Category: Personal Injuries
Progressive Insurance's Tarnished Image
August 21, 2012 | John T. BuchmanI was just checking the latest news when I came across the following article from CNN Money: Progressive settles with accident victim’s family after tale went viral Progressive Insurance finally paid the victim of a family under its “under-insured” motorist coverage after forcing the victim’s family to go to trial. A young woman was killed when another driver ran a red light. The victim’s brother was offended when his sister’s insurance company, Progressive, actively participated in the negligent driver’s legal defense. The article points out how poorly Progressive handled the case and the resulting public relations nightmare that followed after the victim’s brother posted on the internet an account of what the family had to go through to get Progressive to pay. Unfortunately, this is too common an occurrence, especially before Minnesota recently enacted a “good faith” statute to encourage insurance companies to properly evaluate and pay uninsured and underinsured motorist claims. Too often insurance companies force such claimants to try their cases because they believe they do not face any greater exposure than their policy limits. Minnesota’s new “good faith” statute provides, in some circumstances, the opportunity for such injured parties to recover additional amounts from insurance companies that resort to such tactics. While insurance companies spend millions of dollars representing to…
Read MoreMotorcycle Riders: Look Carefully at Your Insurance Coverage
April 12, 2012 | John T. BuchmanOur unseasonably warm weather and early spring certainly has many motorcycle riders out early this year. All motorcyclists should carefully consider their insurance and review their coverage. It’s easy to think that the coverage someone has on their car will be similar to the coverage they have purchased for their motorcycle. However, this is not true in many respects. Under the Minnesota “No-Fault” Law, motorcycles are not defined as “motor vehicles.” Thus, motorcyclists have significantly fewer rights under the No-Fault Act than those who drive cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. Motorcyclists have to pay extra for optional benefits that are required in every automobile policy. For example, motorcyclists have to pay extra for medical expense, wage loss and other similar benefits. A recent Court of Appeals decision has shown another area where some insurance companies have included provisions in their policy that provide less coverage for the dollar than policies provided by other insurance companies. In Farmers Insurance Exchange vs. Eschen; Mike Brown paid for $100,000 in underinsured or UIM coverage for his motorcycle. He was tragically killed when he was hit by a car driven by Gary Arens. Mr. Arens had only $50,000 in coverage. If Mr. Brown had been driving or riding in a car, his family would have received $100,000 in…
Read MoreBuckle Up Campaign
March 28, 2012 | Jon P. EricksonOver the last few months I have written a number of entries on the importance of “buckling up.” The March 27, 2012, Minneapolis Star Tribune, had yet another article on just that. The headline reads in bold letters STRONGER SEAT BELT LAW EQUALS FEWER DEAD. I encourage you to read the full article. It’s relatively short, but very informative. Here is a link to that article – Star Tribune State Local Buckle Up The study was done to see if the “primary seat belt laws” actually were effective. The study done by the University of Minnesota supports that it is. Since the passage of the law in 2009 there have been 68 fewer deaths involving vehicle occupants, 320 fewer injuries, and 432 fewer moderate injuries. “The stronger seat belt law is keeping a lot of Minnesotans out of hospitals and morgues” to quote Lee Munnich the director of the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety. The study also found that since the primary seat belt law took effect that “observed seat belt use” has increased from 87 to 93 percent. We’ve been showing you how seat belt use saves lives, reduces injuries and ultimately saves us all money in medical bills, higher insurance costs and the like. We again take this opportunity to…
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