Insurance Claims

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy swept through seven different countries and killed approximately 253 people, with damage estimates near $63 billion in the United States alone. Many of the 24 American states that were affected from Hurricane Sandy, also known as Superstorm Sandy, endured heavy flooding, wind, and property damage.

Dominic & Sheila Traina’s family was one of the many that lost their home in the devastating hurricane last year. The Trainas had lived in their Staten Island home for over four decades and had been paying Allstate Insurance loyally for 43 years to cover their home.

After the storm, the Trainas were utterly shocked to learn that Allstate Insurance was only willing to give $10,000 for the total loss of their home. Allstate’s argument to low-ball the Trainas’ claim is that the Trainas home was destroyed by flooding, which is not covered in their insurance policy. Fortunately for the Trainas, a neighbor witnessed their home collapse before the water hit and immediately called them.

The Trainas rightfully rejected Allstate’s settlement payout and are considering hiring a lawyer to help them prove that wind was the damaging factor, not water.

To make matters worse, the Trainas saw on Thanksgiving Day a television advertisement by Allstate which showed the destruction caused by Sandy – including images of their destroyed home – all the while giving thanks to Allstate agents. On January 4, Allstate announced that it would discontinue running the television advertisement.

We send our hearts to the Traina family and wish them the best in their battle against Allstate.

It is shameful and dishonest, but that is exactly what Allstate and other insurance companies do to their loyal members. The one entity that should be there for you when disaster hits is also the one that will fight tooth and nail to downplay your claim and try to pay you the least amount possible. Even to the point of using victims’ destroyed homes in commercials to make their company look good. It makes you think whether even having insurance mean that you’re in good hands.

Insurance companies are never on your side. Their only motive is profit and they will deny or minimize your claim to maximize their profits. Before settling your San Diego County personal injury insurance claim, contact a legal professional that will look out for your best interest at (888) 233-5020.

Two years after the death of Kaitlynn Fisher, Progressive Insurance finally reached a settlement agreement with the Fisher family. Unfortunately, it took the insurance company’s name being completely tarnished as the story quickly went viral throughout the Internet.

In 2010, Kaitlynn Fisher died in a fatal car accident after a driver ran a red light and crashed into her. The driver that ran the red light, Ronald Kevin Hope III, was underinsured, which meant that his insurance coverage was not enough to cover all of the related expenses. Maryland law does not allow for victims to sue the insurance company to pay for the difference. In order for the Fisher family to collect the difference, they were forced to sue Hope for negligence and prove fault.

Kaitlynn Fisher’s brother, Matt Fisher, wrote a thorough blog post describing how his sister’s insurance company also defended the motorist that ran the red light. Progressive of course denied this claim, and then later said the defending attorney was from Nationwide. Matt Fisher replied to the insurance company by stating the defending attorney’s name as Jeffrey R. Moffat and posting clear evidence that he did indeed work for Progressive. The story quickly went viral and became a social media nightmare for the insurance company.

A spokesperson for Progressive confessed that during the trial, the company was defending their own interests.

Luckily, fault was proven against Hope and the Fisher family was awarded $760,000 plus legal fees. Unfortunately, the verdict was against Hope and not the insurance company. Progressive’s monetary settlement with the family is not confirmed, but is in the “tens of thousands” according to the Fisher family attorney, Allen W. Cohen.
The settlement is complete and the Fisher family can finally start rebuilding their lives. Our hearts go out to the Fisher family for their loss and battle with the insurance company.

Our dedicated San Diego County uninsured motorist accident lawyers at the Jurewitz Law Group fight against insurance companies to get our clients the compensation that they rightfully deserve. Call (888) 233-5020 for a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help.

Last year‚ we wrote about a story where an insurance agent failed to sell an auto insurance policy upgrade to a client of Northern Virginia personal injury attorney Ben Glass.  The result?  It cost his client $900‚000 in underinsured settlement funds while an increase in the policy limits up to the $1‚000‚000 case value would have only cost $7.49.

