A Montana woman was recently awarded $5.3 million in a bad faith insurance case involving Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. The verdict is the largest of it’s kind in state history.
Samantha Chilcote, a 32-year-old ecologist, suffered permanent brain injuries in a 2003 head-on collision. The driver of the other vehicle was at fault for the accident, but the driver’s policy did not cover all of Chilcote’s medical expenses.
She filed a claim for underinsured motorist benefits and medical costs under her family’s insurance plan, which she was covered under at the time of the accident.
Fireman’s delayed paying the medical costs until January 2008, during which time her bills were turned over to collections and hindered her ability to seek medical treatment.
“This insurance company went for five years before it paid any of my clients medical expenses. They had absolutely no basis for not paying them,” said attorney James A. Manley.
The company also refused to pay Chilcote underinsured motorist benefits, though it had never fully investigated her case. According to the suit, Fireman’s never took a recorded statement from Chilcote, any witnesses, or healthcare providers and only obtained one page of medical records.
A federal jury awarded Chilcote $3.5 million in punitive damages and $1.8 million in compensatory damages including medical expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of earning capacity, among other things.