Personal Injury and Bad Faith - Insurance Companies Behaving Badly - In routine personal injury cases, there is a limit to how much money can be recovered. Insurance policies have "policy limits". If the car that hit you has a $50,000 insurance policy, that's the maximum that can usually be won in a lawsuit or settlement. The insurance company will not settle with the injured person for more than the policy, and any settlement will have to release the driver and owner from further liability. While it is possible to go after the owner and/or driver, this is usually much more difficult and is extremely rare.

In bad faith cases these limits can be exceeded. Bad faith occurs when the insurance company does something wrong, leading to a verdict of more than the policy limit and exposing the insured to personal liability.

For starters, let's be clear on the insurance relationship. You pay car insurance. The car insurance company then owes you certain duties. If you have an accident, they are supposed to investigate and take care of claims that come out of that accident. If you get sued, they have to provide you with a lawyer to defend you. And if you lose the lawsuit, they have to pay the amount awarded, up to the policy limit. One of the most important duties they have is to negotiate in good faith. If it's clearly your fault and the person is really hurt, then they have to consider the situation, evaluate it, and try to settle the claim within the policy limits. There's more, but that's a good beginning.

Imagine if you hit someone in a crosswalk and they suffer a broken hip. You tell your insurance company that it was your fault and plead guilty to a traffic violation. It's your fault. The injured person ends up getting hip replacement surgery two weeks after the accident. They were really hurt.

An attorney contacts your insurance company and demands $50K - the limit. He tells them, in a letter, that if they don't pay up within three months, he's going to sue you and will no longer accept the $50K. If that happens, you could be on the hook for anything over $50K, and that might be $50K or more with an injury like that.

In most cases, insurance companies will settle that kind of case quickly, probably even before the three-month demand. We settled one vaguely simliar case with a $50K policy after sending only a couple of letters. From the insurance company's perspective, these cases should settle quickly.

But there are times when insurance companies don't do so well. In some situations the person assigned to the case is inexperienced, incompetent, or both. In others the company's home office adopts an unrealistic policy that doesn't work in the field. And sometimes they just drop the ball and there's no explanation.

Personal injury lawyers who know what they're doing will make a record of the bad faith. This means sending letters documenting the efforts to settle and the insurance company's failures to act in good faith. It may mean an appearance in Court and having a settlement conference with the judge, recorded by a court reporter (also known as a stenographer).

Typically the plaintiff's attorney will set a deadline to settle the case. If the insurance company comes around after that deadline, and offers the policy limits, the injured person will have to make a decision. Either take the money now or take the long road and try to get more through a bad faith claim. This decision depends on the risks faced and the potential gain. If it's a $100K policy, the injury is worth an estimated $150K, and there is a substantial risk of a verdict below $100K, then it may make sense to take the money. If it's a $10K policy and a million dollar injury, there's not much to lose in the bad faith route and a lot to be gained.

From personal injury to bad faith

If the case doesn't settle and the verdict is larger than the policy (an excess verdict), the personal injury case is now over and the bad faith part of the case is about to begin. It's important to understand that the "bad faith" is not how the insurance company treats the injured person - it's how they treat their own customer. The duties discussed above are duties the company owes to its customer - the one who paid for the insurance policy.

The questions in a bad faith case turn mainly on how the insurance company dealt with its customer, and its contractual duties. Did the insurance company investigate the claim properly? Did it keep the customer informed about the status of settlement negotiations? Did it defend the case to its fullest? If they didn't settle, did they have a good reason? If they breached any of these contractual duties to their customer, then the customer has a claim against the insurance company, for the amount of the verdict in excess of the policy.

If there's a $50K policy and a $150K verdict, the insurance company pays the injured person $50K. Now the injured person files a judgment against the person who hit them (the insurance customer) for $100K. The customer now owes the plaintiff money and risks losing their house, other assets, having their wages garnished, and suffering a major hit to their credit rating.

At this point, the injured person and the customer will typically make a deal. I won't go after your assets and in exchange for that, you assign me your claim against the insurance company. The injured person generally does not have a direct claim against the insurer in personal injury cases. Now, effectively, they have bought the customer's claim against the insurance company.

The personal injury lawyer would then commence a whole new lawsuit. The first suit was against the insurance customer, the person that caused the accident. The new suit is against the insurance company for bad faith. After the process works its way through, a judge and/or jury will decide whether the insurance company breached its duties to its customer, and if so, require the insurance company to pay the excess to the injured person.

