Who will pay Insurance Department's legal bills?

Official planned to bill State Farm
By ANITA LEE
mailto:LEEcalee@sunherald.com

The Mississippi Department of Insurance had planned to bill State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. for Deputy Commissioner Lee Harrell's legal fees for testimony in a policyholders' lawsuit, but has backed off that position.

Instead, Harrell said Monday that State Farm will cover only the portions of his testimony about the department's ongoing market-conduct examination of the company. State law allows the Department of Insurance to bill insurance companies for fees associated with such examinations.

However, Harrell said during his sworn pre-trial testimony June 7 in McIntosh v. State Farm the Attorney General's Office had agreed State Farm would pay for his attorney, James P. Streetman III.

Attorney General Jim Hood disagreed. On Friday, he released a statement that said: "At no time did the Attorney General's Office authorize the Department of Insurance to have its legal representation paid for by an insurance company in any matter other than the market-conduct survey. To do so would be a conflict of interest and MDI should know that."

Read the rest of the Sun Herald story.