Failing to advise insurance customers of UM/UIM benefits and cheap additional coverage happens every day.  In fact‚ it just happened to me!

I try to reshop my insurance policies every year.  This year‚ when I called GEICO insurance to determine how much uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage I could purchase‚ I found out that I could increase my coverage from $100‚000 per person and $300‚000 per accident to $500‚000 per accident for an additional $48.80!  That is it–just slightly over $4 per month would increase my UM/UIM coverage by $400‚000.  Just so we’re clear‚ this also included increasing my third party bodily injury coverage (the coverage that applies if I am the at-fault driver and I injure another person) from $300‚000 to $500‚000 per accident.

Think about that.  My $4 per month saved could have cost me $400‚000!  That is a huge resource and could mean the difference between being able to provide for my medical care and loss of earnings due to prolonged careif I am involved in an auto accident in San Diego.  Without this additional coverage‚ I might be forced to file bankruptcy from not paying my bills.

What are insurance companies and their agents doing?  Isn’t it their job to sell additional coverage and to increase coverage limits to the most that their customers can afford?  Isn’t that good business?

Apparently not.  Apparently agents are not supposed to sell affordable coverages that truly protect their customers.  And‚ make no mistake about it‚ UM/UIM coverage is the most valuable insurance coverage you can purchase.

I am absolutely furious!

I just heard a story from my friend and Northern Virginia personal injury attorney‚ Ben Glass‚ about a man who suffered a catastrophic injury.  His injury was so bad that his insurance company‚ using his uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) motorist coverage‚ offered him his $100,000 policy limits without a demand letter even being sent.  His case was probably worth $1,000,000 easily and now after paying his health insurance liens and bills‚ he will probably be lucky to walk away with $50,000 to last him the rest of his life while he deals with his lifelong and permanent injuries.

It is no secret that insurance salesman do a very poor job selling UM/UIM coverage.  But this case takes the cake!

The client‚ the day after meeting with Mr. Glass and listening about how he should raise his UM/UIM limits to avoid this injustice in the future‚ called his insurance adjustor to raise his limits to $1,000,000.

The cost?

A whopping $7.49!

That’s right.  For the cost of a fast food burger meal‚ this client–had he been properly advised by the lazy insurance salesman–could have recovered $900,000 more than he did!  That is money that could have helped him and his family.

I am absolutely incensed.  Every Californian and San Diego resident should review their insurance coverage and maximize their UM/UIM policy limits right away.  As a service to the public‚ we will be happy to review your insurance policy and make recommendations for free.  Just fax it to our San Diego personal injury law office at 888-233-3180 and we’ll contact you with our recommendations.

Let’s make sure this does not happen again.

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We’ve written before about Progressive Insurance’s tactic of coming to injury accident victim’s home to make a lowball offer early on following an accident .  This practice seems to be growing in popularity amongst insurance companies.  More and more insurance adjustors are trying to get to accident victims early on to convince them to sign a release before they can hire a personal injury attorney.

The insurance companies are not dumb.  They know that their own insurance studies show that injury accident victims receive three times as much compensation when they hire a lawyer than when they do not.  It is the goal of the insurance companies to try to get away with paying as little money to settle claims.  This is just one tactic to acheive that goal.

A recent post on Facebook reminded our office of this tactic and how widespread it is.  According to the post‚ the insurance company offered the victim $1‚000 as final payment to settle his claim.  Unfortunately‚ he said yes and he accepted the settlement amount as payment in full.  When he told his family and a lawyer friend about the settlement‚ they all said he she should have waited until his medical treatment was done.  When he tried to reverse the agreement‚ the insurance company said "too bad‚ you signed a release."

It is always a smart idea to consult with a personal injury lawyer prior to settling an insurance claim.  Often‚ attorneys will provide a free consultation and advise you whether you should accept the settlement offer.  Since this does not cost anything‚ it is a very smart thing to do.  Don’t sell yourself short by settling with the insurance company early.