Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance: Fill & Download for Free

When I first joined the Walt Disney Company I was asked the one thing I was most passionate about. I told my Disney team it was fire fighting. They told me if I could come up with a concept about fire protection and I could get it funded from another company, they would create an attraction at Epcot for millions of guests. I was so amazed that Disney would support my passion of fire fighting, that I focused all of my experience and ability to make it happen. And it did happen. We convinced Liberty Mutual Insurance to spend in the mid seven figures (millions) to support an attraction at Epcot called: Where’s the Fire? The attraction, dedicated to public fire education, was a company ‘hit,’ attracting millions of guests over many years. It literally launched my career at Disney; for the next 18 years it was a dream career, and this was a great beginning.The night of the formal opening of the attraction there were many, many luminaries from the fire protection world, the CEO and executives from Liberty Mutual, Disney and Congressmen. I was so overcome because I loved the fire service so, and was doing something, as a contribution endorsed by the Disney brand, that I cried.After the opening there was a big catered party outside at Epcot for all of the attendees. I was talking to a few people when my wife, who was with me, pulled me aside. “Give me the keys to the car.” “Why? “ I said in surprise. “I’m bored. This isn’t for me. I’ll just sit in the car.” In five minutes she had thrown a blanket of total disrespect and disdain on me for the one thing in my life I felt proud of. It was God-awful. It ruined the entire night. The one person in the world I would want to be proud of me couldn’t have cared less. It was as if someone stuck a hot poker into my gut. It was cruel and my wife is not stupid.Afterward I thought about it. I certainly had done things I wasn’t proud of early in the marriage. I had tried to make up for them. So I thought maybe this was her way of getting even. But then I began to think about very early in the relationship before we were married when we were in our late teens. I would call her enthusiastically: “Hi!” “What do ‘you’ want?!”in this cold, blank response. It was like someone threw cold water on me. “What’s wrong ?” I’d say. “I don’t like to talk on phones.” She said. That’s no indictment of her. I just didn’t understand one of the many signals that this wasn’t right- for me. And, honestly, it’s never felt right. And that is sad. In no way do I blame her. I’m no victim. And I did my share to screw it up and than some. But after 20 plus years and plenty of help and therapy change is the order of the day. Not for her. “That’s just the way I am.” Not for me.The reason I say this is that it’s a real lesson. We see things we know aren’t right for us. But we just let these ‘red flags’ go by, and 50 years later when (if you’re fortunate enough to figure out what YOU have accepted and allowed to happen) you realize this is wrong for you. You’ve acclimated to a half life.At that point you either ‘settle’ and do the best you can or you don’t. I think the answer is to live your own truth. Each of us deserves happiness at any age. ‘Settling’ is never the answer for the brave as frightening as it might appear.Many times, especially if we marry too young we haven’t dealt with some of the wounds of our past, whatever they are; and we all have them. My wife is a wonderful mother, frugal and the one person I'd go to in an emergency, especially in this pandemic. But she’s still that person who sat in the car. Here’s the lesson: I married someone ‘for my own good;” not someone who is good for me. Structurally, she’s great. But we don’t marry for co-dependent room mates. We marry for love. Then we deal with the rest if it. At least that’s my take.

They really suck, GEICO annihilates all other P&C insurers with their creative and humorous commercials. State Farm, Progressive with Flo, the General and Allstate are really bad too. They should all fire their ad agencies.