Conclusion

The modern reality of bad faith cases is that it's a hard road. In many states judges just don't like these cases. From a plaintiff's perspective, there appears to be a bias in favor of protecting insurance companies and limiting claims to the policy limits. In my opinion these decisions mistreat the customer. Bad faith claims should be treated for what they are, simple breach of contract cases. If the insurance company breached the contract, then they have to pay the consequential damages - they should have to clear the judgment that has been filed against their insured. Since the courts do not follow this path, insurance companies have been emboldened. 

They are more prone to breach duties to their customers in order to save a buck here and there, adding up to millions a year in extra profits. The end result is that more of the costs get passed onto the injured person and settlements are delayed for no good reason, other than for insurance companies to earn more interest while they hold the cash. The insurance customer suffers too, as the case that should have been resolved hangs over their head indefinitely.

Captive Insurance Company - Reduce Taxes and Build Wealth - For business owners paying taxes in the United States, captive insurance companies reduce taxes, build wealth and improve insurance protection. A captive insurance company (CIC) is similar in many ways to any other insurance company. It is referred to as "captive" because it generally provides insurance to one or more related operating businesses. With captive insurance, premiums paid by a business are retained in the same "economic family", instead of being paid to an outsider.

Two key tax benefits enable a structure containing a CIC to build wealth efficiently: (1) insurance premiums paid by a business to the CIC are tax deductible; and (2) under IRC § 831(b), the CIC receives up to $1.2 million of premium payments annually income-tax-free. In other words, a business owner can shift taxable income out of an operating business into the low-tax captive insurer. An 831(b) CIC pays taxes only on income from its investments. The "dividends received deduction" under IRC § 243 provides additional tax efficiency for dividends received from its corporate stock investments.

Starting about 60 years ago, the first captive insurance companies were formed by large corporations to provide insurance that was either too expensive or unavailable in the conventional insurance market.

Over the years, a combination of US tax laws, court cases and IRS rulings has clearly defined the steps and procedures required for the establishment and operation of a CIC by one or more business owners or professionals.

To qualify as an insurance company for tax purposes, a captive insurance company must satisfy "risk shifting" and "risk distribution" requirements. This is easily done through routine CIC planning. The insurance provided by a CIC must really be insurance, that is, a genuine risk of loss must be shifted from the premium-paying operating business to the CIC that insures the risk.

In addition to tax benefits, principal advantages of a CIC include increased control and increased flexibility, which improve insurance protection and lower cost. With conventional insurance, an outside carrier typically dictates all aspects of a policy. Often, certain risks cannot be insured conventionally, or can only be insured at a prohibitive price. Conventional insurance rates are often volatile and unpredictable, and conventional insurers are prone to deny valid claims by exaggerating petty technicalities. Also, although business insurance premiums are generally deductible, once they are paid to a conventional outside insurer, they are gone forever.

A captive insurance company efficiently insures risk in various ways, such as through customized insurance policies, favorable "wholesale" rates from reinsurers, and pooled risk. Captive companies are well suited for insuring risk that would otherwise be uninsurable. Most businesses have conventional "retail" insurance policies for obvious risks, but remain exposed and subject to damages and loss from numerous other risks (i.e., they "self insure" those risks). A captive company can write customized policies for a business's peculiar insurance needs and negotiate directly with reinsurers. A CIC is particularly well-suited to issue business casualty policies, that is, policies that cover business losses claimed by a business and not involving third-party claimants. For example, a business might insure itself against losses incurred through business interruptions arising from weather, labor problems or computer failure.

As noted above, an 831(b) CIC is exempt from taxes on up to $1.2 million of premium income annually. As a practical matter, a CIC makes economic sense when its annual receipt of premiums is about $300,000 or more. Also, a business's total payments of insurance premiums should not exceed 10 percent of its annual revenues. A group of businesses or professionals having similar or homogeneous risks can form a multiple-parent captive (or group captive) insurance company and/or join a risk retention group (RRG) to pool resources and risks.

A captive insurance company is a separate entity with its own identity, management, finances and capitalization requirements. It is organized as an insurance company, having procedures and personnel to administer insurance policies and claims. An initial feasibility study of a business, its finances and its risks determines if a CIC is appropriate for a particular economic family. An actuarial study identifies appropriate insurance policies, corresponding premium amounts and capitalization requirements. After selection of a suitable jurisdiction, application for an insurance license may proceed. Fortunately, competent service providers have developed "turnkey" solutions for conducting the initial evaluation, licensing, and ongoing management of captive insurance companies. The annual cost for such turnkey services is typically about $50,000 to $150,000, which is high but readily offset by reduced taxes and enhanced investment growth.

