Allstate (ALL)

dismissed.  The Louisiana Supreme Court has denied the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration of the federal court’s dismissal.

·                  The Company has also been sued in a putative class action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.  The plaintiffs allege that they were entitled to, but did not receive, payment for general contractor overhead and profit or that the overhead and profit they received was not adequate to compensate them for the entire costs of a general contractor.  The Company’s motion to strike the class allegations was denied and the parties are proceeding with discovery.  Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification is pending.

·                  The Louisiana Attorney General filed a class action lawsuit in state court against Allstate and other insurers on behalf of Road Home fund recipients alleging that the insurers have failed to pay all damages owed under their policies.  The insurers removed the matter to federal court.  The district court denied plaintiffs’ motion to remand the matter to state court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the denial of remand motion.  The matter will now proceed in federal court.

·                  The Louisiana Attorney General also has filed a lawsuit in state court against Allstate, other insurers, a consulting company, and two computer database companies.  The lawsuit is brought under the Louisiana Monopolies Act and generally alleges the defendants conspired to suppress competition and thwart policyholder recoveries.  The defendants removed the matter to federal court.  Plaintiffs’ motion to remand the matter to state court was defeated at both the trial court and Court of Appeals levels.  The matter now will proceed in federal court.

·                  Private plaintiffs have filed qui tam actions under the Federal False Claims Act against Allstate and certain other insurers in Louisiana and Mississippi federal courts regarding claims that they administered under the federally funded National Flood Insurance Program.  The basic allegations are that insurers and engineering firms falsely or fraudulently identified the cause of Hurricane Katrina related property damage as “flood” so that those claims would be paid through the National Flood Insurance Program.  The action brought in federal court in Louisiana has been dismissed.  Plaintiffs are appealing that dismissal.  In the Mississippi action, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion to voluntarily dismiss Allstate.