[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Dave: Honestly, why stop there? AIG represents probably the most visible of the culprits, but they were, by no means, alone in this mess.

I used to work for Willis back in the day and AIG is no different than any of the players and Greenberg, as much of an asshole as he is, isn’t markedly worse than his contemporaries or confederates.

Insurance is one of the biggest scams going and once you get into reinsurance, layering and captives, to name a few, you’re dealing with what amounts to legalized theft in terms of liability shifting and doing whatever is in your power to screw the client should a loss occur.[/quote]

I can’t disagree with any of that, but regarding Willis – and I could be wrong here – but isn’t it just a broker, as opposed to an underwriter? Or have I got that wrong?

(And, although I know insurance companies are a pain the ass about settling up, if they didn’t fight claims, think of what the rates would be… even higher than they are now. After all, the industry’s going to make its profit – and I don’t begrudge it that (assuming it’s not a total scam like AIG, that is) – but higher losses from claims just mean higher premiums for customers. There’s no free lunch.)