A captive insurance company may be organized under the laws of one of several offshore jurisdictions or in a domestic jurisdiction (i.e., in one of 39 US states). Some captives, such as a risk retention group (RRG), must be licensed domestically. Generally, offshore jurisdictions are more accommodating than domestic insurance regulators. As a practical matter, most offshore CICs owned by a US taxpayer elect to be treated under IRC § 953(d) as a domestic company for federal taxation. An offshore CIC, however, avoids state income taxes. The costs of licensing and managing an offshore CIC are comparable to or less than doing so domestically. More importantly, an offshore company offers better asset protection opportunities than a domestic company. For example, an offshore irrevocable trust owning an offshore captive insurance company provides asset protection against creditors of the business, grantor and other beneficiaries while allowing the grantor to enjoy benefits of the trust.

For US business owners paying substantial insurance premiums every year, a captive insurance company efficiently reduces taxes and builds wealth and can be easily integrated into asset protection and estate planning structures. Up to $1.2 million of taxable income can be shifted as deductible insurance premiums from an operating business to a low-tax CIC.

Warning & Disclaimer: This is not legal or tax advice.

Internal Revenue Service Circular 230 Disclosure: As provided for in Treasury regulations, advice (if any) relating to federal taxes that is contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (2) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Copyright 2011 - Thomas Swenson

Rubber-tyred Mobile Crushing Plant - The mobile crushing plant is mainly applied in metallurgy, chemical, building materials, hydropower industries where we need to move the production site from one place to another, especially when dealing with stones for highway, railway, and hydropower project. Users can choose different configurations according to the type and scale of raw materials, as well as the requirements for final product.

Rubber-tyred Mobile Crushing Plant

The mobile crushing plant is mainly applied in metallurgy, chemical, building materials, hydropower industries where we need to move the production site from one place to another, especially when dealing with stones for highway, railway, and hydropower project. Users can choose different configurations according to the type and scale of raw materials, as well as the requirements for final product.Rubber-tyred mobile crushing plant is an advanced and flexible crushing combination that is developed by our R&D team. It seeks to  expand the concept of coarse and fine crushing. It is designed to meet customer’s demands, and help eliminate obstacles in the production sites, like environmental issues and complicated configurations. As a compact, efficient, and low-cost project operation hardware facility, Rubber-tyred mobile crushing plant has integral set of units, flexible mobility of crushers, low cost of transportation, good adaptability, and diversified configurations, etc.

Features of Rubber-tyred Mobile Crushing Plant 

• Strong mobility.Different crushing machines are installed in independent mobile chassis. Due to the short wheelbase and turning radius, it can drive flexibly on the roads and work areas.
  Reduced transportation cost. Rubber-tyred mobile crushing plant can process materials on site. It’s not necessary to remove material from worksite to processing site. It greatly saves the transportation cost.
  With flexible combination and good adaptability, rubber-tyred mobile crushing plant can form "crushing before screening", and "screening before crushing” process, according to different crushing process requirements. Crushing station can be combined into  coarse crushing and fine crushing (two stages crushing )and screening system; as well as the primary, secondary and tertiary crushing screening system depending on actual demand; it can run independently. It really has a great deal of flexibility.

Reliable performance and easy maintenance.

These all simple review and introduction of Rubber-tyred Mobile Crushing Plant, hope this article can be usefull for you all.

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Miami Criminal Lawyer - If you have been arrested and charged with a crime, you need aggressive representation from skilled and knowledgeable criminal defense lawyers who will act fast to protect your rights and build a strong defense geared toward obtaining the best outcome possible. Miami criminal lawyers Mycki Ratzan and Jude Faccidomo have decades of experience providing compassionate, aggressive criminal defense to people from all walks of life charged with state and federal crimes in Miami, Florida courts. The lawyers at Ratzan & Faccidomo have earned a reputation in the Miami legal community for their excellent trial skills and have garnered the respect of judges, prosecutors and the other lawyers of the criminal defense bar. That reputation and respect, combined with a strong work ethic and always being thoroughly prepared at every stage, enable us to get the best results for our clients in each situation, whether through trial or plea negotiations.

