Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

Boston and all Massachusetts drivers will continue to see managed auto insurance competition in the state. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance's decision to temporarily exempt auto insurance companies that are new to the Bay State from having to cover high-risk motorists. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance recently allowed managed competition as a way to allow auto insurer companies to compete for good drivers, giving consumer more choices than ever before. The argument is that competition results in better rates for better drivers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Law Office of Neil Burns wants to inform Massachusetts residents that they should now compare auto insurance rates before buying or renewing their auto insurance policy.

The Supreme Judicial Court's ruling was the result of a 2008 lawsuit filed by Arbella Mutual Insurance challenging the fact that national insurance companies that are new to the Massachusetts insurance market did not have to cover high-risk drivers for two years. Arbella argued that exemption put Massachusetts insurers like Arbella at a disadvantage, because they are required to insure high-risk motorists and split the losses, based on their market shares in the state. The court ruled that although the new companies don't incur the losses of insuring bad drivers, they contribute administrative costs to the Massachusetts Automobile Insurance Plan, which provides insurance for high-risk drivers. In effect, the Court said that that was good enough to allow the exemption to stand.

Continue reading "New Massachusetts Insurers Avoid High Risk Drivers " »

Safety Insurance Group, Inc., a leading Boston based writer of personal automobile insurance in Massachusetts, recently announced that it has reached an agreement with the Massachusetts Attorney General's office to change the way in which it calculated motorcycle insurance premiums for certain types of coverage dating back to January 1, 2002. Wherefore, our clients and all Massachusetts residents who own and insure their motorcycles in the Commonwealth may be getting a refund.

Policyholders whose premiums would have been greater under the method agreed with the Attorney General will not be billed for additional premiums. Policyholders who would have been charged less will receive a refund in exchange for a release of any claims they might have against Safety related to the premium calculations.

According to Safety's outside counsel, Peter Rice, "Although we disagreed with the Attorney General on a number of points, we believe that after extensive discussions Safety has arrived at a resolution of the issue and an agreement with the Attorney General's office that provides for the best interests of Safety's policyholders. Safety had followed standard practices generally used by many Massachusetts insurance companies to calculate appropriate premiums for motorcycle coverages. It cooperated fully with the Attorney General's review of those industry-wide practices and participated in the development of the new method."

Safety is working with the Attorney General's office to identify the policies on which refunds will be issued and the amount of the refunds to each individual policyholder. Safety will notify policyholders of the amount of any refunds offered and, upon receipt of the appropriate releases from the policyholders, intends to issue the refund checks in August 2010.

If you have any questions regarding your right to a refund and how the refunds are calculated, contact your insurance agent. At the Law Office of Neil Burns, we are committed to insuring our clients remained informed regarding insurance policies and practices whereby the consumer's best interest may have been jeopardized.

Following a bodily injury claim, your insurance company has the right to request that you present to a doctor of the insurance company's choice for a medical examination. No matter who is at fault in an automobile accident, your insurance company always pays the medical bills through insurance coverage that you purchased called, Personal Injury Protection (PIP). This part of your insurance policy mandates that you must cooperate with your insurance company after you present a claim to your insurance company. This part of your policy also mandates that as part of this cooperation, you must present to a doctor for a medical examination if your insurance company requests you do so. Thus, the right to present to the insurer's doctor is not optional.

When you present for the insurer's medical examination, you should bring with you any documents/medical records you have in your possession that related to your accident or injury. You do not need to order records, have them mailed to you, or drive around to your doctors to get records. But if you have the relevant medical records in your possession, then you should bring them along.

Continue reading "The IME -- Insurer's Medical Examination" »

Massachusetts has several laws which govern and direct certain aspects of the insurance industry. This article will briefly discuss the two most useful to the physical medicine provider: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A and Chapter 176(d). They regulate unfair and deceptive acts and practices within the insurance industry.

These two statutes, for example, govern what constitutes a "reasonable" investigation by the insurer, whether the insurer acted in a timely manner in processing claims/bills, or whether the insurer offered a reasonable settlement in an ongoing matter. A Chapter 176(d) violation is a per se violation of chapter 93A.

Built within Chapter 93A is the availability of double or triple damages (meaning once damages are found a judge may double or triple the amount) and the possibility of costs and attorney fees. This is such a big deal because our civil justice system is neither designed to punish a defendant (that is left to criminal law), nor award attorney fees and costs: known as the American Rule, each party is left to pay their respective costs of litigation, win or lose.

Continue reading "Triple damages in Massachusetts When Using 93A " »

Time and time again we urge our Massachusetts clients to pay for Underinsurance Coverage in their motor vehicle policies. For some reason insurance agents neglect to inform their customers that this is some of the most critical coverage you can purchase.

In Massachusetts, you are only required to have $20,000 of liability coverage. Thus, if you are injured by another driver, no matter what your lost wages are, no matter how high your medical bills are, and no matter how badly injured you are, you can only get $20,000 from their insurance company. It is not likely that they have any other assets to pay you.

There is an answer, however: buy more Underinsurance coverage! If you were to purchase a $100,000 policy from your insurer, you, or anyone in your vehicle, would be covered up to that amount in the event the other driver caused damage to you.

Please see our website for a more detailed explanation of underinsurance in Massachusetts.