What Is A "MIST" Car Wreck Case?
I ran across this blog post from our friend Ronald Miller, Jr. of the Baltimore Injury Lawyer Blog and thought it would be of interest for our Alabama readers who have been in minor impact car wreck cases. While Ronald refers to GEICO, we most often see it here with Allstate. But whichever company is doing this here is the explanation:
It’s an acronym used by insurance companies to describe certain kinds of auto accident injury claims. It stands for Minor Impact, Soft Tissue. Some insurance companies have a policy of denying these type of claims, notably GEICO. What the Baltimore injury lawyer gets in response to a demand package is a letter from a claims adjuster that says “we are unable to understand the nature of the injuries claimed in light of the minor damage to the vehicles involved.” This is true even though liability may be unquestioned, like in a rear-end collision.
The philosophy behind this policy is that the insurance companies can make it very expensive and time consuming (relatively speaking) for plaintiffs and their lawyers to get these cases to trial as the insurance companies will offer maybe $1,000 or $2,000 dollars. Even if the medical bills are say $5,000.
But as Ronald points out these cases can be won and so you should not be discouraged if you have suffered real injuries from a minor impact. Just be aware that a legitimate settlement will probably NOT be coming and you will need to try your case.
