You actually can not make these things up. Progressive Insurance coverage Firm, considered one of America’s largest auto insurers, is alleged to have created a scheme that might make ambulance chasers blush – straight feeding accident sufferer info to a legislation agency for solicitation.
The Weird Details
Image this: You get right into a minor fender bender, dutifully report it to Progressive, and two days later obtain an unsolicited name promising you $10,000 in the event you join with a legislation agency you’ve by no means heard of. That’s precisely what allegedly occurred to Kelly Prepare dinner and his spouse, Dr. Esther Kelley-Prepare dinner after their mother and father had a minor accident of their automobile.
The legislation agency, Kanner & Pintaluga (Ok&P), apparently wasn’t shy about revealing the supply of their lead, telling Dr. Kelley-Prepare dinner straight that Progressive gave them the contact info below an settlement between the businesses.
The Severe Implications
Whereas the information learn like a rejected authorized comedy script, the results aren’t any laughing matter. The alleged scheme probably violates:
- Federal racketeering legal guidelines (RICO)
- The Driver’s Privateness Safety Act
- Texas barratry legal guidelines
- A number of moral guidelines governing legal professional conduct
The prison implications are extreme. As I’ve beforehand written in Public Adjusters and These Immediately Soliciting Insurance coverage Claims on Behalf of Attorneys Are Committing a Crime and Can Go to Jail Together with the Attorneys, attorneys and those that interact in direct solicitation of claims for attorneys can face lack of their licenses and jail time relying upon the state the place these actions occur.
Why This Issues
This case highlights a rising downside within the authorized policyholder aspect of the insurance coverage claims business – the more and more aggressive ways used to accumulate shoppers by probably unlawful means. It undermines the general public belief of those that know higher however are appearing out of greed relatively than service first.
For policyholders, this serves as a reminder to be cautious of unsolicited contact after an accident or a loss. For insurance coverage professionals and attorneys, it reinforces that no enterprise benefit is value risking your license or freedom.
The proposed class motion 1 seeks statutory damages of $10,000 per violation, amongst different cures. However past the financial penalties, this case could lastly make clear practices which have lengthy operated at midnight.
The previous saying goes that fact is stranger than fiction. On this case, the reality about how some insurance coverage corporations and legislation corporations allegedly function could certainly be stranger – and extra troubling – than any fiction author may think about. Do I believe Progressive executives have accepted a scheme that gives personal info to plaintiff attorneys to make a majority of these solicitations? No. However someway, the legislation agency or these the legislation agency has engaged to marketplace for it has that non-public info.
Bear in mind, in the event you obtain unsolicited contact after an accident or loss, doc every part. And in the event you’re an insurance coverage skilled or legal professional, keep far-off from any schemes involving the direct solicitation of shoppers. The MMA fiasco can present what can occur. The implications are merely not value it.
Thought For The Day
The legislation is the ground, not the ceiling, of ethics
—Thurgood Marshall
1 Prepare dinner v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., No.4:24-cv-4423 (S.D. Tex. [Complaint filed Nov. 11, 2024]).
