Exclusive: Whistleblowers Say State Farm Cheated KatrinaVictims

By Brian Ross and Joseph Rhee

Aug 28, 2006 10:25am

State Farm Insurance supervisorssystematically demanded which HurricaneKatrina damage studies always be buried orperhaps replaced or even changed to ensurethat the organization wouldn't normallyhave to spend policyholders' claimsthroughout Mississippi, a couple of StateFarm insiders tell ABC News. Kerri and alsoCori Rigsby, impartial adjusters which hadlabored regarding State Farm exclusivelyfor eight years, say they've got turned overa big quantity of internal company documents and their very own comprehensive statement to theFBI and Mississippi state investigators. in an exclusive interview with ABC news, which wasbroadcast about 20/20 and world News, your Rigsby sisters say they saw "widespread" fraud in theState Farm offices inside Biloxi along with Gulfport, Miss. "Katrina had been devastating, howeverthus had been State Farm," says Cori Rigsby. at 1 point, they say State Farm brought in theparticular shredding truck they believe has been utilized to destroy crucial documents. State Farmsays shredding is standard to protect policyholders' privacy. the sisters say they will observedsupervisors visit fantastic lengths for you to strain outside engineers in order to prepare reviewsconcluding that will damage has been brought in by water, not covered under State Farm policies,rather than by simply wind. They Will say reviews that will concluded which damage has beencaused by wind, with regard to which usually State Farm would have for you to pay, were hiddeninside a special file along with new reviews were ordered. Cori Rigsby says the girl recalls anysenior coordinator purchasing that the engineering business be told to alter the actual findings in itsstatement so that State Farm wouldn't normally must pay. "Tell them if they don't alter theirparticular report, we're not spending his or her invoice," your woman remembers the actualsupervisor saying. a lawyer with regard to State Farm, Wayne Drinkwater, advised ABC news he wasunfamiliar with almost all the Rigsby sisters yet denied State Farm cheated policyholders orpressured outside engineers to do well in particular conclusions in their damage reports. "We, ofcourse, have got not necessarily been cheating," Drinkwater said. Your allegations, if proven,would offer the suspicions regarding thousands of homeowners across the Mississippi Gulf Coastwhom have been struggling to collect sufficient insurance funds in order to rebuild their homes.Numerous get filed lawsuits against State Farm as well as other insurance firms alleging the firmsregarding wrongly denying or low-balling their claims. The Particular Rigsby sisters' allegationshave become a vital a component of suits filed against State Farm by well-known Mississippi lawyerDickie Scruggs, famous regarding using on the tobacco companies. Discover photos of Katrina, 1 Yrlater - the particular National Disgrace That's Nonetheless Heading On. In case you've stood ahorrible expertise by getting an insurance company, click here to share your story together with us.