I was a passenger in a car that was in an accident more than five years ago. As luck would have it, both drivers who caused the accident carried Allstate policies. I suffered severe injuries, including herniated discs, documented by an MRI report, which we all know is the gold standard in imaging, certified by a radiologist. I spent months going to doctors for treatment and around $12,500 on medical expenses. To this day I have not recovered. About four years after the accident, the arbitrator awarded in my favor, but Allstate's lawyers refused to honor it and chose to challenge it further in court, even though the arbitrator was a judge in the court and tried to resolve the issue.
At the court hearing, which took place more than five years after the accident, Allstate's attorneys presented a doctor who said that his clients are 85 to 95% defense (like Allstate) and who has been an expert witness before all 20 or so judges in the Middlesex, NJ County court and almost every judge and court in the 21 counties in NJ. He charged Allstate's lawyers (which obviously was covered by Allstate) $6000 for attending the hearing as an expert witness, besides $1,450 for certifying that my disc, in his opinion, was degenerated. He had no qualifications or certifications in MRI and had trouble explaining where he learned to read an MRI. I was not allowed in court to use the word insurance or Allstate, to prevent Allstate from getting a bad name with the jury, and I had to win 5-1 or else lose. The jury got the impression that I was suing the drivers and sympathized with them, not knowing it was Allstate.
I lost the case even though I suffered permanent injuries. Allstate's lawyers and the doctor took home the bacon. Allstate preferred that, rather than compensate a passenger their drivers injured. Allstate's lawyers went on to add that even if I owned the car and my shirt was torn, I would not be compensated under the law. Since the matter was delayed by more than five years, the other passengers, including one who had 17 staples in her head and multiple fractures, decided not to attend the hearing.
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