Ink on paper hardly appears threatening so many voters in the State of Washington may pass over the significance of R67 when they vote by ballot on election day Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007.
Referendum 67 asks Washington State voters to approve or reject a law passed earlier in the year by the state legislature that authorizes filing suit against an insurer for unreasonably denying a claim for coverage or payment of benefits.
The plaintiff in the suit could recover up to three times the amount of damages sustained, plus attorney fees and litigation costs.
The insurance companies doing business in Washington have gone ballistic over R67, launching a major campaign to reject the referendum. In a fit of rage, the insurance industry has raised $8+ million to reject R67 and the personal injury attorneys have been able to come up with $800,000 to accept R67. The 10-to-1 spending ratio is probably nothing unusual.
If you have never been in an auto accident, or been a victim in an auto accident, it is difficult to imagine how traumatic it is to file an insurance claim and deal with the insurance company employees who settle your claim.
Based on my experience, it would be easier to brush the teeth of an angry alligator while sucking dirty pond water in the bayous of Louisiana. Let me share my story and perhaps you can begin to understand my frustration.
On the last day of May in 2006 myself and another driver stopped in a two-lane roundabout to allow a child on a bicycle to cross the street. A young woman entered the roundabout too fast and slammed into the rear of my vehicle, driving me forward a considerable distance.
Fortunately, the child on the bicycle had not yet progressed across the street and into the pathway of my vehicle when the driver crashed into my vehicle and pushed me forward with force and without warning.
As luck would have it, a police officer arrived at the roundabout from another street at approximately the same time. He was quickly able to direct both of us to a secure area and assess the situation and damage.
After exiting my vehicle the officer could see that I was visibly upset and perhaps injured. He asked me if I wanted him to call an ambulance. I could not answer him as I had lost my ability to speak for several minutes. I think I was about to go into shock but ended up later breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.
When I was back in control of myself, I told him not to call an ambulance. I was sore but did not think I had broken any bones.
The woman who drove the vehicle that hit me was ticketed on the spot for failing to have her vehicle under control. I thought it strange that she was from the area but was driving a rental car. Turns out she had totaled her own vehicle a week earlier.
I was able to drive my vehicle home and did. I figured I would feel better in a few days.
I was not ready for what happened next. Because I am not used to being in accidents, I did not realize how quickly the insurance employees pop into action. To begin with, I had a PIP (personal injury protection) rider on my auto insurance policy. PIP sets aside $10,000 to pay for any personal injuries in the accident. I pay for this coverage.
Turns out that when you have PIP, it is YOUR insurance company that pays any medical claims costs up front and later recovers those payments through subrogation with the irresponsible driver's insurance carrier. The woman who did hit me had insurance and said she was sorry for hitting me.
When I did not feel better after a few days, I went to my internist and osteoarthritis specialist and was diagnosed with injuries that required treatment plans. I filed a medical claim after filing a claim for my vehicle damage.
In short order, I was dealing with several insurance adjusters from the two companies, none of whom cared whether I dropped dead or lived.
For example, I got three independent repair estimates for my vehicle damage, they ranged from $1,428 to $1,750. The adjuster for the irresponsible driver's company estimated my vehicle damage at $716, and told me "This is all you are getting. If you don't like it, that's too bad."
I was upset but not nearly as upset as I was about to become. After filing my medical claim, the irresponsible driver's insurance company wrote me with this observation: "It is our conclusion that a mechanism for extensive injury is not present in this accident."
This conclusion apparently caused my insurance carrier to write me saying, " . . . it is our understanding that your vehicle sustained minimal damages in the amount of $716," and notified me that "we (my insurance company) will be requesting that you attend an Independent Medical Evaluation (IME) to determine if your treatment and any continued care is reasonable, necessary and accident related."
A few days later I received a call from another adjuster from my own insurance company informing me that I was being investigated for medical insurance fraud. I was not only appalled but livid with this vicious accusation.
I was told over the phone that given the extent of the damage to the vehicle, there is no way I could have suffered any injuries requiring medical attention.
At this point I figured there was no way I could deal reasonably with unreasonable insurance adjusters, regardless of whose interests they represented. The next morning I hired a personal injury attorney and then refused to talk to any insurance reps from any company involved.
