It Figures

$19 Million

A federal jury in Jonesboro, Ark., awarded $19 million to a Walnut Ridge man who sued Ford Motor Co., claiming that he was paralyzed in a car wreck because his seat belt was defective in his 1998 Windstar van. Eric Polston was paralyzed from the waist down and in one arm after the 2005 crash in which his van rolled over and Polston was ejected from the vehicle. Polston says he was wearing his seat belt and that a defect in the buckle caused it to release, throwing him from the van. AP

$75 Million

BP Plc said it will waive the legal cap on its liability from the Gulf oil spill, which could have limited the cost to the oil giant to $75 million plus clean-up costs. BP has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to fisherman, retailers, charter boat captains and property owners who suffered from the spill, the largest in U.S. history. In a court filing, BP also urged other defendants in the case, including rig owner Transocean Holdings LLC Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, also to waive the liability cap. BP reserved the right to seek reimbursement from the other defendants and denied engaging in grossly negligent conduct, which would open the door to potentially huge punitive damages. Reuters

10 Million

Allstate has agreed to pay $10 million to 45 states in a regulatory settlement involving its use of claims handling software. New York State Insurance Superintendent James J. Wrynn said the agreement follows an 18-month targeted National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) multi-state market conduct examination of Allstate’s claims handling practices. The agreement calls for Allstate to make some changes in its procedures and for state insurance departments to better train their examiners in how insurers use claims technology.

The NAIC examination focused on Allstate’s use of claims handling software, particularly the software program, Colossus, which Allstate used to guide its settlement offers for bodily injury claims after automobile accidents. Among other things, the examination found that Allstate had failed to modify or “tune” the software in a uniform and consistent manner across its claims handling regions.