The measure, called the “Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2019,” would increase the time that victims of crashes have to file a lawsuit from one year to two and reduce the jury trial threshold from $50,000 to $5,000, among other things. The jury threshold change would make it more costly and time-consuming to sue insurance companies in most cases, something Talbot said would incentivize quicker settlements, but which critics said would force consumers to take less money to settle.
The lowering of the jury threshold takes care of this problem: A claim is worth $10,000, so the attorney gets a bench trial with a $49,999 demand. The judge doesn’t really want to mess with it, and since it’s such a paltry amount finds for the plaintiff in the amount of $49,999. The claimant gets $15,000 more than he needed (he’s happy) and the attorney gets $34,999. Not a bad day.
The measure, called the “Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2019,” would increase the time that victims of crashes have to file a lawsuit from one year to two and reduce the jury trial threshold from $50,000 to $5,000, among other things. The jury threshold change would make it more costly and time-consuming to sue insurance companies in most cases, something Talbot said would incentivize quicker settlements, but which critics said would force consumers to take less money to settle.
The lowering of the jury threshold takes care of this problem: A claim is worth $10,000, so the attorney gets a bench trial with a $49,999 demand. The judge doesn’t really want to mess with it, and since it’s such a paltry amount finds for the plaintiff in the amount of $49,999. The claimant gets $15,000 more than he needed (he’s happy) and the attorney gets $34,999. Not a bad day.