link is to the last five cases resolved in October 2002.  Court Cases

These show the case concocted against me, alleging that there was something illegal or improper done to resolve the Northrigde Earthquake claims.  The Judge decided the allegations against me were utterly groundless.

These claims were beyond the statute of limitations of one year when I took office, and my attempts to get the Legislature to extend this time period were not successful through then Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee, Jack Scott.  The Senate Insurance Committee Chair, Jackie Speier, "tabled" it until it was politically expedient, after I had resigned.  She staged widely publicized and expensive "hearings" which resulted in fewer than 200 total "inquiries" from policyholders.

If the Department sued the insurers, years of expensive ligtigation would follow, adding costs to taxpayers and policyholders.  If some fines resulted (not at all certain), those fines would go to the "general fund", not the victims.  The foundations forced the insurers to reopen the claims as well as provide additional funds for some who were underinsured or not insured.

Though I had fined insurance companies $56 million, more than all previous commissioners combined, this was not the best path to get restitution for the policyholders in this case.

Comments by the Judge show that the same methods were used, and even bragged about,  by other regulators such as the Attorney General of California who brought this suit.

The cross complaint filed by the Insurers who were also sued, were granted, and the agreements developed by the Quackenbush Administration that forced insurers to reexamine claims, and provided over a hundred million dollars more to victims, still stand today.

The following chart shows the claims information before the suit:

Supplied by  the Personal Insurance Federation of California   

Northridge Earthquake Claims Reports as of December 1999 

company   total claims  paid out  pending   Quake Premium Collected

State Farm     117,000  $3.5 Bil  .1 of 1%       $1.2Billion

SAFCO            8,293  $265 mil  10 claims      $127.5 mil

Farmers         36,700  $2.0 Bil  .1 of 1%       $500 mil

21st Century    46,400  $1.04 Bil 46 claims      $48.7mil

Progressive         75  $75,000       0 

TOTALS         208,468  $7.2 Billion             $1.8 Bil 

Still Serving the public as Sheriff's Deputy