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Bad Faith Uninsured Motorist SETTLEMENT: $120,000.00. CASE/NUMBER: Case I.D. Confidential COURT/DATE: L.A. Superior Court JUDGE: Hon. Gregory C. O’Brien, Dept. 21 . TECHNICAL EXPERTS: Plaintiff – Thomas Matush, insurance industry claims practices, Naperville, III.; Daniel J. Callahan, Esq., litigation tactics, Irvine; Paula Hayes, CPA, L.A. Defendant – John R. Whitman, insurance industry claims, Santa Paula. MEDICAL EXPERTS: Plaintiff – Richard A. Collins, D.C., chiropractor, La Crescenta. Defendant – Andrew Schwartz, M.D., orthopedic surgeon, Beverly Hills. FACTS: The plaintiff, [represented by Neal H. Sobol, Esq.], a 54 year-old Pacific Bell employee, was involved in a rear end automobile accident with an uninsured motorist. On February 10, 1994, she demanded $30,000 (her uninsured motorist policy limits) from the defendant, her uninsured motorist insurance carrier. The defendant insurance company offered $5,000 (later raised to $6,000) and claimed that the accident was a minor impact and the plaintiff’s treatment was excessive. The plaintiff’s claim was then referred to the Department of Insurance Bureau of Suspected Fraudulent Claims. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendant insurance company based on a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing theory of recovery. CONTENTIONS: The plaintiff contended that the defendant insurance company asserted a patently untenable "minor impact" defense and maliciously referred her claim to the fraud bureau for the purpose of compelling her to take less than full value in settlement of her claim. The defendant insurance company contended that all claims handling was proper; and that there were questions concerning the nature and extent of the plaintiff’s injuries, the validity of her claimed disability, the reasonableness and necessity of her chiropractic treatment and her loss of earnings claim. INJURIES: The plaintiff alleged that she sustained emotional distress as a result of the defendant insurance company’s delay in payment of her uninsured motorist claim. DAMAGES: The plaintiff claimed an additional $3,193 in economic damages as a result of an increase in her contingency attorney free and the costs of the underlying arbitration. ARBITRATION: An arbitration (regarding the underlying uninsured motorist claim) was held before Judge Alfred Margolis resulting in an award of $28,750 which was thereafter paid by the defendant. OTHER INFORMATION: The settlement was reached approximately one year and two months after the case was filed. |
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