Carrying adequate insurance coverage can provide peace of mind by ensuring that you have a safety net if you are ever injured or suffer a loss. We rely on insurance; we assume it will be there when we need it. What happens when your insurance company refuses to provide what you paid for? What happens if you have a policy with uninsured or underinsured coverage and are in an auto accident due to the negligence of someone else?
The idea behind underinsurance and un-insurance coverage is simple: If you’re injured in an auto accident – driver, passenger or pedestrian – and the at-fault driver either does not have insurance or is underinsured, you are entitled to additional payment from your insurance company, up to your coverage limits, to help pay your medical bills. Now what if the injured victim’s insurance company refuses to pay?
Suffering a personal injury in an auto accident is bad enough, but when the insurance company refuses in bad faith to negotiate or settle a claim, the impact can be devastating. That is the case with a Texas man who was seriously injured by an underinsured motorist. At the time of the accident, he had an insurance policy with State Farm that included coverage for uninsured and underinsured motorists. State Farm denied the claims and was not willing to pay on the policy. Was this the right thing to do? No, but insurance companies are not interested in what is right; they will deny, delay, and defend claims out of greed.
While the amount a victim can recover will depend on the specifics of his policy and the limits involved, he should be able to recover damages from his own insurance company, the one who has received and cashed his premium checks, for years! This is another case of the “not so good neighbors” going after the little guy hoping he would not fight back. State Farm was wrong.
Refusing to give into State Farm’s deny, delay, and defend tactics, the victim has filed a lawsuit. He is asking for damages for past and future mental anguish, medical expenses and lost wages. Why was a lawsuit necessary? Because State Farm puts profits over its obligations to its policyholders. Corporate greed causes the plaintiff to fight for his rights through a long litigation process.
Insurance companies continuously take from the poor and give to the rich; they get richer while the innocent victims get poorer. Without holding the insurance companies accountable, these greedy companies will continue to take advantage of injured plaintiffs. Don’t be afraid to stand up to the insurance companies and stand up for your rights.
Mark Bello has thirty-three years experience as a trial lawyer and twelve years as an underwriter and situational analyst in the lawsuit funding industry. He is the owner and founder of Lawsuit Financial Corporation which helps provide legal finance cash flow solutions and consulting when necessities of life litigation funding is needed by plaintiffs involved in pending, personal injury litigation. Bello is a Justice Pac member of the American Association for Justice, Sustaining and Justice Pac member of the Michigan Association for Justice, Business Associate of the Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado Associations for Justice, a member of the American Bar Association as well as their ABA Advisory Committee, the State Bar of Michigan and the Injury Board.
