Irvin & Irvin represented a client whose insurance company refused to pay the full cost of his collision claim after he was involved in a car accident. Read below for more about the case and what the judge said.
After Ivan was involved in a car accident he took his Volkswagen GTI to a local collision repair shop in Orlando. The shop sought to follow Volkswagen guidelines to ensure his vehicle was repaired back to its pre-loss condition. The shop submitted its repair plan to Progressive. Then, Progressive responded with an inferior estimate for the repairs.
The full cost of repairs was over $11,700. Progressive initially said it would only pay $4,000 for Ivan’s collision claim. Ivan and the repair shop continued to ask questions and pushed Progressive to issue another four payments – for a total of $9,400. However, that still left almost a $2,000 gap after Ivan’s deductible.
Ivan made the choice to have the correct repairs done – with no aftermarket parts and completing all the procedures recommended by Volkswagen. He paid the difference between Progressive’s estimate and the collision repair shop’s bill.
After paying the bill, he again submitted it to Progressive. Progressive did not deny paying the bill – they just ignored him.
Then he hired Irvin & Irvin.
Collision Claim Lawsuit Against Progressive
Progressive’s insurance policy states they will pay for the cost of repairs after a collision. An insurance policy is simply a contract. As part of that contract, Ivan promised to pay insurance premiums. He did. Progressive promised to pay for the cost of repairs. They didn’t.
In February 2021, we filed a breach of contract case against Progressive on Ivan’s behalf. After a few months of litigation, the matter went to appraisal. The appraisers agreed that the cost of repairs was $11,275. Progressive had previously paid $9,444.68. So they owed him an additional $1,830.32. Progressive sent Ivan a check for this amount in July 2021.
Ivan received the additional money of his collision claim. But the case was not over. Progressive refused to pay our law firm’s attorney’s fees and costs, in addition to the $1,830.32 they paid Ivan. However, Florida Statute 627.428 and Florida case law states that Progressive has to pay reasonable attorney’s fees in situations such as these.
After months of additional litigation, we had a hearing before the judge in February 2022. The judge ruled that Progressive did owe Ivan attorney’s fees and court costs.
Here is what the judge said:
“At every step of this process Progressive was underpaying. They underpaid every step. At first, the estimate was $4,000.00 and when the original estimate was submitted to them it was almost $12,000.00. And they continued to nickel and dime Mr. Ivan all the way up to the time where he filed suit….
From the Court’s view of the evidence, before the lawsuit was filed, Progressive had no intent to pay Mr. Ivan….
So I want to award Mr. Irvin and his firm attorney’s fees in this case.”
Ivan O. vs. Progressive Select Insurance Company; Orange County Case: 2021-CC-2429
We were able to represent Ivan on contingency. This means, Ivan did not pay us upfront and we would not be paid unless we recovered money for Ivan. Under Florida Statute 627.428, Progressive insurance company had to pay our law firm reasonable attorneys fees and court courts in addition to Ivan’s collision repair claim. We were able to make Ivan whole and he did not have to come out of pocket to hire an attorney.
Read more about our Car Repair Claims practice. There are not many law firms that represent people in collision claims against insurance companies. Irvin & Irvin has real experience and success in pursuing these claims.
