Vt. Shop Awarded $40K in Suit with Insurer

July 12, 2019—The Vermont Supreme court has sided with a body shop in its latest legal challenge to a national insurance company over claims the company failed to pay enough to cover needed repairs, reported VTDigger.

The case has been working its way through the state’s legal system for about four years, starting in 2015 when Parker’s Classic Auto Works of Rutland, Vt., brought suit against Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., which is based in Ohio.

The suit against Nationwide was brought by Parker’s on behalf of consumers in instances where the insurer refused to pay the full amount of the repairs the shop made to vehicles. In the Nationwide case, Parker sued for a little more than $40,000 in denied payments. The lawsuit listed more than 70 names of people who sought payment for vehicle repairs between 2009 and 2014.

In those cases, the lawsuit stated, Nationwide failed “to pay the full amount of the repair to the insured.” In each case, Nationwide paid the amount it believed it owed, but not the full amount sought by Parker’s.

This is Parker's fifth lawsuit against a national insurance company and it's the fifth time he's won, according to the report.