Insurance Giant Drowning in Negative Publicity
A social media buzz regarding Progressive Insurance's handling of a fatal car accident case has the internet up in arms and the company reeling and desperately trying to doctor its public image. And for good reason too.
Matt Fisher, whose sister Kaitlynn "Katie" Fisher was killed in a crash in June of 2010, posted an inflammatory account of how Progressive deceptively tried to evade paying the Fisher family by truly questionable means.
"My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance To Defend Her Killer In Court" was the title of Fisher's post, and it immediately began garnering attention on the internet. The post described how Progressive essentially tried to avoid paying $75,000 to the Fishers by arguing that Katie Fisher was at fault the accident that caused her death. And they even attempted to defend her killer in court.
Katie's insurance policy included coverage of uninsured/underinsured motorists, which was pertinent in this case because the other party involved, Ronald K. Hope of Baltimore, did not have full coverage for an accident of this nature. Though Hope's insurance company, Nationwide, readily admitted that he was at fault for the accident, Progressive confusingly assisted the defendant (Hope) without technically representing him in the court of law.
The attorney for Progressive sat next to the defendant, provided opening statements, questioned witnesses, and made objections before giving a closing argument. To a layman observer, it appeared that Progressive was providing counsel to the person responsible for killing Katie Fisher.
The attorney for the Fisher family, Allen Cohen, noted that it's not exactly out of the ordinary for an insurance company to argue against its own client in court. However, in this case, it was "unusual and wrong" because Progressive had ample evidence indicating that Kaitlynn was the victim, in addition to their legal obligation of good faith toward the client, said Cohen.
The fact that Nationwide admitted their party was at fault, combined with the testimony of an independent witness who claimed that Ronald Hope ran a red light causing the accident, should have provided Progressive with enough reason to believe their client was not at fault.
Ultimately, the jury was not deceived by Progressive's injurious tactics and proceeded to award the Fisher family with $760,000 in damages. While the legal victory was certainly important for the family, Matt Fisher also said it was an unnecessary distraction.
"The thing I would like more than anything to be talking about is how much I loved my sister," he said.
Progressive has since issued several statements on their website and twitter account addressing the many issues involved with this case. They have denied that their representative served as an attorney for the defendant in this case. Additionally, they offered this robotic response to the case in general: "There was a question as to who was at fault, and a jury decided in the Fisher family’s favor just last week. We respect the verdict and now can continue to work with the Fisher family to reach a resolution."
Read the full statement from Progressive here.
If you are injured in an auto accident, think twice before calling your insurance company. Consider contacting an experienced personal injury attorney first. Remember, an insurance company's first priority is the bottom line: profit. At The Law Offices of Robert Paysinger, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, the first priority is our clients. We help injured people - it's all we do!
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