Setting Precedents, Setting Standards
In the course of arguing before the Ohio Supreme Court, Rutter & Russin has won cases that established precedents and set new standards for the rights of policyholders.
In the firm's landmark case of Zoppo v. Homestead Insurance Company, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that there are many ways an insurer can act in bad faith:
- Conducting an inadequate investigation
- Exploiting the insured's vulnerable financial position
- Unnecessarily delaying the settlement of a claim
If bad faith can be proven, the insured may be entitled to collect damages for emotional distress, economic harm, and attorney fees and costs.
Below are representative cases based on applicable policy limits.
Fire & Property
Restaurant Owner Collects $478,000
When a popular restaurant burned down, all the owners wanted to do was rebuild it and get back into business. They turned to their insurance company for help, but, after a ponderous investigation and repeated examinations under oath, the carrier accused them of setting the fire and then lying about it, even though the local authorities had never charged the owners with arson. Rutter & Russin took on the carrier and proved to a jury that the insureds had nothing to do with causing the fire, resulting in a judgment for several hundred thousand dollars. Rather than risk an appeal, the insurance company agreed to pay the judgment plus interest and attorney fees.
Homeowner Cleared of Arson
A fire destroyed a house in the country occupied by a divorced man. The insurance company's investigator claimed that the fire was set intentionally with a flammable liquid. The homeowner believed that the fire occurred because he fell asleep smoking a cigarette. The insurance company denied the claim and accused the homeowner of arson. A trial in federal court in Indiana resulted in a verdict for the homeowner after a fire expert hired by Rutter & Russin was able to rebut the allegations made by the insurance company's investigator.
Restaurant Fire Results in $3 Million Settlement
A suspicious fire destroyed a popular river-front restaurant that was insured by two identical policies issued by two different companies. The owner had requested his long-time carrier to cancel its policy the week before the fire after receiving a substantially lower quote from another carrier. The agent for the long-time carrier asked for more time to try and match the new company's quote. While the agent was preparing his new quote, the fire occurred. Rutter & Russin convinced the carriers that the cause of the fire could never be determined, and that both carriers owed their full policy limits, rather than both policies prorating the loss. The claim was resolved for nearly $3 million.
Cigar Owner Receives Over $1 Million
The insurance company agreed to insure an inventory of cigars for over $1 million, but when a water loss rendered the cigars a pile of smelly tobacco, the carrier argued that the cigars were not worth as much as they had been insured for. Rutter & Russin pursued an appraisal under the terms of the insurance policy, resulting in the insurance company paying over $1 million to resolve the case.
Arson Defense Rejected by Jury
A family was spending the night at a relative's house when their home burned down, but the insurance company decided their absence was no coincidence and denied their claim, asserted that they had conspired to burn down their house. Rutter & Russin took the case to trial, and a jury found against the carrier and ordered it to pay the homeowners what they were owed.
Insurance Bad Faith
Ohio Supreme Court Affirms Punitive Damage Award
No arrests were made when a Cleveland bar was intentionally burned, but the insurance company still denied the owner's claim asserting that he had set the fire. The owner believed that the fire had probably been set by some former patrons that he had kicked out for causing trouble. The jury determined that the owner was not involved in setting the fire, and awarded him $80,000 for his property loss plus another $187,000 for bad faith and attorneys' fees. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the jury's verdict including the jury's decision that a further amount should be awarded to the owner for punitive damages. The punitive damage claim was later settled for a confidential amount.
Bad Faith Delay in Paying Fire Claim
An insurance company took nearly two years to pay its policyholders what they were owed after a fire destroyed their house. The carrier forced the policyholders to appraisal twice, refused to advance even the amounts it admitted it owed, and tried to get its contractor to cut corners on his repair estimate. Rutter & Russin represented the insureds and obtained a confidential settlement from the carrier for its bad faith conduct during the adjustment process.
Injury Claims
Widow and Children Recover $3 Million
A young widow with three children came to Rutter & Russin after her husband was killed in a head-on traffic accident. The wrongdoer's insurance company was dragging its feet, and her own insurance company was refusing to pay anything. Rutter & Russin took the case and recovered the wrongdoer's policy limits, then forced the widow's own insurance carrier to admit that it had coverage, resulting in a payment of over $3 million.
Disabled Woman Receives $1.5 Million Settlement
The insurance company blamed the disabled victim for an accident that occurred in a highway turnaround, and refused to pay anything. Rutter & Russin filed suit and, working with an accident reconstructionist, the state highway patrol, the victim's treating doctor, and a rehabilitation specialist, convinced the insurance company that its insured driver was probably at fault and that the victim was permanently disabled. The case settled before trial for $1.5 million.
