Industry Not Getting Out Truth About Katrina Claims, Soto Maintains

May 14, 2007

While the public perception is that the industry failed consumers in the handling of Hurricane Katrina claims, the reality is quite different, according to the leader of the nation's largest insurance agents' group.

"The reality is that overwhelming majority of the Katrina claims have been settled. Surveys that have been made that actually indicate that the majority of the people are satisfied with the way they were treated and the way they were paid," says Miami insurance agent Alex Soto, who is the elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers.

"If you on the other hand listen to the press, listen to the stories, listen to the people, who are getting in front of the microphones, it is a constant barrage of the criticism, of hyperbole, that seem to tell the story to the American people that almost no one has been paid, and that everyone is very dissatisfied."

Soto's remarks on Katrina claims are from his recent video interview with Insurance Journal. His remarks are featured on the Insurance Journal web site at www.insurancejournal.com, where the entire interview can also be viewed.

Soto is critical of insurer trade groups for talking too much to the industry and not enough to the public and offers a solution.

"If I had my druthers, I would get every one of those organizations, 10 to 15 podium people, articulate people, armed with the facts, and armed with the truth, and give them one simple challenge: tell the truth, tell the real story," Soto says.

"I would make it their business to every day contact all the venues of press. I would have them call every newspaper, I'd have them call every TV station. I would have them attend public forums to simply tell the truth," he adds.

Soto's remarks from his video interview are featured on the Insurance Journal web site at www.insurancejournal.com, where the entire interview can also be viewed.

To view this excerpt from the video interview, visit www.insurancejournal.com.