Insurance Disputes
The term “insurance disputes” covers a wide spectrum of civil claims.
Many of such claims have their own unique characteristics which differentiate one type of insurance dispute from another. For example, a fire loss claim presents issues different from those which arise in the context of a life insurance claim. Both fire insurance claims and life insurance claims entail appreciation of the differences between subrogated fire loss claims, for example, and claims against one’s own insurer for damages or for indemnity against claims brought against a supposed wrongdoer by a purported victim of the wrongdoer.
How about an insurer‘s right to deny indemnity to its insured for alleged breaches of the insurance policy? How about monetary claims that may exceed the monetary limits of an insurance policy? These complications may very well arise during the mediation. It is obviously helpful if the mediator has “subject matter” expertise. Hiring a competent family law mediator to mediate a claim for bad faith on the part of an insurer, is akin to going to a steak restaurant and ordering Chinese food. Not the best use of the skills of the mediator.
The above considerations should be addressed when selecting your mediator. There are also some commonalties over the wide spectrum of insurance disputes. These cases all present monetary claims where issues of liability and damages and litigation risk coalesce. Unlike other civil cases where reputational interests, and other matters may affect the settlement decisions made at mediation, insurance disputes, almost always boil down to how much money an insurer will pay today to avoid the risk of paying a lot more money after a trial.
The plaintiff has a similar calculus. How much am I prepared to discount my case today, in order to avoid a verdict of less after a trial? These competing interests are present at all mediations, but they are particularly important when from an insurer’s perspective it is making a business decision, while the plaintiff/insured is making a very personal decision!
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