From the Insurance Companies perspective, the answer is simple- there is no reason for them to pay. My clients are universally surprised to learn that under ERISA the only thing you can sue for are the unpaid LTD benefits. There is no claim for emotional distress, or pain and suffering.…
In testimony presented to Congress, the Washington Post recently reported on the testimony of Cigna Insurance’s former VP, Wendell Potter who said insurers “make paperwork confusing because ‘they realize that people will just simply give up and not pursue it’ if they think they have been shortchanged.” Referring to the…
Michigan residents injured in auto accidents beware of Auto Insurance tactics. According to the sworn testimony of a representative of State Farm Insurance it appears that the company paid millions of dollars to a consulting firm to analyze and modify its claims handling practices in the mid 90s. According to…
As reported in the Houston Chronicle Great American Insurance Company is trying to avoid paying claims for the deaths of multiple people killed in a fire in an office building by arguing that their deaths were actually caused by smoke inhallation which is “pollution.” This despite the fact that the…
Insurer-AIG has sunk to a whole new level. Iraqi war veteran Andrew White returned from Iraq after spending two years protecting American Soldiers by removing IED’s. His brother was not so fortunate-He was killed in combat. So Andrew decided to take out a life insurance policy naming his parents as…
I hate to pick on Allstate again, but they have really had some big problems lately. The much maligned insurer, Allstate, recently agreed to a 28.5% rate reduction for all of its California residents. Apparently, in order to avoid the potential of having to pay a huge amount in refunds…
Allstate recently settled a bad faith lawsuit where it had been held in contempt of court for refusing to produce documents pursuant to a court order. Allstate began racking up $25,000 in fines per day when it refused to follow the Judge’s order to produce the documents. Apparently, Plaintiff sought…
Another bad faith verdict against Allstate is upheld by the Missouri Court of Appeals reported the Kansas City Star. This time it looks like it is going to cost Allstate a cool sixteen million dollars. Apparently, Allstate failed to respond to a demand in a case where its insured caused…
Long Term Disability Insurer, Unum Provident, appears to be complying with the terms of the Multi-State Regulatory Settlement Agreement according to Eric Dinallo, the New York Insurance Superintendant. In November 2004 Unum, the Department of Labor and a number of states entered into a settlement agreement requiring Unum to pay…
“That Smells Bad” said Justice Scalia as he described disability insurer-MetLife’s conflict of interest. The US Supreme Court heard Oral arguments last week in Glenn v. Metlife. This is an important decision for all disability claims governed by ERISA. The Supreme Court examined how Metlife’s inherent conflict of interest–as both…