Taking Personal Responsibility to new lows.
Recent review of Lazy Days RV Park in Florida has the park getting a 1 out of 10. Reason, the reviewer broke their ankle. Did they break their ankle because the park had carelessly left equipment ...
Forum Discussion
I get the feeling that a lot of folks believe that insurance companies and courts are awash with petty and fraudulent claims. I learned a lot on the topic when an ex-friend fell off a step ladder at my house. He was doing something stupid, with one foot on a step ladder and another on a window sill, when he lost his balance and broke his wrist, severely. He then decided that he was owed a windfall of cash for his injuries.
After he told me that he found a lawyer and was filing a suit, my insurer sent an employee to collect the ladder. This guy was not a lawyer, or even a paralegal. Yet, he handled the entire claim, and dealt with the injured guy's lawyer. He explained that his company doesn't waste money on lawyers to deal with trivial cases involving ambulance chasers, and that there would be no settlement or trial, the case would go away. The injured party's lawyer failed in any attempt at discovery, as in I would not provide any useful information, not allow him on the property to review the scene, and my insurance company would not allow him access to the ladder. The claim was then made that the new fiberglass industrial grade ladder was "defective". My insured notified the manufacturer, who sent a blistering letter to the injury lawyer. The letter essentially said that they will team up with my insurer and myself, and make them deeply regret ever making a fraudulent claim against the ladder manufacturer. In doing so they will provide the vast resources of their legal staff to the homeowner at no charge, and have no doubt as to the outcome of any court proceeding.
In the end, the ex-friend was told that he needed to put $5K down for the case to continue, or his lawyer was walking away. The guy tried to find anybody else interested in the case, and failed. The friend and his BS claim disappeared.
This is apparently how the system typically works, and for every case that get's traction, there are another fifty "I slipped on the grass at campground, and am owed a million dollars" cases that lawyers simply refuse to take. During my case, a lawyer friend connected me with a very successful litigator, who then spent a few minutes listening to the situation. After she got done laughing, she commented that she guessed that the injured party's lawyer was probably young and clueless. As in, he is learning the hard way that you don't even think of taking a case until you know you have a good chance of winning, and there was simply no way to win that one, or the vast majority of the potential cases you are presented with.
After he told me that he found a lawyer and was filing a suit, my insurer sent an employee to collect the ladder. This guy was not a lawyer, or even a paralegal. Yet, he handled the entire claim, and dealt with the injured guy's lawyer. He explained that his company doesn't waste money on lawyers to deal with trivial cases involving ambulance chasers, and that there would be no settlement or trial, the case would go away. The injured party's lawyer failed in any attempt at discovery, as in I would not provide any useful information, not allow him on the property to review the scene, and my insurance company would not allow him access to the ladder. The claim was then made that the new fiberglass industrial grade ladder was "defective". My insured notified the manufacturer, who sent a blistering letter to the injury lawyer. The letter essentially said that they will team up with my insurer and myself, and make them deeply regret ever making a fraudulent claim against the ladder manufacturer. In doing so they will provide the vast resources of their legal staff to the homeowner at no charge, and have no doubt as to the outcome of any court proceeding.
In the end, the ex-friend was told that he needed to put $5K down for the case to continue, or his lawyer was walking away. The guy tried to find anybody else interested in the case, and failed. The friend and his BS claim disappeared.
This is apparently how the system typically works, and for every case that get's traction, there are another fifty "I slipped on the grass at campground, and am owed a million dollars" cases that lawyers simply refuse to take. During my case, a lawyer friend connected me with a very successful litigator, who then spent a few minutes listening to the situation. After she got done laughing, she commented that she guessed that the injured party's lawyer was probably young and clueless. As in, he is learning the hard way that you don't even think of taking a case until you know you have a good chance of winning, and there was simply no way to win that one, or the vast majority of the potential cases you are presented with.
