Comp carrier loses frivolous argument contesting language of settlement agreement

Apparently emboldened by the Michigan Courts' favorable attitude toward insurance companies, the Accident Fund Insurance Company filed an appeal after it was denied the right to re-open a prior settlement agreement. The company's attorneys claimed that the hand-written language added to the settlement document did not "waive all future claims" and allowed it to make further deductions of what it paid the injured worker. The trial court reviewed the handwriting and concluded that there was simply no basis for reading the handwriting to say what the insurance company lawyers claimed it said. The Court of Appeals agreed and dismissed the Accident Fund's appeal. For once, an insurer's bogus effort to extort money from a claimant through delay and unreasonable conduct was rejected. If only all injury victims had clearly written admissions that are hard to ignore, that could be put in front of the Court....