Posted on 10/29/2011 7:03:01 PM PDT by CedarDave
A Bernalillo County jurys $12 million judgment this week against Progressive Insurance Co. was very reasonable, according to attorneys representing the family who sued.
Lawyer Janet Santillanes said that among the evidence jurors heard during the six-day trial was that Progressive altered its computer records 11 days after a Nov. 4, 2002, accident to make it appear the Vigil family did not have coverage at the time of the single-vehicle crash that was at the center of the case.
The company contended the policy lapsed about 90 minutes before the crash that killed one man and hospitalized five other passengers. Jurors also heard that Colleen Vigil called Progressive twice two weeks before the crash and the day before and was assured her policy was valid, with no payment due until Nov. 15, Santillanes said in a telephone interview with the Journal on Thursday.
She said Progressives policy is to record all conversations with policyholders, but the recordings of Colleen Vigils calls either were lost or never made.
A Bernalillo County District Court jury granted the Vigil family $11.7 million in punitive damages designed to punish Progressive for bad faith, and a few hundred thousand more in compensatory damages and for pain and suffering.
The jury also heard evidence that Progressives profits are $3.8 million a day and (the company) had 11,700,000 policies in effect in 2010, Santillanes said. So the amount of damages to a multi-billion dollar corporation for a case that took nine years was very reasonable.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Flo comes across as a real floozie to me.
I was an insurance agent, now a broker.
Life coverage begins when I accept the check on behalf of the insurance company
The evidence of drunk driving with a suspended license was not allowed to be presented at trial as the case was about whether the policy had expired or not. In dropping charges against Vigil, prosecutors in McKinley County found that road conditions were the cause of the crash. Progressive Tagged For $12 Million
If you want to try to get some kind of punishment against the company, the place to start is with the state’s insurance commissioner. The one to bring the complaint would be the person whose records were altered.
She was an idiot.
Ping!
It’s because of that case and others that we have to see such wildly informative labels warning us that coffee is hot.
As others have said, the woman was an idiot for putting a cup of coffee she could only KNOW was hot in a place that caused her so much pain and suffering. That she didn’t check that the lid was properly in place is her fault alone.
As for progressive insurance, I love Flo, but would never buy their product since everything I have heard about their claims process and attempts at avoiding paying legitimate claims at any cost deters me.
There is a reason that insurance companies have earned a bad name. This case in particular demonstrates how far some will go to avoid their legitimate responsibilities.
When fraud and perjury appear a standard practice, those responsible should be imprisoned and driven out of business.
No jail? What a shock.
Too bad the judgement wasn’t 120 million dollars...
re: The jury also heard evidence that Progressives profits are $3.8 million a day
When do you think the protest crowd will begin to protest the profits of this company? I am not holding my breath.
I do not find this the least bit surprising considering my experience with Progressive.
What a bunch of thieves.
I get rear ended, truck totaled and then they want to settle for 2/3 of what I can find another vehicle same year, model and options in like condition for.
Then they drag the whole thing out for as long as possible when I buy it back and fix it.
What a bunch of thieves!
I had Progressive auto insurance for two years and then switched to Famers. Progressive had rude, bossy reps on the phone and always posted hidden charges. The tv ads are really lame.
Everytime one signs onto facebook one makes a liberal donation. In fact, I’m probably donating to obama everytime I sign onto yahoo.
That’s some insider info you have there!
I know exactly how you feel. In my business, MOST of our business contracts are with lefty companies. I wish you could imagine how many times me and my business partner wanted to strangle and beat the snot out of them in the conference rooms during negotiations..but it is our livelihood.
Did that some years ago; switched to USAA, and saved a bundle.
Again, where she sustained injury is irrelevant. McDonalds hold temp was 185 +/- 5 degrees. At that temp, she would have been scalded regardless of location. During the trial, McDonalds Quality Assurance Manager admitted a customer drinking the product at that temperature would "scald their throat or esophagus".
"That she didnt check that the lid was properly in place is her fault alone."
If anything, the lid may have been too secure. It was when she tried to remove it, the spill occurred.
Now that skank is on the tube a couple times a day hawking that “safe driver” electronic thingie.
IT’S A FREAKIN GPS TRACKING DEVICE!!!
They know if you go to church. They know if you stop at a bar after work.
They know the name of your favorite escort lady!
And will “adjust” your rates accordingly!
That begins with Government Electric and Government Motors and ends with Government Banksters and Government Unions.Not to mention
Government
Employees
Insurance
Company
It's a fact.
Life Insurance has to go through underwriting before the policy is issued, and the insured has 30 days from receipt of the policy to back out and receive a refund.
However, the agency I worked for immediately covered the applicant for accidental death as long as a check had been received. Once approved by underwriting, the policy was also effective, even if the applicant had not yet reviewed the policy.
State laws probably vary on this issue, but It seems logical to me that a company might have some sort of an “out” written in the policy, so that death from a heart attack, for example, shortly after policy issue would not be covered, because it was obviously a pre-existing condition.
Otherwise, people could just avoid having insurance, until they get chest pain, then hurry up and get insurance just in case they need it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.