Missouri Injury Attorney Blog

Most insurance claims are not handled in "bad faith." However, some claims are handled with
malice and many claims are often processed in an inappropriate manner. While the below case is not a Missouri case, it is a story that many Missouri citizens can identify with as a result of their own experiences with insurance adjusters and their own insurance companies.

David Payne is an experienced injury and insurance claims attorney who handles cases like this in Missouri. Contact a lawyer now for a free consultation.

The best way to handle insurance companies not willing to pay fairly is by hiring an experienced insurance and personal injury lawyer. By hiring a lawyer, the lawyer deals with making sure the insurance company treats you fairly.

A jury in Montana awarded a woman $5.3 million in damages earlier this month in the largest bad-faith insurance verdict in Montana history.

The jury of one man and six women ruled unanimously against Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., deciding that the California-based company acted in bad faith and breach of contract in denying her insurance claim. In January 2003, the 32 year-old plaintiff suffered permanent brain injurys in a head-on car collision. She was not at fault in the accident, and her damages far exceeded the amount of the other driver's insurance policy limit.

She, however, fortunately was covered under her family's insurance plan for a total of $1.5 million in underinsured motorist benefits and $15,000 in medical pay. Still, the company refused to pay out.

The verdict included $3.5 million in punitive damages, because the jury found the insurance company acted in malice, while the remaining $1.8 million was ordered for compensatory damages, for medical bills, loss of past and future earning capacity, physical pain and suffering, mental and emotional injury and loss of established course of life.

The plaintiff's attorney was quoted as saying, “this was a very intelligent jury and they weren't fooled by any of the usual official excuses, and they got mad.”

To make matter worse, the injured woman's medical bills were turned over to collections after Fireman's Insurance repeatedly refused to pay her medical expenses. The company's refusal to pay the medical bills resulted in delayed treatment and interfered with her medical treatment.

“It was a classic case of David and Goliath, where they are just trying to wear you out,” said the injured woman and she added, “I was completely overwhelmed and I'm really thankful to the jury for doing the right thing, and to my legal team for standing behind me. It has been a really long, long hard road.”

At trial, evidence showed that Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.'s net assets in 2004, the same year the injured woman's claim, exceeded $9.9 billion.

The case shows that the little guy can prevail thanks to our judicial system and that the scales of justice can get tipped back in balance.

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Monett Injury Law Cassville Auto Accident Attorney Republic Car Wreck Lawyer

David Payne is an attorney with experience that can help you if you have been injury!

Do I need an attorney to handle my personal injury claim?

You better believe the insurance company representing the person at fault for the accident will have a team of adjusters, investigators and attorneys working against you. The insurance company's goal: pay you as little as possible to settle your claim. If you have a serious personal injury case, you need a qualified Missouri personal injury attorney to ensure that you receive fair compensation.

Contact David Payne for a free and prompt consultation regarding your case.

The good news: according to studies conducted by insurance companies, individuals recover 2 1/2 times more for their auto accident case if they are represented by a qualified personal injury attorney. No matter how nice insurance adjusters may be treating you, they are paid to have one goal in mind: to pay you as little as possible. This is how the insurance company maximizes its profits: pay as little as possible.

Despite slogans such as "You're in Good Hands with Allstate" or "State Farm is There," an insurance adjuster, even one for your own insurance company, does not act in your best interest, nor are they required to behave as such. The insurance company's interests (keeping their money) are fundamentally at odds with accident victims (receiving insurance money for compensation).

Insurance companies do not work for you in this adversarial system. If your injuries are significant, there are several reasons why you a good personal injury lawyer. A good lawyer will seek every area of damages that applies to your case, and find ways to support those damages with evidence and documentation that will be admissible in court and persuasive to a jury. The threat of trial (from YOUR lawyer) itself adds power to YOUR case and helps it settle.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND: the insurance company knows that it's almost impossible for an individual to take a serious injury case to trial without an attorney.

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David Payne ~ Insurance Claims Lawyer for Plaintiffs

This related story was previously posted on Missouri Injury Attorney Blog.

Oh, happy day ! POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Score one for the good guy! Bad press and public pressure influenced the "right" decision being made...compassion is wonderfully applied by THE corporate giant.

"David A. Payne is an experience injury attorney in Cassville taking serious injury cases."

Wal-Mart has dropped their lawsuit against their disabled former employee Debbie Shank. Wal-Mart was trying to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Jackson, Missouri women's trust it had put into her health insurance trust plan for her care claiming rights to the money under a subrogation provision.

Wal-Mart stated they paid out for the benefit of their employee over $470,000 in medical expenses, and was seeking to get it all back.

The retail giant won in court, including exhausting all appeals, against the Shank family, and was set to collect the money.

After intense negative public pressure (including the all powerful Missouri Injury Attorney Blog), Debbie Shank’s story gained great national publicity, turning into a public relations nightmare for the retail giant.

Wal-Mart has just now sent Jim and Debbie Shank a letter stating they will not collect the money it had won in a lawsuit.

Shank put out a statement saying “It wasn’t me who made this happen, it was the outcry of the people, and if there’s a lesson in this story, it’s that we the people still means something.”

Oh, a feel good story-finally!

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MISSOURI PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER

David A. Payne--Serving Cassville, Monett, Aurora, Mt. Vernon, Republic, Springfield and all towns and counties in Southwest Missouri.

Do I consider State Farm’s yearly profit excessive? No. Well, shouldn't I, am I not an attorney fighting for the little guy? In 2006 their reported profits were $5.6 BILLION!!! Does that change my mind? Nope.

