Articles Posted in Insurance Companies

We have our share of struggles with Allstate in traffic collision, and other personal injury cases. Allstate can be a difficult company to deal with when they are defending either first or third-party injury claims. But this insurer just won a big fight – a critical fight for them – in front of the Maryland Court of Appeals. And I’m glad they won.

Allstate stopped writing home insurance policies in Southern Maryland, the Lower Eastern Shore, and some properties on or near the waterfront in Anne Arundel County. Why? It thinks the spate of hurricanes that have pounded the eastern seaboard in recent years may not be anomalous.  Instead, they result from increases of tropical sea surface temperatures (or whatever else it might be). The company does not care why. What it knows is that it no longer wants to bear the risk of catastrophic financial losses if a hurricane hits these at-risk areas.

The Court of Appeals agreed that the insurer had a reasonable basis. Judge Harrell, in his dissent, says that Allstate has decided not to write new homeowner’s insurance policies in these areas because of an unsubstantiated fear of a hypothetical force of nature, a Category 2 or greater hurricane making landfall in Maryland. I agree. But is he sure? Couldn’t reasonable minds differ on this? Does anyone really have a handle on the degree that global warming will impact the future? I think the answer is that no one really has a clue and, it should be given the discretion to decide for itself. I also think the applicable laws – § 19-107 and § 27-501 of the Maryland Insurance Article – give them that ability.

[Let’s all now resume hating this company. Because no one is in good hands with them.] Continue reading

Dear USAA:

You have some of the best, most sophisticated adjusters of any car insurance company out there. Generally speaking, you make more reasonable settlement offers than the other companies with big car insurance market share in Maryland (better than GEICO, State Farm or Allstate). Sure, you force us to try some cases against you to pay our clients a fair settlement value. And, yes, you would probably shoot your own parents in the head to save a buck. But, really, in the insurance company world of relativity, you are not that bad.

Now that I have finished the flattery, could you do me one small favor? Teach your insurance adjusters in personal injury cases that there is something called the collateral source rule in Maryland. You simply cannot deny a lost wage claim because you “suspect the client was being paid anyway.”

At first, I thought it was just one bodily injury adjuster at USAA who did not understand Maryland law. But I’m now convinced that less than half of USAA adjusters understand this rule.

Even more maddening, when the adjuster is called out on this obvious point of law that Maryland has had for – count them – 112 years, that the claimant is paid for time missed from work regardless of whether they used vacation time or their employer paid them out of the goodness of their heart, USAA adjusters simply refuse to admit or deny the existence of the collateral source rule.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

Sincerely,
Ron Miller

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Update: this case was still going on in 2018 which is insane.  I don’t like State Farm as much as the next plaintiffs’ lawyer. But I understand State Farm’s larger point on this issue, which I explain below.

In State Farm v. Cavoto, a Pennsylvania appellate court decided a battle between two parties who are always at odds, State Farm and chiropractors. Usually, the skirmishes between these parties are fought by proxy but, in this case, they faced off directly.

Who Can Provide Treatment?

Essentially, State Farm got fed up with paying chiropractors who were billing for adjunctive procedures performed by support staff who were not licensed. Particularly, and arguably understandably, annoying to State Farm was unlicensed people applying hot and cold packs, turning on and off mechanical devices, using a traction machine, and assisting in therapeutic exercises. I’m sure that most infuriating to State Farm is paying for someone without medical training to apply hot and cold packs. If you can’t see why the insurer takes exception to that -regardless of how you view the merits of it – you may have had one drink too many from the plaintiffs’ attorney Kool-Aid.

The appellate court didn’t look at the case quite that way. Instead, the court applied the law that appears to allow unlicensed staff members to provide some treatment. The court reasoned that the real medical care was the decision to give the hot or cold packs and for how long, not who applied them. Similarly, the court reasoned, most elements of applying electrical muscle stimulation, ultrasound, and the like do not require specialized skills, as long as there is a chiropractor deciding the details and how the therapy should be applied. The court remanded the case back to the trial court to “make more specialized findings and determine whether any of the procedures allegedly performed by unlicensed personnel required formal chiropractic education or training, including a further inquiry by the court as to the scope of those procedures.”

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Maryland drivers are ranked just behind Washington, D.C. as the dumbest drivers in the country, ranking 49th in driver knowledge a new GMAC Insurance study. Last year, Maryland ranked 20th.

Statistically, it is a remarkable shift that could not result from mere chance. There are two possible explanations for the disparity. The first is that the rest of the nation is working hard on learning about driver safety and Maryland is just not keeping up. This appears to be the view of the “Take Everything at Face Value” Baltimore Sun, which draws with ease meaningful conclusions from this study.

The second is that this GMAC Insurance study uses the same rigorous methodology as my mom’s study on the efficacy of Vitamin C (her kids did not get sick much) and the only reason GMAC Insurance puts out this silly study is to attract publicity from idiots like me and the Baltimore Sun, reminding everyone that GMAC Insurance still exists.

Ignoring a little-known statute that requires that the Maryland Insurance Commissioner and similar positions must be filled by white men in their 50s, Governor O’Malley has appointed Therese Goldsmith as the new Maryland Insurance Commissioner.

Most Marylanders do not understand what the Maryland Insurance Administration does, picturing that old white guy with his secretary and two minions. But the MIA is a major operation with a $30 million budget. It employs a zillion more people than you think.

Therese M. Goldsmith graduated from the University of Maryland Law School in 1998 and went to Venable. She made partner in short order at Hogan & Hartson. Governor Martin O’Malley appointed her to serve as the Maryland Public Service Commission in 1998, which regulates public utilities and some transportation companies in Maryland. Now she is stepping into Ralph Tyler’s shoes, who is now with the FDA. I don’t think I agreed with Ralph on everything, but he was a good guy who was kind enough to regularly speak to my insurance law class at UB.