MARYLAND CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER The role of the insurance company. Their computer, redux.

In another volume, I talked about ‘Colossus’, a program used by many insurance companies, notably Allstate, to value, and many would argue, undervalue Maryland automobile accident claims. Many Maryland car accident lawyers have suggested for years the program can be manipulated to produce unfair “lowball” offers. Over the summer, a former Allstate employee gave some credence to that argument. The Chicago Tribune [6/4/12] quotes the former insurance insider as stating: “the real reason insurance companies are willing to invest millions in these [computer] systems is that they can dial down claims' payments to thousands of consumers at a time, regardless of whether these payouts are fair." Of course, there is really nothing even the most skilled Maryland car accident lawyer can do about the use of Colossus or other systems. The only real option is to reject the Colossus number, file suit, and let the jury decide the true value of a Maryland automobile accident claim.

MARYLAND CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER The role of the insurance company – What does that little umbrella

Traveler’s is the 9^th auto insurance company in this country. Maryland car accident lawyers have seen that, when trying to sell insurance and collect premiums, Traveler’s clearly acknowledges that automobile accident claims can readily be substantial. Their webpage notes “[w]hether it's a serious auto accident involving pricey medical bills or an incident on your property, you can quickly find yourself responsible for damages that exceed the limits on your auto policies. And an expensive judgment is the last thing you want to worry about.” While the statistics are not available, any Maryland car accident lawyer I know would be very interested to see the number of times a Traveler’s adjuster took the position that a plaintiff’s damages “quickly” exceeded the policy limits. In any event had an off year last year,  with only $618, million in profits, down from $895 million the year before.

MARYLAND CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER The role of the insurance company - "...bum-pa-dum-pa-dum-pum"

We are Farmers, and we make a lot of money. Farmer’s Insurance Group is the nation’s third largest auto insurance company [or fifth, depending on how you crunch the numbers]. Maryland car accident lawyers know that a few years ago, Farmers purchased 21^st Century Insurance – for 1.9 billion dollars. That sounds like a massive sum, and it is, but that’s also about what Farmer’s declared in profits -for just one recent year. Modern insurance companies are so diversified that their bottom line is not wholly dependent on limiting the amount paid out in claims, but that business model still exists. Maryland car accident lawyers are well aware that two methods to limit claim payouts [and increase profits] are to pay as little as possible per claim, or to just deny claims outright.