Verdicts & Settlements
- $40 Million Settlement After Verdict
- $18 Million Judgment for a Quadriplegic Injured from a Gun
- $13 Million Class Action Settlement Based on Auto Insurer's Wrongful Conduct
- $3.150 Million Settlement of Betterment Class Action
- $2.7 Million Class Action Arbitration Award
- $2 Million Class Action Settlement
- $1.7 Million Class Action Settlement
- $700,000 Settlement for a Church Damaged by Hurricane
- $620,000 Policy Limits Appraisal Award for a Motel Damaged by Hurricane
- Confidential Settlement for a Wrongful Death Caused by a Car Collision—Bad Faith Settlement
- Other cases
Featured cases
Case: $40 Million Settlement after Verdict
This is a class action suit against an out of state group health insurance company who decided to embark on the pattern and practice of raising its insured’s premiums when they were sick and based on other health related factors. The company did this in the hopes of making it financially impossible for the sick people who had the health plan to afford to keep the plan. Most of the people affected by this scam were near the age of 65 and Medicare eligibility. The insurance company defended the suit by saying that Florida law which protected the insureds did not apply to it because it was an out-of-state group.
The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to strip the company of its out of state group exemption and have Florida law apply to its pattern and practice. After obtaining this judgment from the court, the parties settled with the company and agreed to reimburse all persons for the extra premiums that they paid, to provide people who could not afford the premium increases with an insurance policy with reasonable premiums and to reimburse insureds’ out-of-pocket losses.
Case: $18 Million Judgment for a Quadriplegic Injured From a Gun Wound
Our client, Robert, was accidently shot by his cousin in his grandmother’s house. The grandmother’s homeowners insurance company refused to defend and/or pay for the claim asserted by Robert. An $18.5 million judgment was rendered against Robert’s grandmother. The grandmother assigned her right to sue her insurance company and others who were responsible to provide insurance coverage to our client.
The insurance company did not pay because it claimed that the insurance policy lapsed when it did not receive a premium payment. These payments should have been made by the bank that held the grandmother’s mortgage through an escrow account. The bank received notice of nonpayment but did nothing and eventually the policy was cancelled.
The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP brought a lawsuit against the insurance company and several banks that were involved with the mortgage. Ultimately, we were able to procure a confidential settlement which included a bad faith recovery from the insurance company for our client and his family.
Case: $13 Million Class Action Settlement Based On Auto Insurer's Wrongful Conduct
This class action arose out of the insurance company’s arbitrary reduction of payments for benefits incurred by victims of automobile accidents under their personal injury protection insurance. The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to settle this claim whereby doctors and insureds were able to obtain all of the benefits that they were entitled to for treatment which resulted from injuries sustained in an automobile collision.
Case: $3.15 Million Settlement of Betterment Class Action
In this class action suit, the insurance company was reducing the amounts that it was paying for damage done to a person's car in a car wreck for something called a betterment. The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to bring a lawsuit claiming that this betterment charge was not permitted under Florida law and/or the insurance policy.
Case: $2.7 Million Class Action Arbitration Judgment
In this interesting case, the lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to convince an arbitration panel to certify a class in arbitration. This may have been the first class action certified in arbitration in the State of Florida. Ultimately, the lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to obtain a multi-million dollar judgment against an insurance company for its failure to follow Florida law with respect to the payment of interest on late paid personal injury protection benefits. Unfortunately, this judgment might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and the insurance company was taken over by the State of Florida shortly after the award was confirmed.
Case: $2 Million Class Action Settlement
This class action suit against Allstate was based on the defendant’s failure to properly pay personal injury protection benefits. It resulted in an award of 100 cents on the dollar plus interest for persons affected.
Case: $1.7 Million Class Action Settlement
This class action suit against Nationwide was based on the defendant’s failure to properly pay personal injury protection benefits. The affected parties received an award of 100 cents on the dollar plus interest.
Case: $700,000 Settlement for a Church Damaged By Hurricane
Our client suffered considerable damage as a result of a hurricane. When its insurance company did not treat the church fairly, it turned to the lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP for help. The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to minimize the coinsurance penalty which was being applied to the claim and convince the insurance company that the church’s claim was worth a lot more than the insurance company was willing to pay.
Case: $620,000 Policy Limits Appraisal Award for Motel Damaged By Hurricane
Our client claimed that a hurricane caused severe structural damage to its building. Citizens claimed that the hurricane caused no damage. The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to convince a neutral appraiser during the appraisal process that the entire structure of our client's building was rendered unsafe from a phenomenon called "uplift." The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP also used sophisticated meteorological and engineering experts to establish that, even though the hurricane did not cause much damage to buildings surrounding that of our client, the motel’s location along the channel combined with the motel’s type of roof caused the damage.
Case: Confidential Settlement for a Wrongful Death Caused By Car Collision—Bad Faith Settlement
In this tragic case, two people were killed as a result of an automobile collision. The driver of one of the vehicles was a migrant farm worker who was driving a van with a license plate for one of his employer's vehicles. The lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP brought suit against the owner of van and the employer based on negligence. The owner of the van had a New Jersey insurance policy with $100,000 in coverage and the employer had a policy for another $300,000. The employer claimed that the driver was not operating the van during normal business hours and did not have permission to use the license plate. The employee did not deny these facts but was unable to convince a judge that the owner and the employer should be responsible for the injuries.
At mediation, the lawyers at Zebersky Payne, LLP were able to convince the insurance companies that their respective insureds not only had insurance coverage for these incidents, but the insurance companies' failure to promptly pay the insurance policy proceeds was bad faith. Accordingly, this case was resolved shortly after mediation.
Other cases:
- $22.5 Million Class Action Settlement
- $11 Million Class Action Settlement
- $4.5 Million Award Against Maker of Birth Control Drug for Causing Stroke
- $2.8 Million Appraisal Award for Hurricane Wilma Claim
- $2 Million Settlement for Person Injured on People Mover in Orlando International Airport
- $1.85 Million Settlement for Brain-Injured Motorcycle Crash Victim
- $1 Million Award on Behalf of a Pedestrian Crossing the Street
- $950,000 Settlement: Products Liability Suit against Major Medical Device Manufacturer for Defective Hip
- $750,000 Settlement for Woman who Fell off Ramp
- $750,000 Settlement: Products Liability Suit for Woman who was Struck in the Arm by a Defective Marine Hook
- $600,000 Award Against Tobacco Company on Behalf of a Family of a Deceased Smoker
- Confidential Wrongful Death Settlement for Minor, Killed in a Car Crash by another Minor who was Served Alcohol at a Neighborhood Bar
- Confidential Settlement in Medical Malpractice Action for Negligence during Surgical Procedure
- Confidential Settlement for Victim of Rape at Jamaican Hotel
