The Plaintiff sustained an open bimalleolar right ankle fraction as well as a closed head injury and multiple lacerations and contusions in an automobile accident. The Plaintiff underwent irrigation and debridement surgery of her right ankle and an external fixator was applied. The plaintiff underwent three additional surgeries to her ankle due to the nonunion of the fracture. Unable to ambulate, she was confined to nursing facilities off and on for nearly a year following this serious accident. Ultimately she successfully graduated to a walker and hoped to be independent by eighteen months post-accident. Plaintiff’s medical bills totaled in excess of $155,000.00.
The Plaintiff submitted a written demand to State Farm Insurance Company on behalf of the Defendant providing them with all of the medical records and bills are known at that time. The bills totaled $97,000.00. State Farm was provided thirty days in which to respond to the demand and tender their limits of $100,000.00. Approximately two weeks later, the demand was supplemented with additional medical records and bills that now totaled $120,000.00. At no point in time did the adjuster on behalf of State Farm attempt to contact Plaintiff’s counsel regarding the demand. Meanwhile, the Plaintiff dispatched a similar demand to her underinsured motorist carrier, Amica, and supplemented that demand as well. Amica, within the time frame allotted by the demand, promptly tendered its limits. State Farm ultimately paid significant “extra-contractual” damages for their blatant “bad faith” handling of this claim.
