A State Farm executive was fired after an undercover video recorded during a Tinder date appears to show him talking about rate hikes after the SoCal wildfires. In a shocking turn of events, Haden Kirkpatrick was fired after an undercover video appears to show him talking about rate hikes.
Details of the Controversy
According to reporting from the L.A. Times, he was recorded during a Tinder date - saying that a request for rate hikes was "kind of" orchestrated "but not in the way you would think." What's worse -- the comments were made in reference to fire victims in the Pacific Palisades."Where the Palisades are, there should never be houses built there in the first place, where people want to be built in areas where they have natural areas around them for their ego. But they're also... its a (expletive) desert," Kirkpatrick is heard saying in the recording.
Kirkpatrick was a vice president for innovation and venture capital at State Farm. In the video, he appears to describe a bargaining situation with the department of insurance. He describes a final bargaining chip of threatening to cancel policies.
State Farm exec fired after secret recording appears to show him discussing rate hikes
State Farm's Response
State Farm sent Eyewitness News the following statement:
"These assertions are inaccurate and in no way represent the views of State Farm. They do not reflect our position regarding the victims of this tragedy, the commitment we have demonstrated to the people of California, or our hiring practices across the company."
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The company also confirmed that Kirkpatrick is no longer affiliated with State Farm. Kirkpatrick has made comments, telling the L.A. Times he believes the Tinder date was a setup. Eyewitness News has reached out to Kirkpatrick but we have not yet heard back.
Rate Hike Information
State Farm General, the company's California subsidiary, has filed for an emergency 22% rate hike for its homeowners' policies. It cites the fires and a $5 billion decline in its surplus account over the last decade.
Similar Lawsuits Against State Farm
An Arkansas jury found recently that a major car insurance carrier had shortchanged customers who had been in accidents that left their cars "totaled," and now plaintiffs in other states are pursuing similar cases. After learning of the reimbursement issue in a social media post, Chadwick became the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the insurance giant accusing it of undervaluing and shorting payouts on claims like hers. The Arkansas lead plaintiff, Rose Chadwick, said she initially assumed the reimbursement for her "totaled" 2011 Hyundai was reasonable compensation, "because that's what I pay them for, is to be fair with me." But after learning about potential legal action challenging the way insurance carrier State Farm calculated the replacement cost, she decided to bring her case to court.
Her lawyers alleged that the company used technology to estimate the amount of buying a replacement. That program factored into the calculation the potential for the car buyer to negotiate a discount from used car dealers - a haggling discount that Chadwick's attorneys argued was no longer consistent with how modern-day used cars are priced and sold. "The computer program that State Farm used to calculate the replacement value of the car, did it systematically unfairly," said Chadwick's attorney, Brian Glasser. In an Arkansas federal court in June, a jury agreed - finding in favor of Chadwick and 37,000 other plaintiffs.
The jury determined Chadwick had been underpaid by about $600 for a car worth $4,700. State Farm is fighting lawsuits on the issue in multiple states, arguing that the system the company used at the time was standard for most automobile insurers.
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Company officials noted that appellate courts in multiple jurisdictions have agreed with their contention that a challenge to the reimbursement process cannot be made en masse, in the form of a class action lawsuit, as it was in Arkansas.
"State Farm moves billions of dollars to people for their broken cars every year and, and insurance companies around America do similar numbers," Glasser said. "So we're talking about these computer programs that calculate the value of your replacement vehicle that affect billions of dollars every year."
Attorneys are launching similar cases against several insurance carriers in at least 19 states while regulators in some of those states weigh whether insurers must change how they value total loss cars.
State Farm said customers are not without recourse if they have questions about the estimate the company provides to reimburse a customer whose car was a total loss.
| Issue | Details |
|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Rose Chadwick |
| Allegation | State Farm undervalued and shorted payouts on claims for totaled cars. |
| Technology Used | Computer program to estimate replacement value, factoring in potential negotiation discounts. |
| Jury Verdict | Favored Chadwick and 37,000 other plaintiffs. |
| Underpayment | Chadwick was underpaid by about $600 for a car worth $4,700. |
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