Liberty Mutual Wins Dismissal of Claim for Injured Mass. Carpenter

June 25, 2010

  • June 25, 2010 at 11:39 am
    kpop says:
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    where was the agent? I suspect the business ownere was with an association program with customer service reps and not agents. a costly mistake not doubt. here call this 1-800 number and they’ll take car of you.

  • June 25, 2010 at 1:54 am
    gagirl says:
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    apparently the agent who sold the policy and verified the information every year for renewal did his/her job, or it would have been an E&O. Apparently the client didn’t want to pay the premium to endorse the policy until he needed it, and then wanted to blame someone else. You get what you pay for.

  • June 25, 2010 at 1:54 am
    T-Ma says:
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    Liberty was a direct writer up until March of last year, so no agent was involved.

  • June 25, 2010 at 1:56 am
    rTrusty says:
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    It’s more likely the self-employed carpenter declined to purchase the endorsement as it would have increased his premium.

  • June 25, 2010 at 2:24 am
    agent says:
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    You can bet that if there was an agent, the E&O carrier would have paid out. No amount of pro-active effort would prevent that it seems these days.

    When up against the resources of a direct writer, you are on your own.

  • June 25, 2010 at 2:29 am
    T-Ma says:
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    I do think if he reported his payroll and paid premium, he should have coverage. Either that or return the premium he paid since 2006 when the law changed and charge him on an “if any” basis with minimum premium. I wonder what the auditor picked up?

  • June 25, 2010 at 2:36 am
    T-Ma says:
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    I googled this and the insured did not include his salary, paid minimum premium and knew he wasn’t covered when he bought the policy. There was an agent, but the policy was assigned to Liberty through the assigned risk pool. I think the ruling was fair.

  • June 25, 2010 at 3:43 am
    Paul says:
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    I am presently involved in a similar situation. I am an Independent Adjuster and I have worked for a number of Vendors (Independent Adjusting Firms) over the years. My home state has a similar law I do not qualify for workmens comp under a policy if I had it in my own name. In the past I have paid lump sums to some of the Vendors for WC and I have had some to deduct a percentage off of each Invoice. The Vendor I was working for at the time of a serious accident (A fall from a roof) had taken a Percentage on all prior Invoices and had shown it as WC deduction on all pay sheets, etc up until my fall. On all prior claims I handled for this Vendor, he did the invoicing and then provided me with a copy of the pay sheet showing the deduction of a percentage for WC. This Vendor had also done this same deduction as a percentage on all other Adjusters that I have talked with and I have obtained copies of their pay sheets and Sworn Affidavits from each of these Adjusters who have worked for him and it is clear he has always taken the percentage and noted it WC deduction. Over nine months from the date of the accident I Invoiced the Vendor at the instructions of the WC Commission for the Claim I (fell off the roof of) did not complete because I was hospitalized for over 60 days. On this claim the Vendor paid me without deducting the WC percentage as he had always done in the past. I have been told that this was either underhanded or dishonest on the part of the Vendor. Needless to say I now have Law Suits pending against the Vendor and his WC Carrier. My health insurance Carriers have paid over $240,000.00 to date and I have had no income for almost two years.

  • June 25, 2010 at 3:48 am
    T-Ma says:
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    If you incorporate, you can elect to include yourself as an officer. It will also help shield your personal assets from liability suits. You may want to consider doing this.

  • June 28, 2010 at 2:38 am
    smartypants says:
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    You make the good argument that I use when discussing insurance with my kids, who want to save 15% on their insurance…no agent, no advocate. As you noted, with an agent, he would have at least been warned; if the agent was at fault, he could recover E & O. Now he’s just SOL!



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