![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mobilenynotary.com\/yahoo_site_admin\/assets\/images\/sign_doc2.19452927_std.jpg\" "\\"Dairyland")
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Wow, I\u2019ve seen a lot of dirty tricks pulled by Michigan auto insurance companies over the past 16 years I\u2019ve been helping people injured in car accidents<\/a>. But what Dairyland Insurance just did to a group of unsuspecting accident victims may actually top my list for dirty tricks. In fact, I\u2019ve never, ever seen a\u00a0 Michigan auto insurance company pull a stunt this outrageous before.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n Three people were injured in a car accident on March 1, 2010.\u00a0 They contact their insurance company, which happens to be Dairyland.\u00a0 Dairyland sends on March 8, 2010 a full release to the injured people of all of their Michigan no-fault insurance claims \u2013 including the right to future no-fault insurance benefits<\/a>. This is a legal contract that extinguishes all future rights and claims. And it was sent seven days after the car accident! People usually don\u2019t even get an application for benefits within seven days of contacting their own insurance companies.\u00a0 But a legal release?\u00a0 A legal release is almost always sent at the end of a case, after a lawsuit has been filed.<\/p>\n As a personal injury lawyer<\/a>, I’ve helped hundreds of people injured in automobile accidents; the other 17 lawyers at Michigan Auto Law have probably helped thousands. Never have we seen a release being sent within days of an accident.\u00a0 It is, as I said, probably 99 percent of the time, sent after a contested lawsuit has been resolved, either through settlement or verdict.<\/p>\n What did the Dairyland Insurance company customers do once they received the release? You guessed it. They signed, potentially extinguishing their ability to receive all future no-fault insurance benefits.<\/p>\n Take a look at the releases from Dairyland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dairyland deserves a place smack dab at the top of my Insurance Company Hall of Shame<\/a>. What responsible auto insurance company would even think about sending to their own insureds a release of all legal rights\u00a0 – past, present, and future \u2013 seven days after a car accident?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve told this group to promptly file a complaint with the Michigan Insurance Commissioner.\u00a0 I intend to send a letter as well to hopefully quash this type of insurance abuse as well.<\/p>\n In a sense, what Dairyland did isn\u2019t surprising. It is the logical extension of an insurance company taking advantage of the legal state in Michigan, a state without bad faith laws, punitive damages, or a consumer protection act to protect Michigan residents.\u00a0 If ever there was an episode that screams out to why Michigan residents need better protection from auto insurance companies, it is this.\u00a0 Already, Michigan insurance companies lead the nation in profitability<\/a>, and Michigan is one of the few states without an insurance commissioner who can regulate how much profit these insurance companies can make, even though its residents are required by law to purchase no-fault insurance.<\/p>\n There is so much wrong here with what Dairyland Insurance company did, that it’s difficult to know where to begin. But I\u2019ll take a stab: This is the most predatory, dirty thing I have ever seen an insurance company pull on its own customers.<\/p>\n If these Dairyland insurance customers now need wage loss, or medical treatment or an expensive surgery, arguably, this release completely absolves Dairyland of any responsibility to provide the benefits that by Michigan law, it must provide.<\/p>\n – Steven M. Gursten <\/a>is recognized as one of the nation\u2019s top experts in serious car and truck accident injury cases and automobile insurance no-fault litigation. Michigan Auto Law has received the largest reported jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in seven of the past 10 years, including 2009, according to published year-end verdicts and settlements reports.<\/em> Time Limits for Filing Car Accident Claims<\/a><\/p>\nA recipe for disaster<\/h3>\n
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