State Farm is punished for late payment of claims

A Macomb County jury recently awarded a verdict of almost $600,000.00 to a self-employed man injured in a motor vehicle collision, after State Farm refused to pay wage loss and medical expenses he incurred after a head injury.  The award included $62,000.00 in penalty interest and $148,000.00 in attorney fees awarded because State Farm's refusal to pay was "unreasonable".

State Farm paid the plaintiff 3 months of wage loss, but then refused to pay any further benefits.  It claimed that his disability was solely related to health problems stemming from his military service in Vietnam and that it was completely unrelated to his motor vehicle collision injuries.  At trial, however, State Farm could produce no physicians who were willing to contest the thorough opinions of the Plaintiff's treating and VA doctors.  The doctors actually involved in Plaintiff's care explained that both his military service and his motor vehicle collision injuries contributed to the injured man's inability to work.  The court held that State Farm, with its refusal to consider multiple causation, did not "fairly review" the Plaintiff's claim.