Two dozen Florida insurance brokers and insurers are suing some of the biggest names in the insurance business, including Chubb and Prudential, charging them with price-fixing and bid-rigging.

The suit accuses the insurers of paying independent agents a second commission, or "contingent commission," to lock up more business, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Independent agents are supposed to work strictly for their clients, finding and selling the insurance policy that best fits their client's needs.

But the second commission gives agents an incentive to push the insurance line that pays them a "kickback," according to the suit. It accuses the insurers and brokers of racketeering, bid rigging and anti-competitive behavior.

The suit charges that insurance customers have been cheated out of "hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars" since 1994.

The suit basically echoes allegations made by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who so far has won guilty pleas from nine insurance company or insurance brokerage executives, including those associated with two of the companies named in the Florida suit.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist is also investigating the insurance industry and has issued subpoenas to nearly two-dozen insurance companies and brokers.

The Seminole County suit was filed by Palm Tree Computer Systems Inc., a small Oviedo company that sells and services computers and provides Web page design and hosting; and Delta Research Institute Inc., a Longwood financial-research company.

Referred from: (http://www.consumeraffairs.com)