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Let’s face it, Plaintiff’s attorney’s don’t much care for insurance companies. We fight with them all day, every day in order to try to get them to honor their responsibilities to our clients. The insurance companies fight us tooth and nail every step of the way by denying and delaying legitimate claims in the hope that we will accept less compensation than our clients are entitled to. When you deal with these tactics every day like we do, you grow so used to them that it almost seems normal. Every once in a while, though, new information comes to light that reminds us just how abusive and deceptive insurance companies really are.

A newly released report compiled after reviewing thousands of pages of documents, complaints, testimony and financial records of insurance companies from across the nation provided us with a refresher on just how bad insurance companies treat people. The abuses it reveals are enough to turn your stomach, and the common tactic of “delay, deny, defend” rings true to those of us battling in the trenches with these insurance giants every day. This is certainly not the first such report that identifies the tactics used by insurance companies to defraud their policy holders and lawful claimants. What is new, though, is that they name the 10 worst insurance companies in the country. While we have our own opinions formed over decades of dealing with insurance companies, it is nice to finally have some empirical evidence to rely on when we tell our friends, family and clients who the worst companies really are. Without further adieu, the worst insurance companies in America are:

1. Allstate Insurance Company. Is this really a surprise? The supposed good hands people have had the boxing gloves on for years, no matter what some actor who played a president on the show 24 may tell us.

2. UNUM Insurance. One of the largest disability insurance carriers, has been mistreating their insureds longer than anyone in this office can remember.

3. AIG. The largest insurance company in the world, AIG has been referred to as the new Enron because multi billion dollar corporate fraud.

4. State Farm. Another shocker here. The Company has gone to great lengths to avoid paying claims, including forging signatures on earthquake waivers after the deadly Northridge earthquakes, and altering engineering reports regarding damage after Hurricane Katrina.

5. Conseco. This company sells long term care policies, typically to the elderly. Unfortunately, Conseco uses the deteriorating health of its policyholders to its advantage because the company knows if it waits long enough to pay out claims, its customers will die.

6. Wellpoint. A health insurer, Wellpoint routinely cancels the policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients.

7. Farmers Insurance Group. Consistently ranks at or near the bottom of homeowner satisfaction surveys. The company offers pizza parties to adjusters who meet low payment goals.

8. United Health. Physicians report that reimbursement rates are so low and payment is delayed so long that patient health is compromised. Money that should have been spent on medical treatment for policyholders has instead gone to the company’s former CEO, who faced criminal and civil charges for back dating stock options.

9. Torchmark. Founded by its own admission as little more than a scam, Torchmark has preyed on low-income Southerners for over 100 years. The company has come under fire for a variety of transgressions, including charging minority policyholders more than whites.

10. Liberty Mutual. Like Allstate and State Farm, Liberty Mutual has adopted “deny, delay and defend” tactics. The company has also gone one step further than simple claims-handling abuses by indulging in what regulators describe as systematic bid rigging.

You can read the full report here.

While these are the ten worst insurance companies nationwide, I could add a few companies to the list who operate in Elmira, the Southern Tier of New York, and the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. The companies I am thinking of may be too small to make a national list, but any Twin Tier resident who has ever dealt with them could tell you a story or two. I won’t list them here, but if you ask me privately, I will be more than happy to give you my own top ten list of the worst insurance companies.

Thanks for reading,

_______________________________
Adam M. Gee, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

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“A stitch in time saves nine.” I never really understood this proverb when I was growing up, though I certainly heard my father use it on more than one occasion as he cautioned me to take my time before embarking on a new endeavor.

As a personal injury attorney in the Elmira/Corning, New York area, I have now come to understand the true wisdom behind those words, especially when it comes to automobile maintenance. Accidents certainly do happen, but general awareness of basic automobile maintenance can go a long way toward preventing personal injuries and saving lives. Although I do not profess to be an expert mechanic in any way, I have decided to post basic auto tips periodically this summer to inform – or more likely, remind – readers of simple steps you can take to protect your families from injuries sustained in automobile accidents.To many people summer is synonymous with road trips and family vacation, and I hope my tips will help readers stay safe when hitting the roads.

Tip #1 – Check your Tires

Today is my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My father, ever the romantic, decided to take my mother to the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles, New York for a little getaway. Alas, as my parents pulled out of Horseheads to begin their journey, they got a flat tire. Luckily neither was injured and my dad had the tools to change the tire, though they may have been “spared” (I couldn’t resist) a short delay if only my dad had followed his own advice and checked car before getting on the road.

Tires are crucial to vehicle’s handling, traction, and stability, and can cause an automobile to loose alignment if they are not in proper working order. In general, you should check each of tire periodically, or about once a month.

When checking your tires, first look for obvious defects and damage, and visit a professional if anything looks seriously amiss.

It is very wise to carry a tire gauge in your automobile at all times, and you should check the pressure in each of your tires every time you check them. Tire pressure changes due to a variety of factors, though they are most commonly affected by changes in weather or air temperature. A decrease in air temperature often causes a loss in tire pressure, while an increase in air temperature often causes a gain.

Each vehicle has its own recommended air pressure, and information about it can likely be found in your vehicle’s owners manual. Although a tire’s maximum pressure is listed on its in fine print, you should never use max pressure as a guide when filling your tires because over-inflation allows tires to puncture more easily and can create instability for your automobile.

As an avid bicycle rider, I realize the importance of checking the pressure of my bike’s tires before every ride I take to avoid an accident (and make the ride more enjoyable!) Although checking a vehicle’s tires before every trip may be a bit overly onerous, it is something all of us could do a bit more frequently in order to stay safe.

