Insurance Companies Use Visible Accident Damage to Minimize Injury Payouts
Nov 12, 2010
Southfield, MI (Law Firm Newswire) November 11, 2010 – “It’s always nice to be able to beat a big insurance company in court,” said Daren Monroe, who writes for Litigation Funding Corporation, Southfield, Michigan. “This is a stellar case, where two personal injury lawyers took an aggressive approach to a tough case and won the day.” The verdict in this particular trial was close to a million dollars and was the result of a horrendous truck accident case. The insurance company went to court because they felt their position was defensible and they were planning to be tough about it.
The case was about a 28-year old man who was involved in a wreck with a truck. He was in good physical shape before the crash, meaning he had no lower back pain and did not have any pre-existing injuries. After the collision, he was in constant pain that escalated to the point where he required low back fusion surgery.
This didn’t make much of an impression on the insurance company, whose trial tactics were to focus on the lack of visible damage to his car, dispute liability for the accident in total, and suggest the man was faking his injury. “The insurance company even went so far as to hire a private investigator to follow him around and gather evidence. But there was nothing to find,” Monroe said.
The part about the plaintiff faking his injuries is usually referred to as the MIST defense, which breaks out to minimal impact, soft tissue. In a nutshell, insurance companies aim to convince a jury that very serious personal injuries, like this plaintiff’s back injury, can’t possibly happen as a result of low damage accidents.
“The MIST defense is a bit of fiction, as people have been catastrophically injured or even killed in low damage accidents, while others in total wrecks walk away unscathed,” Monroe said. “Put another way, there is no correlation between injury and vehicle damage.”
Waiting for the verdict in this case would have been very financially difficult for the plaintiff, who was trying to recover from significant back surgery and major pain. He would have likely needed money to pay his bills, but didn’t know where that would come from and how he could manage his expenses. This situation would be ideal one for the plaintiff to apply for a lawsuit loan.
It’s easy to apply for litigation funding. It is a no hassle process, as the legal finance company knows how much the plaintiff has already gone through to get to them in the first place. To that end, anyone who applies and qualifies for pre-settlement funding does not pay to apply for funds, does not have to shell out upfront fees, does not have to make monthly payments and does not need to go through a credit check or have a job.
Litigation funding is worth checking into, as it could set the plaintiff back on their feet financially, until the case is settled. In the process, they don’t have to take any offers from the insurance company, not with a lawsuit cash advance in the bank.
To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit http://www.litigationfundingcorp.com/.
Litigation Funding Corporation
29777 Telegraph Road, Suite 1310
Southfield, MI 48034
Call: 1.866.LIT.FUND