I did not ask to be hit by another vehicle and suffer injuries documented by board-certified licensed physicians. I went ahead with the treatment plans my physicians recommended.
From that point forward, my insurance company refused to pay any medical bills for my treatment. I believe that they were purposely trying to ruin my credit rating by not paying timely my medical bills from the accident.
My medical providers were upset with me and my insurance company for not getting timely payment for their services. They had a point. The nonpayment of bills by my insurance company went on for months.
Eventually, after many months, I was ordered to undergo an Independent Medical Evaluation. I passed my IME with flying colors, everything the irresponsible insurance companies did not want to read and hear about my medical condition, they begrudgingly were forced to accept at last.
The insurance companies reluctantly and resentfully had to shut up and pay a legitimate claim because I refused to cave into their intimidation, threats, accusations and ugly, rude, mean and inappropriate comments.
In the meantime, the irresponsible driver's insurance company had given me a take-it-or-leave-it final offer of $650 for all of my medical expenses.
When the claim was finally settled in March of 2007-more than 10 months LATER-my insurance company, the one responsible for paying my medical expenses under my PIP coverage, recovered $5,398 in subrogation.
If you ask me how I am voting on R67 in the State of Washington, I am voting to accept the law as passed by the state legislature to hold the insurance companies responsible for timely payment of all "reasonable, necessary and accident related" claims.
It is interesting to me that the insurance industry television advertising in this campaign stresses that accepting R67 will drive up insurance costs $650 million in the State of Washington, or approximately $205 per household annually. This is done to scare consumers into thinking their insurance premiums will increase dramatically.
This apparently is the amount that insurance companies will pass on to consumers in increased premiums should R67 be accepted as passed by the legislature. It will, of course, not cost the insurance industry squat.
I believe that the insurance companies will continue to line their pockets at their policyholders expense if R67 is rejected and not accepted. I will vote to accept R67.
One television ad by the opposition features an insurance adjuster who quit his job because his insurance company employer apparently no longer used real people to handle certain claims procedures.
A computer program apparently determines what the real claim compensation should be and then automatically reduces that amount by 20% before they even deal with the policyholder's claim.
When I put the phrase "insurance company fines by federal prosecutors" into my Google search engine, this is what I found:
According to a story in the New York Times (7-9-99), one of the nation's largest, best known and most advertised insurance companies was fined $20 million by the National Association of Securities Dealers for misleading customers by committing "serious violations of securities law and our rules."
The same company had already paid more than $70 million in fines to state insurance regulators for widespread deception of customers. Earlier, the same company paid $1.5 billion (billion, not million) in a settlement over improper sales of limited partnerships through one of its subsidiaries.
It was noted in the story that a class action suit against the company might cost the company as much as another $2.6 billion payout. It would appear that the petty cash fund of this insurance company could keep paying these kinds of fines and conduct their business as usual.
Is there any reason why I could not get the impression that there are major insurance companies in America which lie, cheat and steal like a common criminal?
The only difference is apparently they are not prosecuted like a common criminal but are allowed to settle and pay huge fines, and then apparently continue on with what they are doing.
I seem to recall an insurance company executive who quit and received a $4 million severance package while walking out the door.
Not to outdo itself, the same company apparently felt a need to also give him a $40 million bonus for all of the great work he had done for the company. Such is life in the fast lane when you are among the favored few.
Is there any reason why I should not ask upon whose backs that $40 million bonus happened? Perhaps from policyholders whose thousands of claims were not paid timely and fairly?
I used to have a modicum of respect for insurance companies and wondered why personal injury attorneys were able to get court settlements that seemed sizable.
Now I have no respect for insurance companies whatsoever, and see a real need for personal injury attorneys to represent policyholders who have to deal with insurance companies when placing a claim for injuries.
Just as we do not miss the water until the well runs dry, so you will find out who and what you are really dealing with when you place your first insurance claim. It would not matter a lick whether it was your own insurance company or someone else's insurance company.
I believe that insurance companies work in concert with each other, whether intentionally or unintentionally, recognizing that each wants to pay the least amount possible on any claim.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader.
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