Daughter of Beatles producer after being hit by a car in Japan and lied to by a Japanese Insurance Company brought Japanese Insurance Non-Payment Scandal into the open, adding to the woes of AIG
The daughter of the man who first brought the Beatles to America is taking major Japanese Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance to court in Los Angeles on Monday morning September 22, at her first hearing in the US District Court for the District of Central California.
This is the third time she has brought suit against the company in America.
This case first came to the public’s notice on November 11 and 12, 2005 when all the major Japanese newspapers covered her story. The headlines read “American Woman files 90 million dollar lawsuit against Japanese Insurance Company.” These articles caused a considerable sensation, but they overlooked what had really been occurring behind the scenes which was the beginning of AIG’s demise in Japan.
On the evening of January 10, 2004 a seemingly insignificant accident took place on a snowy mountain pass. This accident was to be a butterfly that caused the hurricane which hit the largely AIG-owned Japanese Insurance business.
The driver was Hollywood born Andrea Good, the daughter of famous rock and roll producer of the 60’s, Jack Good. She had been driving her children and husband to a dinner with the sister of the Japanese rock group, Glay.
Good and her husband were hit from behind by a college student on his way home from the nearby ski basin. She suffered neck and back injuries, and her husband suffered a broken foot and an injured wrist. It might just have been another typical winter accident. It was what happened after that would change Japan’s entire insurance system.
The insurance company claimed that the college student was not their client, and left Good and her family to fend for themselves.
Almost two weeks later, Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance Company changed their story. The student had been insured and Fuji even claimed he had been insured since the beginning. Why? They would not explain, nor apologize.
Good and her husband offered to accept one yen (about one cent) in compensation providing that Fuji explained the reason for their silence and offered an apology for leaving them with their injuries for over 10 days.
Fuji refused. Good got her family’s Hollywood lawyer to write a letter to the company and sent a copy to the Japanese Financial Services Agency.
In September of 2004, Fuji took Good and her husband to court in Japan, an unethical move against Good who was declared by authorities to be entirely innocent of the accident.
On February 10, 2005, the Japanese Financial Services Agency launched an investigation of the AIG affiliated Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance with the lead that Good had provided through her lawyer.
This opened a can of worms which led to the discovery of one insurance scandal after another from one company to the next. Soon the total of non-payment on insurance policies of ran into the billions.
It was the beginning of the end.
Desiring that Fuji suffer punitive damages which are non-existent in Japan, Good took her case to the States as she is also a resident of New Mexico. She served Fuji at their Los Angeles office. She has lost two cases and one appeal for lack of jurisdiction, although she and her husband have proved victorious against those who took them to court in Japan. Many people have advised Good to drop the matter and no lawyer would take her case. What can one woman do against a big company?
Good has provided the answer. “There is always something that the little guy can do. Such companies must not be allowed to get away with just a slap on the wrist,” she says. Thus, appearing pro se, she enters her third suit. What happens if her case is dismissed again? She intends to appeal, and go to another forum if necessary.
It’s not the money, it’s the principle. Good does not intend to give up until Fuji explains and apologizes setting an example for other insurance companies to follow.
How does Good plan to fund her court battles now that she has lost her home and job and her resources have run out? Good holds another astounding secret: lost Beatle interview tapes!
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