Insurance Cases:

An insurance policy is a "contract of indemnity" between the insurance company and the policyholder. The policyholder agrees to pay a premium and the insurance company agrees to pay for certain losses and damages incurred under circumstances and conditions usually described in the policy.

Sometimes, despite the policyholder paying his or her premium, the insurance company does not live up to its end of the bargain. Fortunately, most states have common law rules and statutes that make it possible for a policyholder to hold an insurance company responsible when it fails to pay what it rightfully owes the policyholder.

The following are examples of insurance cases the firm has handled:

Jeff Peraldo represented a man who had been shot in the leg by the driver of a vehicle in which the client was riding as a passenger. The client sustained severe injuries to his leg because of the gunshot. Prior to shooting the client, the driver had removed the gun from the glovebox of his vehicle. The firm's case investigation showed the defendant driver had routinely used the vehicle to store and transport the gun prior to the client's injury. The defendant driver's insurance company denied the client any insurance coverage for his injuries by claiming the use of the gun was not connected with any use of the insured vehicle. Litigation with the insurance company was necessary. The trial court ruled in favor of the insurance company and the client appealed. The appeals court reversed the trial court and found in favor of the client by ruling that the driver's regular practice of storing and transporting the gun in the vehicle was sufficiently tied to the use of the vehicle for there to be insurance coverage. While the case was on appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court the case was settled for the amount of $350,000.

Jeff Peraldo represented a woman whose automobile insurance claim for her "medical payments" coverage had been improperly denied by her own insurance company. Medical payments coverage is a form of "no fault" insurance that provides coverage up to an agreed amount for medical bills incurred because of injuries sustained in an automobile collision. The client had been injured in an accident and had incurred bills clearly arising from her injuries, but the insurance company still denied her claim. Litigation was necessary and, soon after the case was filed, the insurance company paid the client an amount nearly three times her original claim to settle the case.

To see other insurance cases the firm has handled, please visit our Case Results page.

« Back to Practice Areas