And why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care about their profits? I care about what aspects of this whole circus I can control. Should I care about the manner in which they receive their profits, the manner in which they do business, how fairly they treat claims? ABSOLUTELY!! But if their manner is fair, if they treat claims properly, then I applaud their profit. But, what is "the rest of the story?" Our judicial system allows for good attorneys to get good results.
Missouri plaintiffs’ personal injury lawyers and many from around the U.S. complain about State Farm’s profits surging to $5.6 billion in 2006 — up from $3.2 billion in 2005. State Farm’s CEO received a $5.26 million dollar pay raise last year and is now earning $11.66 million.
Implicit in complaints from plaintiff's lawyers is the idea that State Farm’s low-ball offers and hardball tactics are the reason why their profits are so high and their CEO is overpaid.

I think it is misplaced to expend energy complaining about hardball tactics of the insurance industry. Other than cases were insurance companies are dealing with their own insured, insurance companies should be trying to do whatever they ethically can to decrease payouts. Conversely, it is the job of personal injury and insurance claims attorneys job to do the opposite. As attorneys for the injured are we simply hoping for fair offers? Are we not are trying to get as much as we possibly can for our clients? Are we not ethically required to do so?

We have an adversarial judicial and settlement system that has been in place for a few hundred years and I think it works. It is clearly not a perfect system, it is just the best system and I understand that the system has its own degree of cyclical change.

State Farm and other insurance companies are going to play tough and I would suggest that they have a moral obligation to be good stewards of their money. However, if Missouri personal injury lawyers hold up their end of the bargain and fight, fight, fight, the system will work just fine.

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David Payne is an experienced insurance and auto accident lawyer serving the Ozarks!

What happens elsewhere in the U.S. can and does have a profound effect on what car insurance will cost in Missouri. A recent conflict concluded with the powerful Allstate to cut California auto insurance rates 15.9%. A Insurance Commissioner ordered Allstate to reduce prices more steeply than the company had wanted.

Allstate, which covers about 1 of every 10 insured cars in California and also many in Missouri, has been ordered to cut its automobile rates by 15.9% -- an average of $124 per car.

While this is not a Missouri case it will have some eventual effect on Missouri insurance rates, this what happened in one Insurance matter.

Years of experience as an injury attorney in Missouri has led me to believe that a constant battle goes on to make sure Insurance companies treat people fairly and within the framework of the law.
This case will only help Ozarkers and Missouri residents by keeping rates from rising simply at the whim of corporate greed.

Insurance consumers deserve a competitive marketplace in which to shop for the best rates and coverage that meets their needs.

Allstate's reduction is the latest in a series of rate cuts by dozens of automobile insurance companies since 2006. After losing a protracted court challenge, the insurance industry began complying with regulators' requirements.

Allstate had requested permission to lower its rates by 7.1% as part of the settlement process. The department's rate-setting formula calculated a 19.4% reduction was needed.

Allstate contends that it is being unfairly treated in being forced to cut rates by a larger number than other insurance companies.

Score another one for the good guys.

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AUTO ACCIDENT LAWYER FOR SOUTHWEST MISSOURI

On March 2, 2008 in Taney County, Missouri, Jackie Clark and Marray Muraskin were drivers involved in a serious car accident on U.S. Highway 65 south of Branson. Per the accounts of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident happened as Muraskin was attempting to cross the 4-lane highway.

The MSHP listed the injuries to Marray Muraskin and his passenger, Margaret Muraskin, as serious. Both were taken to hospitals in Springfield, Missouri.

Carolyn Taylor was the passenger in the vehicle driven by Jackie Clark and was transported from the scene to Skaggs Hospital in Branson with injuries classified as minor.

My law office, Cardin & Payne, handles car wrecks and insurance claims and offers anyone who has an insurance claim a free, no obligation consultation. Contact me to speak with an experienced insurance claim lawyer today.

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EXPERIENCED PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER Call now for a free, no-obligation phone call with David Payne.

The entire process is summed up in one word: documentation! An experienced personal injury lawyer will make sure the documentation reviewed by the insurance adjuster will be credible and fully justify the money sought for settlement.

Whether you handle the claim yourself or by hiring a lawyer, the insurance company is only going to pay based upon what documentation is in their file. Documentation is the insurance companies' way of saying "prove it." An injured person teamed with an experienced personal injury attorney then must begin the process of "proving" the claim.

First, to document the other driver's fault (their insured driver's fault), you'll need documents such as: police & highway patrol accident reports, photo's of the scene & cars, statements from witnesses, etc.

Second, to document your money loss, you'll need documents such as: certified medical bills, certified medical records, employment/income records for lost wages, etc.

Once all documentation is provided, the claimant asks the insurance company to pay based upon what documentation has been provided. This is done through a statement of Demand for Payment. If the insurance adjuster fairly responds the case may be settled at this stage.

After weeks of review, the insurance company responds with a specific Offer of Settlement. Then the claimant responds with either an acceptance or, almost always, a counter Demand for Payment--additional documentation can be supplied by the claimant at any time.

The insurance adjuster will usually increase the offer to the point where they declare a final offer, but if an offer is never accepted by the claimant, then a lawsuit is the only way to resolve the conflict. While the initial claims process often comes before a lawsuit is filed, not always. Many times, a lawsuit is filed with our prior negotiations.

With a lawsuit, the documentation takes the form of pleadings, discovery responses, depositions, trial exhibits, and trial testimony.

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Simply answered: a personal injury attorney will look out for YOUR best interest. Insurance claims adjusters settle cases bases on doing what is best for the insurnance company that signs their pay check. Believe it--claims adjusters are highly trained at minimizing their company's risk and eventual ultimate exposure.

An injuried person needs an attorney to handle the often grueling claims process and produce the vast documentation involved in personal injury and car accident claims. A skilled attorney serves not only as an advocate, but of equal importance is the role a lawyer plays as counselor.

I frequently represent injured people and help them deal with the insurnance companies in Missouri and other states.

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