Interesting article in the Huffington Post last month.  This article exposes what most of us already know.  Insurance companies are putting profits ahead of people.  They are able to get away with this because the laws which regulate this industry are weak and one-sided.  According to a prominent business professor from Northwestern University, claims have become a money-making process for the insurance industry.  What this means is that insurance companies actually make money when you have a loss.

According to the Huffington Post, the insurance company makes money off of their clients by purposefully low-balling their customers. According to the article, if a customer refused a low ball offer, their claim would be delayed and the customer would be intentionally forced to bring expensive litigation.  According to a former Allstate Insurance Company claims agent, their strategy was to make enforcing your rights so expensive and time-consuming that lawyers could not afford to help policy holders.  This former Allstate employee states that this policy was nick named, “From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.”

The Huffington Post cites to an article which identifies Allstate Insurance Company as the worst insurance company in the country.  Behind Allstate are Unum, AIG, State Farm, Conseco, WellPoint, Farmers, UnitedHealth, Torchmark, and Liberty Mutual.   To read more about how insurance companies are purposefully delaying your claims read the article here. Link

On June 29, 2011, an Escambia County Jury told Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company that it could not get out of a deal it made with a Pensacola family of 6.  A Pensacola family purchased homeowner’s insurance from the company with the red elephant, Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company.  Universal promised to insure the family home in case of disaster if the family agreed to pay insurance premiums.  The family agreed to the deal and paid Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company over $2,000.00 for insurance to protect their home.

In 2007, the family home experienced an accidental fire.  The fire burned the home to the ground and consumed almost every possession they owned.  Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company had no problem accepting this family’s money for premiums –until they needed to make a claim that is. When Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company found out about the accidental fire, they decided they no longer wanted to be the family’s insurance company—they wanted to “take-back” the deal.

Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company did not claim the fire was not covered under the policy.  Accidental fire is clearly covered by this policy.  The insurance company argued that it did not have to honor the policy because one of the family members answered a question on the application incorrectly.  Instead of scouring through the debris and helping the family evaluate the extent of the damage, Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company went scouring the public records to see if they could find a mistake on the application.  When Universal found a mistake involving a mathematical error dealing with the length of time since an event, 8 /12 years earlier, they simply refused to pay any money to help this family.  Universal essentially ripped up the policy in the face of the family.

The family hired Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A. to handle their insurance dispute with Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company.  Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A. filed a law suit against Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company for breach of contract because it refused to honor its promise to provide this family with benefits after their property was damaged by fire.  Partner, J. Phillip Warren, with the assistance of paralegal, Tracy Hendrix, FRP, presented this family’s case to an Escambia County Jury.  After a three day trial, the jury quickly came back with a verdict finding that Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company had breached their contract with the family.  The jury’s verdict requires Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company to honor the policy and provide the benefits it promised nearly 4 years earlier.

In an effort to better reach out to the community and let them know what we do at Taylor, Warren & Weidner, P.A., we have launched three new television commercials.  See them here:

Stephanie Taylor on Disability Insurance

Click here to view the embedded video.

Keith Weidner on Insurance Claim Denials

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stephanie Taylor on Social Security Disability

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our attorneys advised the family that their own insurance company was required to provide UM benefits for the loss of their son.  The family made a claim for UM benefits with their own insurer based on the advice of our attorneys.  The family’s insurer denied the claim despite the fact that the family had purchased UM benefits as part of the insurance policy.  The UM benefits were clearly payable since the policy required the insurer to pay UM benefits in the event their son was killed by a careless driver without adequate insurance.
The family retained our attorneys to protect their rights and force the insurance company to keep its promise.  When our attorneys demanded that the insurance company pay the UM benefits or face legal action, the insurance company attempted to pay only a portion of the UM benefits.  Our attorneys immediately notified the insurance company that the policy required that the UM benefits be paid in full.  Our attorneys also notified the insurer that their refusal to immediately pay all UM benefits was in bad faith.  Despite the clear legal obligation to pay all UM benefits, the insurer still refused to keep its promise to this family.  Our attorneys filed a lawsuit against the insurance company.  The Court found that the insurance company was required to provide all UM benefits as our attorneys pointed out all along.  The Court set the matter for trial to determine damages.  The insurance company agreed to a confidential settlement only a few weeks prior to trial.  TWW forced the insurance company to pay many times more than the amount of the UM benefits because the insurer acted in bad faith when it refused to pay the claim in full.  This family can now move toward finding closure with the loss of their son.  There is no doubt that the insurance company will think twice before treating another family this way.  If you feel that you have been treated unfairly by an insurance company, contact TWW today to find out how to enforce your legal rights.