Our client, a 35 year old mother, weighed 326lbs in 2006. When her young son was diagnosed as a special needs child, she knew that she had to change her lifestyle. By 2010, she had lost over 150lbs enroute to her target weight of 165lb and participation in a marathon. In May 2010, she was walking in crosswalk on a residential street when she was hit by a car. The driver of the car had her head down and was busy texting. * The collision caused orthopedic injuries to our client’s neck, back and hips along with a concussion. On behalf of our client, we settled the personal injury case when the insurance company for the driver agreed to pay the limits of their policy. We then pursued an underinsured motorist claim, a benefit paid for in our client’s own insurance policy. * As part of her recovery, the doctors recommended that our client be as active as possible, including resuming her training program. Unfortunately, our client’s own insurance company hired an orthopedic surgeon to say that all of her chronic complaints were because of her training and that being hit by a car was just a coincidence. He even went so far as to say that he could state the exact day that the collision stopped causing her symptoms. The insurance company used this testimony to deny her payment and forced the case to arbitration instead of settlement. They denied payment even though every treating physician said that being hit by a car was the reason that she still was in pain and her training helped reduce her symptoms. * We presented our case in front of the arbitrator. The treating physicians testified and supported our case while also refuting the insurance company theories proposed by their paid expert. The arbitration ended with the insurance company doctor in the hallway claiming he had to leave because of a scheduling issue. We were then advised that the insurance company was giving up and would pay the limits of the policy. This was money that should have been paid over a year earlier. Now, the insurance company will also be paying our arbitration costs. * The case is an excellent example of the lengths to which insurance companies will go to save as much money as possible at the expense of their own insureds. The only time they pay a fair amount is when they are forced to do so by firms such as ours that are committed to taking cases to trial or arbitration. The financial interests of the insurance company are always their first priority, regardless of what they present in feel-good commercials. * The following is a quote from our arbitration brief: * “This insurance company retained an orthopedic surgeon to opine that my client recovered within five months because most people recover within five months. I have had the pleasure of dealing with some fine doctors employed by the defense industry; this doctor is not one of them. He states that any symptoms on 10/27/10 were caused by the collision and that all symptoms on 10/28/10 are not. He is a buffoon. “
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:02:40 +0000
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