I initially wrote this as a “comment” to a fabulous post by Jason Warehouse who correctly writes as follows:“Let me tell you the story of the “Auntie Christ”. This monster brought a $127,000 lawsuit against her innocent and loving 12-year-old nephew. His offense? He was so happy to see her that he gave her a great big hug, which through a freak accident broke her wrist. Time to use this to take him and his family for all they were worth, right? #Auntfromhell started trending on Twitter as the nation took a collective gasp of horror at the rampant abuse of our legal system.”“The escort is to protect her from marauding toddlers. Probably.”“The only problem here? The story missed a crucial detail. Yes, a woman was suing her nephew for $127,000, but not because she was a monster. She was doing it because the US health care system sucks.”—-Jason Warehouse, Quora contributorJason is only partially correct, however, and so I will expand on it as an experienced negligence trial lawyer.I AM POSTING MY ORIGINAL COMMENTS (IN EXPANDED FORM) AS AN ANSWER IN CHIEF TO THE MAIN QUESTION BECAUSE I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO HIGHLIGHT A SERIOUS PROBLEM (A QUIRK) IN THE US LEGAL SYSTEM [JASON INCORRECTLY CITES THE PROBLEM AS THE “US HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.” HE IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK BUT THE REAL PROBLEMS ARE THE LAWS NOT THE “HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.”].That lawsuit by the “auntie christ”(and many like it) are exactly true and quite common AND NECESSARY. It sounds horrible, I know, but let me explain why good lawyers and why normal people are forced to do this (THAT IS RIGHT I MEANT “FORCED!”). We are sometimes (and it is not uncommon, at all!) forced to sue our own children!It is a silly, stupid system but the insurance companies love it because it protects them from having to pay! They HIDE behind the children!Many states, New York included, require (REQUIRE!) that the person being sued (the defendant) must be the actual one who committed the negligent act and NOT THE INSURANCE COMPANY. You cannot directly sue the insurance company on a negligence claim. YOU ARE FORBIDDEN! In fact, the jury is NOT ALLOWED TO EVEN KNOW there is insurance behind the claim and the mere mention of that during the trial is enough to cause a mistrial. The insurance company is only required to "defend and indemnify.”Meantime, they are hiding behind the people the entire time.This forces you to sue odd people, at times, including husbands suing their wives, aunts suing their beloved nephews and, of course (regrettably) parents suing their own sweet minor children! Freaking ridiculous! But absolutely necessary!To do otherwise is legal malpractice!“Necessary, you say? Mr. Buttafuoco you must be a real cold hearted bastard!” Actually, no. I am a pretty nice guy (I AM TOLD…LOL) even though a highly accomplished lawyer. Yes, it is NECESSARY AND RIGHT TO SUE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT!Our tort system is designed such that insurance companies only have to “defend and indemnify” on tort cases (“torts” are civil wrongs in which one person, typically unintentionally, injures another). “Defend” means that they must pay a lawyer to defend the person being sued. “Indemnify” means that if they lose or settle they have to pay the claim.This means that they control the defense of the case to the very end and are in the shadows, waiting for the outcome. If they lose, then and only then do they pay (unless, of course, the case settles which they also get to control).The insurance company controls the whole process from A to Z! They use their own lawyers who pretend they are representing the person being sued WHEN IN REALITY THEY ARE ONLY REPRESENTING AND ONLY CARE ABOUT THE INSURANCE CARRIER AND WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO PAY. This is clear because in all of these cases nobody is seeking one single dime from the person being sued…they only want the insurance money! THAT is proof enough.In many cases the defense lawyers are ACTUAL EMPLOYEES (W2 SALARIED EMPLOYEES!) ON THE ACTUAL PAYROLL OF THE INSURANCE COMPANIES! I AM NOT KIDDING. This is referred to as “in house counsel.”It is so common that I guess I do not even bother to think about it anymore. I just have accepted this reality for over forty years. But it is still wrong.As a result of this convoluted system we get strange results like happily married people and relatives being forced to sue each other, including their own children, in court in order to collect rightful compensation for their injuries. Think about this for a minute. Isn’t it possible (even likely) that you can be injured (even seriously!) accidentally by someone you love?A boat accident?Holiday Fireworks?A barbecue grill fire?A car accident?Your home, the stairs, tripping hazards, etc. (you name it). These accidents are quite common and they almost always involved family members.After all who else is on your boat and in your car and invited to your parties? FAMILY!F-A-M-I-L-Y!It is not complicated to understand.So, to get paid, you often have to sue your family member if you get hit in the eye with a bottle rocket, or injured in a car wreck when they were driving or fall down the stairs in their house or get badly bitten by their pitbull.I HAVE HAD EVERY ONE OF THOSE CASES AND MANY MORE!And these people suing are not horrible people! They are not “the aunt from hell” or “”bad grandpa,” as the insurance companies would love to see them portrayed. They are normal, very injured people looking to get paid by the insurance company who sold a policy of LIABILITY insurance for just this very purpose.The jury and the public get confused as to what's going on but the reality is that this is the only way to get the insurance company to pay. THE ONLY WAY!Example: your parents come over your home for dinner. You have a great loving time. Everybody gets along and also has a great relationship. Mom gets up to leave and falls down the stairs (which lacks a proper handrail in violation of the code). She breaks her hip or worse. Guess what? Mom has to sue her son and daughter-in-law to get paid from the homeowners insurance! That’s right! Really dumb!The same thing happens in car accidents when a dad is driving and causes an accident in which his passengers are injured. His passengers, often including close family members and his kids (who else is typically in YOUR CAR?) are FORCED TO SUE THEIR OWN DAD TO COLLECT RIGHTFUL COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES! Dad, already feels bad enough and so now we have to sue him to make matters worse! God forbid we sue the insurance company! Then everyone might KNOW there is insurance and the jury might want them to pay! Cannot have that! We have to PRETEND we are suing a child and ruining his future.Here is another one:I actually had a case where an old married couple was driving home late at night and the man driving accidentally hit a tree in the dark. It was horrible. His wife was KILLED! Imagine how he feels after he accidentally kills his own wife of sixty years. He was inconsolable.Now, we (my clients were the grown children) have to sue him to get the insurance company to pay. Unbelievable! It's silly, stupid and ridiculous. In every one of these situations, the relatives only want money from GEICO, Liberty Mutual or Allstate, NOT from dad, mom or from the kids! Yet, in all of these situations she's made out to look like an evil witch greedily suing her own father, husband or her children!And the defense attorneys make sure this is how it seems. They push this false narrative (“look at these people who sue their own family—-how horrible they are”) TO SAVE THE INSURANCE COMPANY MONEY. It all one gigantic lie.I've been in that situation many, MANY times as a lawyer.It sucks.