Personal injury damages include the following: lost earnings, lost earning capacity in the future, past medical expenses, future medical expenses, along with non-economic damages for pain, suffering, emotional distress, impairment/disability and disfigurement/scarring. In the event that a health insurance company or governmental agency has paid an injured person’s medical expenses, they may claim reimbursement or subrogation from any award.
- Steve Wahlberg
The American Association of Justice published a fascinating article entitled “Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse” regarding the improper denial of claims. You can view the full version of the report at www.justice.org/insurance.
Tactics included simple delay with the hopes that the injured party will lose key witnesses, allowing the statute of limitations to run and even denying claims they know are perfectly valid. There are examples of health insurance companies that have acted in bad faith for refusing to pay for medical conditions that are obviously covered by the policy. Insurance carriers owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to their insureds to pay legitimate medical expenses pursuant to the policy and you may be entitled to all attorneys’ fees for successfully pursuing a bad faith claim against an insurance company.
- Steve Wahlberg