Your "right to now": a broken promise?

After World War II, as the American economy grew, corporations grew in size and the power imbalance between businesses and consumers increased greatly - to the disadvantage of consumers.  The modern-day consumer rights movement is said to have started in March of 1962, when U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in a historic ‘‘special message’’ to the Congress expressed his concerns over product safety, affordability, and consumer choice.  He addressed his vision for protection of consumer interests, setting forth four basic consumer rights: 

  • The right to safety, 
  • The right to be informed, 
  • The right to choose, and 
  • The right to be heard.


Today, in its “Code of consumer rights & responsibilities”, 
Allstate states:

Right to be informed

You can expect to access clear information about your policy, your coverage, and the claims settlement process. You have the right to an easy-to-understand explanation of how insurance works and how it will meet your needs. You also have a right to know how insurers calculate price based on relevant facts.


Does Allstate act in good faith fulfilling this “right”?

If Allstate's promise is merely advertising puffery spoken in bad faith, then our fight for consumer rights must continue.


Good faith, a concept respected since ancient Roman times when it was known as bona fides, means that a person acts with honesty or sincerity of intention in the fulfillment of obligations by one person to another.  The opposed concepts are bad faith, mala fides (duplicity) and perfidy (pretense).


According to Wikipedia:  In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly and fairly, so as not to destroy the right of the other party or parties to receive the benefits of the contract. In insurance law, the insurer's breach of the implied covenant may give rise to a legal liability known as insurance bad faith.


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