Rachel was driving to work and was almost there when she stopped in a line of traffic at a red light. Out in the middle of the intersection two cars crashed into each other. One of those cars came careening toward Rachel. There was no place for her to go. That car smashed into the left rear of Rachel’s car and spun her around. Rachel was looking to the left watching that car coming at her. At impact her head was whipped from side to side and she struck her head on the side window.

Later Rachel called her insurance company, American Family. They talked about the crash and the fact that Rachel’s neck was tightening up and that she was going to see her chiropractor. She hoped she would not need much treatment. Rachel told American Family that she had some neck and shoulder pain before the accident, but it was really no big deal. In fact, she had an MRI scan done years ago that showed no significant injury to her neck.

Rachel received treatment from her chiropractor, but her pain did not go away. The pain started traveling down her arm and would wake her up at night. Rachel saw a medical doctor and an MRI scan was ordered. This test revealed a herniated disc pushing on Rachel’s spine. The doctors were recommending that she get epidural steroid injections.

Rachel again talked with American Family and told them what was going on. American Family asked her to see one of their doctors for what is called an “adverse medical examination.” That doctor found that the injury was caused by the crash and the treatment to date had been reasonable, but that Rachel would not need any further treatment.

Several months later when the epidural steroid injection wore off, Rachel’s arm pain started to return. Her doctors recommended that she obtain repeat injections, but American Family refused to make payment. Rachel hired TSR Injury Law and an Arbitration proceeding was commenced. After the hearing, the Arbitrator determined that American Family needed to pay the bills for all of the treatment that she had had so far.

Unfortunately, Rachel’s condition did not improve and the pain in her arm continued. She decided to undergo a cervical fusion surgery to fix her neck. The bills for that surgery were submitted to American Family and they were processed and paid. Then something strange happened.

American Family cancelled the check and took back the payment that they had already made. Then American Family asked Rachel to see a second doctor of their choosing for another “adverse exam.” They claimed that this doctor was an expert in cervical fusion surgeries and could give them an opinion as to whether the surgery was related to the accident.

That second doctor gave American Family the opinion that the surgery was not related to the accident and American Family refused to pay. However, American Family did not tell this second doctor that Rachel had had an MRI scan of her accident before the crash which did not reveal an injury, and when that MRI scan was compared to the MRI scan taken after the crash, it was clear that there was a new herniated disc caused by the crash. It was also discovered that the doctor selected by American Family had never performed a cervical fusion surgery in his career.

TSR Injury Law sued American Family for failing to keep their promises to pay for medical expenses and other human losses. American Family agreed to settle this matter for the amount of $175,000, which was more than the insurance coverage that had been purchased by Rachel. TSR Injury Law had asked the Court to allow a claim for American Family’s failure to use good faith in claims handling and the Court allowed the claim to proceed “ which is why American Family agreed to pay more than their policy limits to settle this matter.