Insult to injury insurance, fraud, and the big business of bad faith

• Main Author: Bourhis, Ray (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Berrett-Koehler 2005
• Subjects: UnumProvident Company (Chattanooga, Tenn.) > Trials, litigation, etc; Tort liability of insurance companies > United States; Disability claims > United States; Bad faith (Law) > United States; Insurance companies > Corrupt practices > United States
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: xviii, 263 pages illustrations 25 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-256) and index
• ISBN: 9781576753491; 1576753492

Joan Hangarter bought a disability policy in 1990 to protect her should she ever become seriously ill. She dutifully paid her annual premiums for nearly a decade. But when she became disabled, she and her children found themselves homeless and bankrupt when her insurer-UnumProvident-stopped paying her benefits. With the help of attorneys Ray Bourhis and Alice Wolfson, Hangarter won a landmark $7.7 million jury verdict against Unum. Hangarter's dramatic story illustrates in shocking detail how insurance companies put profit above the promises they make to policyholders. Exposing the intricate systems insurance companies use to target and terminate expensive claims without just cause, Bourhis reveals the back-room mind-set that drives these illegal practices. He shows how low-level employees are duped into unethical conduct, how insurers manipulate data and witnesses in the few cases that do go to trial, and exactly what ordinary people are up against when forced to take on these behemoths. Bourhis paints a frightening picture of how key decisions by Congress and the US Supreme Court have enabled these schemes to continue unchecked-and heprovides a sorely needed roadmap to reform