Back Injury Results in $505,000 Verdict A 42-year-old father of three was injured when the van he was riding in went out of control and rolled off the highway. Although the man did not initially believe he was seriously injured, his condition deteriorated to the point where he was in constant pain and was unable to continue working. An MRI done over a year after the accident revealed that he had a compression fracture of one of his vertebrae. The insurance company hired a doctor to examine the man, then took the position that his back problems were the result of a degenerative arthritic condition, and totally unrelated to the accident. A jury trial resulted in a $505,000 verdict for the man and his family.
Insurance Coverage Disputes
Widow Collects $1.35 Million in Life Insurance
The president of an Ohio-based company was killed in a plane crash enroute to a subsidiary company located in New Hampshire. The subsidiary company had purchased a $1.5 million life insurance policy for the president, naming his wife as beneficiary. The insurance carrier, however, denied the widow's claim, asserting that the policy had been canceled nearly a year before the crash due to the subsidiary's failure to pay the premium. Rutter & Russin argued that the cancellation was ineffective because Ohio law applied and required a notice of cancellation to be sent to the insured-president, not merely the subsidiary responsible for paying the premium. The parties settled for 90% of the policy limits.
Child's Death Results in Insurer Paying $500,000 Policy Limits
A negligent driver crashed his truck into the living room of a house, killing an eight-year old girl. The family's personal attorney obtained the driver's policy limits in a settlement, but was unable to convince the family's own uninsured motorists carrier that it owed its limits as well. The family turned to Rutter & Russin, who obtained a court of appeals ruling obligating the carrier to pay its full $500,000 policy limits.
Printing Company Recovers an Additional $750,000
A printing company suffered a devastating fire loss, and recovered over a million dollars from its carrier for damage to a warehouse, but the carrier refused to pay for most of the inventory claiming that it was not covered by a technical reading of the policy. The company hired Rutter & Russin to pursue the balance of the claim, resulting in the insurance company paying an additional $750,000.
Fortune 500 Company Gets Coverage Help
A Fortune 500 company needed coverage help when its medical excess insurer refused to reimburse it for over $500,000 in medical bills resulting from the hospital stays of two badly injured employees. Rutter & Russin filed suit in federal court, and, following several lengthy depositions of the involved parties, convinced the insurance company to honor the vast majority of the claim.
Lawyer's Depression Leads to Disability Claim
The insurance company did not believe its insured when he told them that he was too depressed to continue practicing law, so he turned to Rutter & Russin to help him establish his claim. Working with the insured's doctor and psychiatrist, Rutter & Russin convinced the carrier to honor the claim, resulting in lifetime disability payments to the lawyer.
Banking Error Results in Fidelity Claim
An employee of a bank erroneously authorized the deposit of millions of dollars worth of checks into an unauthorized account. The bank was forced to reimburse its customer for the loss, and then turned to its fidelity insurer for reimbursement. When the carrier refused, citing certain technical defenses, Rutter & Russin filed suit and forced a settlement favorable to the bank.
Duty to Defend Upheld
Several carriers refused to defend their insured when it was sued for conduct that the carriers did not feel was covered by their policies. The insured hired Rutter & Russin to vindicate its position, and the firm's work resulted in the court of appeals ordering the carriers to provide a defense.
Disabled Worker Needs Help Collecting Judgment
A disabled woman and her attorney already had a multi-million dollar judgment when they came to Rutter & Russin. The problem was that they had nobody to collect it from. The wrongdoer was threatening bankruptcy and the wrongdoer's insurance companies were all denying liability. Rutter & Russin pursued the carriers all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, and obtained a ruling that resulted in a confidential settlement.
Salesman's Back Injury Results in Disability Claim
A salesman admitted that his bad back did not prevent him from performing many jobs – just the sales job that he had at the time since it required him to carry and display to customers heavy items. The disability insurer did not buy the story, but it agreed to a confidential settlement once Rutter & Russin became involved and successfully argued that the policy insured the client in his own occupation, not just any occupation.
Insurance Agent Negligence
Insurance Agent Pays for Mistake
A sudden storm caused a sewer line to back up and flood the entire lower level of a suburban home, resulting in extensive water damage. The homeowner thought he was insured, but the carrier pointed to an exclusion in the policy for flood damage. The homeowner turned to Rutter & Russin for help, and the firm's work discovered that the agent had erroneously failed to secure the proper type of coverage. The agent's own insurance company stepped in to settle the case for a confidential amount.
Agent's Application Error Results in Settlement
Since a man's wife was in a nursing home, he transferred title of his home to his adult daughter. Rather than name both the daughter and her father as insureds on the insurance application, the agent listed only the daughter. When a fire occurred, the insurance company refused to pay for the father's property, arguing that he was not an insured. Rutter & Russin sued the agent for his error, resulting in a settlement after the case was decided in the father's favor in the court of appeals.
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