Litigating MIST Cases

Watch those estimates

A new trend is developing: repairing bumpers. Okay, so repairing bumpers is not a new trend. But the insurance industry is pushing training for adjusters on how to repair any bumper, be it a Bentley or a Volvo, undamaged or crumpled.

I recently had a client with bumper damage. The adjuster came out and wanted to repair the bumper - even though the paint was off of the bumper. The car is a year old. They can't match the paint, but the adjuster would only give a couple of hours for repairs.

Clearly, the bumper needed to be replaced and painted to match. But, the adjuster put down for repairs because it keeps the case is a minimum impact. My client will be getting his own estimates now and those will be to replace the bumper.

Make sure you are checking those estimates on MIST cases. A replacement can add $300 or more to an estimate thus making it no longer a minimum impact.

Does it work?

Isn't that the $64,000 question? Or in this case, the $125 plus tax and shipping question. After all, if it works, it is worth the money. And if it doesn't work, you should buy something else.

I just settled a case. Client was in an accident causing no visible damage to her vehicle. The defendant had less than $500 in damage to her car. Client had $2,200 in treatment. Settlement pre-lit: $8,500. That is almost four times the special damages. On a MIST case.

So, yes, this system works.

Do adjusters care about studies?

I had someone ask me if the studies about accidents, such as by Croft and Freeman, are useful to cite in demand letters or reports from treating doctors. My response: no. Here is more of my response:

The adjusters are familiar with those studies, but they don’t really have an effect on the case. Adjusters have been trained that these studies are nonsense. The Croft and Freeman studies are good, but they are not convincing to the adjuster. I think that by including them you may be tipping off a new adjuster to the fact that it is a MIST case. (Believe it or not, some new adjusters don't know they are supposed to report MIST cases to a supervisor and they handle the claim like any other claim.) And, experienced adjusters are just not going to care. Its sad, but scientific literature doesn’t mean much these days.

Don't waste your time, energy or money adding this to your demand. It is not going to change the amount of the offer.

Article: Why injuries occur in Minor Vehicle Damage Collisions

From Janabeth Taylor comes another great article.  The article discusses some of the myths behind minimum impact junk science. From the abstract:

Analysis of the underlying math and physics reveals that reliance on vehicle damage alone to determine the severity of a collision is invalid. Discounting injuries based on lack of vehicle damage is not supported by either the laws of physics or the empirical data available.

Give this a read and use it to fight the junk science that makes these cass more difficult.

Fee Waivers

First, what is a fee waiver? A fee waiver is a document by which you, or your client, ask the court to waive the court costs. The document is kept confidential. If granted, the court waives all costs.

Second, why do you care? Because in a MIST case, the filing of the complaint may get the carrier to increase the offer by $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000. But, if you have spent $400 on filing the complaint, that $2,000 increase is only a $1,600 increase. This may make it more difficult to settle the case.

So, where appropriate, have your client file a fee waiver and see if you can get the court to waive the costs.

New Report for Purchasers

Buy a copy of my new book and I am giving you a BRAND new, free report. This report you can use as a handout to chiropractors to provide them with 10 tips to help them treat MIST patients.

With this report, you can explain to chiropractors why they should not release their tax ID numbers, why they need to be careful on who they work with, and why they need to keep good records. There are seven other tips.

These tips will help you show the chiropractor the value in learning about MIST cases and how the chiropractor can treat the patient to help you accomplish your goal - obtain a fair and reasonable settlement for your client.

Order the book now (either paper or PDF) and you get the report FREE! This is information you will not get with any other MIST book.

Med Pay Reimbursement

Every state is different. But, when it comes to med pay, if you have a reimbursement provision subject to the made whole doctrine (or make whole doctrine, depending on your state), you have an interesting argument with MIST cases.

The insurance companies take the position that these cases have no value and that people are not hurt. So, if the bills are paid by med pay, you can turn around and use two arguments against the first party insurance company that is seeking reimbursement.

Option A: If you have an insurer who argues on these cases, and you will know this by keeping the spreadsheet discussed in the book, then you can argue that if no one is hurt, then they should not have paid the medical bills. If the bills are not reasonable and necessary because no one is hurt, you don't owe them any money. Simple enough.

Option B: You argue that your client was not made whole. When the client is not made whole, the insurer should not recover any money. There are a variety of cases on point, but see Chong v. State Farm in California. And if you can get a copy of it, my article on Forum Magazine from CAOC that provides cites to other cases in other states. (I am working on a getting a copy on the website.)  You then argue that the client was not made whole since the third party insurer did not offer full value of the case due to the "amount of damage."

These two tricks should help you when you can use the made whole doctrine.

UPDATE: You can get my article by clicking here: Download 0703-pg31-stein.pdf

Buy the Book!

You can now buy the book online if you choose to pay with Paypal. Click on the buttons on the left or right of the top column, depending on which version you want. Or click on the category to buy the book! If you want to pay by check, you can still email me at mist@jonathangstein.com

Your client's information

Its being sent overseas. Yes, the insurance companies are sending your client's information overseas. Health insurers have been doing this for years. But now the auto insurance companies are doing it. Here is when:

1. They are sending medical records to doctors to review radiological reports and other records to provide input on reasonable and necessity of treatment.

2. They are sending medical records to be input in to the databases, ie Colossus and similar programs.

3. They are sending medical bills over to be re-coded.

The insurance companies are trying to cut costs. One way is to decrease the costs of medical reviews and data entry. Since the costs of these services are less overseas, it benefits the insurers.

At this point, sit tight. Don't worry about it. Wait and see what the insurers do and if there are any breaches of privacy. Then, you can formulate a game plan.

Buy the PDF Version Here

You can now buy the PDF version of Litigating MIST Cases here.