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Aggressive Criminal Defense Lawyers with a Record of Success

At Ratzan & Faccidomo, LLC, we are a result-oriented defense firm with a focus on specialized client attention.  Mycki and Jude are both well respected, experienced, and aggressive criminal defense lawyers with a reputation for devoting 100 percent of their skill and talent to each and every case.

Our goal is to handle your criminal matter effectively and quickly so that you can put the ordeal behind you and move on with your life.  The lawyers at Ratzan & Faccidomo, LLC pride themselves on understanding that your case is troubling not only to you, but to your family as well.  While a favorable end result in your case ultimately is the most important goal, Mycki and Jude recognize that much of the anxiety associated with criminal offenses stems from not knowing what will happen next.  Your defense team will take all the time required to ensure that you are as informed and involved in the process as you wish to be.  We are here to help you and your family navigate the system and to fight aggressively to protect your interests.

Call Now for Immediate Assistance from Experienced, Effective Miami Criminal Lawyers

At Ratzan & Faccidomo, our Miami criminal lawyers are sympathetic and compassionate about what the client is going through. We make an effort to make the client comfortable and take the time to make sure they understand the process and know what to expect. Above all we pride ourselves on our professionalism. Every email, phone call, or message is returned promptly. We are always available to meet clients and discuss strategy or answer questions about their legal issues. If your loved one is incarcerated, we will make time to see them in person to ensure they are well-informed of the progress of their case. We will take care of you and help you get the best result possible. We offer a free initial consultation, so call anytime. Spanish language services are available as needed. If you have been arrested and charged with a Florida or federal criminal offense, contact Ratzan & Faccidomo for immediate assistance from an experienced, effective Miami criminal defense firm.

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5 Foods You Should Be Eating For Your Best Body -  Find out some of the healthiest foods to eat for heart health, weight loss and healthier skin. Choosing nutritious foods helps your health in two ways. First, a diet packed with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats helps you feel fuller on fewer calories, which is key in keeping your weight in check. Plus, antioxidants and other beneficial compounds in foods offer unique health boons. 

Keep your body looking its best—inside and out—with these five foods. 

1. Green Beans

Filling up on green beans, and other high-fiber foods, can help you prevent weight gain or even promote weight loss—without dieting—suggests new research in The Journal of Nutrition. Researchers found that women who increased their fiber intake generally lost weight while women who decreased the fiber in their diets gained. The scientists boiled the findings into a single weight-loss formula: boosting fiber by 8 grams for every 1,000 calories consumed resulted in losing about 4 1/2 pounds over the course of the study. Try it for yourself. If you’re consuming 2,000 calories per day, aim to increase your fiber by 16 grams. Raspberries, chickpeas and strawberries can also help you get your fill.

2. Salmon

The omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish—such as salmon and tuna—can boost your skin’s defenses against UV damage. In a study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that those who ate a little more than 5 ounces of omega-3-rich fish each week decreased the development of precancerous skin lesions by almost 30 percent. Scientists think the omega-3s act as a shield, protecting cell walls from free-radical damage.

3. Blueberries

Eating just under a cup of mixed berries (such as red raspberries, strawberries, blueberries) daily for 8 weeks was associated with increased levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and lowered blood pressure—two positives when it comes to heart health—according to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The diverse range of polyphenols—health-promoting plant compounds that include anthocyanins and ellagic acid—provided by the mix of berries is likely responsible for the observed benefits.

4. Watermelon

Research shows that eating foods that are full of water, such as watermelon, helps keep you satisfied on fewer calories. (Interestingly enough, drinking water alongside foods doesn’t have the safe effect.) At 92 percent water, watermelon is a good source of vitamin C. When it’s the red variety (some are orange or yellow), it also has lycopene, an antioxidant that may help protect against heart disease and some types of cancer. Other foods that are made mostly of water include cucumbers (95 percent), salad greens (90 percent) and strawberries (91 percent).

5. Tomatoes

Eating more vitamin-C rich foods, such as oranges, tomatoes, strawberries and broccoli, may be a secret to smoother skin. Research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition links consuming plenty of vitamin C-rich foods with youthful skin. The findings suggest that a higher intake of vitamin C from foods is associated with a lower risk of having wrinkled skin and age-related skin dryness in middle-age women. Vitamin C’s youthful effects on skin may be due to its antioxidant properties, which help protect against ultraviolet rays, and its role in keeping skin firm via collagen synthesis, say the researchers.

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http://www.eatingwell.com/article/54667/5-foods-you-should-be-eating-for-your-best-bodyinside-and-out/

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