Thanks for reading,

Christina Bruner Sonsire

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It’s the time of year when your nearly grown son or daughter is graduating from high school, and you know what that means: Graduation Parties! Remembering all the fun you had back in the day, and wanting to be a “cool” parent, you may be considering throwing a party for your son or daughter and their friends that includes alcohol. After all, you reason, as long as I take the keys and they all spend the night, what’s the harm? If I don’t do it, these kids will just be off drinking AND driving somewhere else anyway.

If you are even considering a scenario like the one I outlined above, think again! These sorts of parties have a tendency to get out of control, and the noise alone may be enough make your neighbors call the police. Kids who aren’t experienced drinking alcohol have a tendency to over-indulge, with obnoxious, messy, and sometimes life threatening results. How are you going to explain a midnight trip to the emergency room to get some kid’s stomach pumped to his mother or father the next day?

As if you needed more reasons, consider this: you could go to jail! Don’t believe me? Just ask John Gurtler, Jr. Don’t recognize that name? I bet you would recognize his voice! He is the Public Address Announcer at Buffalo Bills games. It seems that Mr. Gurtler was having thoughts along the lines of the scenario I outlined above for his son’s post-prom party. All his son’s friends, more than 80 in all, were invited back to the Gurtler residence for a night of merriment and booze. All was going great until the police arrived at their Orchard Park, NY home, observed scores of obviously under age-and over-dressed teens pouring beers from multiple kegs scattered about the yard, and decided to intervene. Mr. Gurtler, Mrs. Gurtler and their teenage son have all been arrested and charged with Unlawfully Dealing With A Child for providing alcohol to minors. They will face one count for each of the kids present (at least the ones the police could catch). Each count carries a potential penalty of up one year in jail AND a $1,000.00 fine.

This is a case where jail time could very easily be imposed, too. Because Mr. Gurtler is a prominent individual, and because we are on the verge of graduation season, the judge may very well want to send a message to the community that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and will face stiff punishment. It would be the judge’s hope that the publicity associated with this case and the penalty doled out would dissuade any one else from doing something similar. Legally, this is known as general deterrance.

Let Mr. Gurtler’s mistake be a lesson to all of us here in the Twin Tiers.

For those of you interested in all the gory details of what the police found upon their arrival, I have attached a link from The Buffalo News story covering the arrest below.

Thanks for reading,

Adam M. Gee, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/southernsuburbs/story/366740.html

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I received a phone call recently from a prospective client who was struck by a car insured by Travelers Insurance while walking from his employer’s parking lot to the building he worked from. Luckily, this individual appears to have sustained only minor injuries (he was struck by the car’s side view mirror only). That didn’t stop Travelers, though, from trying to cheat him out of benefits he may be due under the policy. First, they tried to tell him that he should file a Worker’s Compensation claim through his employer, as he was walking to work at the time he was struck by the car. Nice try! Under New York State law, this type of accident is clearly the responsibility of the no-fault carrier (Travelers, in this case) NOT the worker’s compensation carrier.

When Travelers’ first attempt at shirking their obligations failed, they came up with a new story. As regular readers of this blog know, in order to bring a personal injury case for injuries arising out of a motor vehicle accident in New York, you have to have sustained a “serious injury” as defined in the New York State Insurance Law. Sometimes it is easy to tell when someone has a “serious injury”. Sometimes you can’t tell for months. Despite the fact that this accident occurred only two weeks ago, the Travelers adjuster was trying to convince this individual that he did NOT have a serious injury. Since, the adjuster claims, this individual did not sustain a serious injury, the most the adjuster can pay him under New York State law is $1,000.00

This, Ladies and Gentleman, is a bold faced, out right LIE! There is no such rule! Travelers can pay as much as they want, and they routinely pay more than this on disputed cases where serious injury is in doubt. This is just another insurance company hoping to take advantage of someone before they hire an attorney and learn the truth! That’s just part of why I love my job, having the ability to expose the lies of the insurance companies and make them live up to the obligations we pay and pay and pay them for!

Incidentally, this is not the first time Travelers has been involved in some shady dealings. See the link below.

Thank for reading,

Adam M. Gee, Esq.
Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

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At the outset, let me be clear that this is a complicated issue and the answer to the question is NOT an easy “Yes” or “No”.  However, it’s an interesting issue that is important to ALL of us because the legal standards by which our insurance carriers are measured will directly impact the way our insurance companies treat us whenever we are forced to file a claim.

First, a little background about what “good faith”, and more importantly, “bad faith” means.  Generally, our laws require all of us to act in “good faith” whenever we are interacting with other people or organizations.  The idea is that we should all play fairly and by the rules.  When we don’t play fair or violate the rules, that’s acting in “bad faith”.  The purpose of our laws is to prevent people from breaking the rules or punish them when they do. Pretty simple so far, aye? Read the rest…

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If you have been injured in an accident in NY or PA you will likely be subjected to what the insurance industry refers to as an “independent medical examination” (often called ”IME’s” for short).   As you will read below, IME’s are NOT “independent” in any sense of the word and they are regularly used by insurance companies to improperly deny benefits to deserving people.  IME’s are another example of insurance companies at war with their own customers.  Insurance companies love us when they are collecting our annual premiums and HATE us whenever we file a claim for those benefits we have been paying for for so many years….

The stated purpose for an IME is for the insurance company to have a so-called “independent”, supposedly unbiased doctor, offer an opinion on the severity of your injury, whether your injury was caused by the accident, and what will be the appropriate medical treatment of your injuries in the future.  Sounds good in theory but the theory starts to break down from the moment the IME doctor is hired….

WHO BUTTERS YOUR BREAD? Read the rest…