You actually can not make these things up. Progressive Insurance coverage Firm, certainly one of America’s largest auto insurers, is alleged to have created a scheme that might make ambulance chasers blush – instantly feeding accident sufferer data to a regulation agency for solicitation.
The Weird Info
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 if you happen to enroll with a regulation agency you’ve by no means heard of. That’s precisely what allegedly occurred to Kelly Cook dinner and his spouse, Dr. Esther Kelley-Cook dinner after their mother and father had a minor accident of their automotive.
The regulation agency, Kanner & Pintaluga (Okay&P), apparently wasn’t shy about revealing the supply of their lead, telling Dr. Kelley-Cook dinner instantly that Progressive gave them the contact data beneath an settlement between the businesses.
The Severe Implications
Whereas the information learn like a rejected authorized comedy script, the results are not 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 legal implications are extreme. As I’ve beforehand written in Public Adjusters and These Straight 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 have interaction 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 drawback within the authorized policyholder aspect of the insurance coverage claims business – the more and more aggressive ways used to amass purchasers via probably unlawful means. It undermines the general public belief of those that know higher however are appearing out of greed moderately 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 price 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 outdated saying goes that reality is stranger than fiction. On this case, the reality about how some insurance coverage corporations and regulation corporations allegedly function could certainly be stranger – and extra troubling – than any fiction author may think about. Do I believe Progressive executives have accredited a scheme that gives personal data to plaintiff attorneys to make some of these solicitations? No. However one way or the other, the regulation agency or these the regulation agency has engaged to marketplace for it has that non-public data.
Keep in mind, if you happen to obtain unsolicited contact after an accident or loss, doc every little thing. And if you happen to’re an insurance coverage skilled or legal professional, keep distant from any schemes involving the direct solicitation of purchasers. The MMA fiasco can present what can occur. The results are merely not price it.
Thought For The Day
The regulation is the ground, not the ceiling, of ethics
—Thurgood Marshall
1 Cook dinner v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., No.4:24-cv-4423 (S.D. Tex. [Complaint filed Nov. 11, 2024]).