New Insurance Reform Bills Highlight Dishonesty, Inadequacy of Michigan System
July 16th, 2009
A package of house bills that would nix insurance practices that deny coverage and punish dishonest insurance companies was filed Tuesday. As our lawyers handle Michigan no-fault insurance law, we know first-hand how badly many, many people are treated by their insurance companies.
Our clients, who are victims of car accidents and truck accidents, have routinely had legitimate no-fault claims disputed; forcing them to hire a lawyer for claims that should have been paid immediately. Many insurance companies in Michigan also put people “under investigation”— the excuse for stopping payment of all medical bills and wage loss. People are being ignored, threatened, intimidated and even lied to by their insurance claims adjusters.
It’s time for a drastic change.
The proposed bills are also called bad faith law, meaning protections to keep an insurance company from unreasonably refusing to pay no-fault insurance benefits. Currently, Michigan does not have bad faith laws.
Here’s a summary of some of the insurance reform house bills:
* HB 4244 (Simpson) - Remedies for failure to pay benefits in a timely fashion, including attorney fees. If the failure to pay benefits was in bad faith, the insured would also receive the greater of $10,000 or three times the benefits withheld.
* HB 4844 (Nathan) - An insurer obligated to pay benefits or claims for personal protection (PIP) insurance benefits must deal fairly and in good faith. An insurer that breaches this duty is liable for compensatory, consequential, economic, non-economic, and exemplary damages and the costs of litigation, including attorney fees.
* HB 4846 (Slezak) - Increases the penalty for unfair and deceptive trade practices including payment of $1,000 to $50,000.
* HB 5144 (Roberts) – Whistle blower protection to insurance company employees reporting violations of unfair practices in insurance law; providing for payment from the Insurance Whistle blower Protection Fund.
* HB 5150 (Segal) - Allows for an individual to bring a cause of action for damages against an insurance company that used an unfair method of competition or was deceptive.
* HB 5146 (Johnson) – Creates a presumption that insurers, who commit violations including unfair and prohibited trade practices, acted in bad faith.
* HB 5145 (Huckleberry) – Imposes up to a $1 million fine as penalty for a second or subsequent bad faith violation.
* HB 5147 (Switalski) – Penalties for certain individuals who knowingly create, foster or encourage an environment that leads to systemic wrongful denial of claims, such as prison up to four years and/or a fine of up to $50,000.
To learn more about the bills, visit the Michigan Legislature Web site and type the bill number in the search field called “Bill Number.”
Keep in mind that Michigan drivers are required by law to buy no-fault insurance, which is designed to protect them. But without bad faith laws like this package offers, insurance companies will face no deterrent to cheating their customers.
Read here on how Michigan insurance companies are legally allowed to lie to their insureds. Or how they are making record-breaking profits.
These insurance reform bills have been a long time coming. We hope the Michigan Legislature supports them too. Opposers will say the bills will drive insurance rates up, but that’s not the case. These bills only punish companies that are scamming people. Give us your insurance company gripes, or thoughts on the legislation, by making a comment below.
— David E. Christensen is a Michigan Auto Law partner and an executive board member of the Michigan Association for Justice. David is vice chair of the State Bar of Michigan Negligence Law Section, and is a recognized attorney handling closed-head and psychiatric injury cases.
— Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by limaoscarjuliet
Related information:
Three Challenges Facing Lawyers Dealing with the No-Fault Law
This Insurance Company Belongs in the Hall of Shame
Michigan Auto Law exclusively handles car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state of Michigan. If you have been involved in an auto accident, or you are having problems obtaining your auto insurance benefits from your insurance company, please call the no-fault insurance lawyers of Michigan Auto Law at (800) 777-0028 for a free case evaluation.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:06 am
Fighting Allstate for 8 years now. Trial jury decided the case in our favor, they appealed, they lost, still they don’t pay….even though THEY are being paid by the catastrophic fund.
Yes we need these put into law, and NOW. I want to see Allstate not only fined heavily, but I want to see the ones responsible for this EIGHT YEAR FIGHT put behind bars as a shining example to other insurance companies that are ecstatically happy to take premiums, but slow to pay if they ever do.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:45 am
State Farm has denied my claim for what they claim to be “fraud”. At the EUO they produced no evidence of anything pointing to or proving fraud. They still have not denied or paid the claim after almost one year. Something needs to be done!
September 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
I have one hell of a case. All I want is my life back. Been untreated for over 15 years. I have documentation of Bad faith from state Farm. I have a lot of documents with DF or drop file on them. Am I seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Been lied to a lot. When might the bills be passed?
If a thumb is worth a million dollars what is ones life worth?
March 21st, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I worked at State Farm for many years and I understand the arrogance first hand. They are interested in one thing only- lining their pockets. The legislature handed them a golden goose with No-fault and they cry about it. The No Fault Law in Michigan did nothing but run State Farm and Allstate’s smaller competitors out of the market in Michigan. But its not enough the greedy criminals. I sustained an injury to my back in an auto accident and had a re-occurrence several years later. They refused to pay, but worse- they wouldn’t even review my medical records or speak to my doctors. They just made me sue them. It ruined me financially and I finally settle for pennies on the dollar. I only did so because I have to file bankruptcy now anyway. But the damage to me and my family was much worse than just dollars and cents.