The Godzilla Insurance argument

Who knew that Judges had senses of humor?

Apparently in Maryland back in 2006, Allstate insurance was looking to limit risks imposed from various insurance policies.

One of those risks involved halting written policies for coastal areas within Maryland, those who faced potential disasters from potentially large hurricanes.

Such a policy would essentially limit one-third of the state's geographic area altogether.

What made this decision controversial was the fact that Maryland had never experienced a catastrophic hurricane before.

While this decision was agreed upon by the Maryland Insurance Administration, the Maryland People’s Insurance Counsel Division, a consumer protection unit of the Office of the Attorney General, challenged this ruling.

For obvious reasons they felt that the people of Maryland were getting the raw end, and the Judge reviewing the case felt the same way about Allstate's far-fetched notions, stating the following:

"He argued that recorded history on the subject shows, again and again, that a catastrophic hurricane of the order of magnitude described in Allstate’s plan justification and forecasting models has not made landfall in Maryland yet. And the chance of such a hurricane hitting Maryland in the future is so improbable that the insurers might as well be waiting for Godzilla to attack Maryland".

Again who know that Judges had enough sense of humor to utilize Godzilla in this manner.

Unfortunately the King of Monsters did not win the argument here, as the highest court in Maryland, the Maryland Court of Appeals, in the end still sided with Allstate.

For more info about this interesting argument follow this link here:

Insurancejournal.com: Maryland High Court Sides With Allstate in Coastal Homeowners Case