"Tom Gallagher doesn't have the power to do anything with United Auto," says Gallagher's spokesman, Bob Lotane. "He can scream and yell all he wants, but unless Commissioner McCarty acts on United Auto, there's nothing he can do or the governor can do." Lotane said that Gallagher himself was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, Miller, the deputy counsel under McCarty, seemed genuinely surprised to hear that United Auto had been delaying claims payments, which is a violation of its consent order. She said she'd look into the matter.
Colby Katz
The coverage is sold by storefront brokers who offer cut-rate policies to low-income drivers.
Wyatt Olson
After her collision, Sue Gibbons found a chiropractor who could help her and hound United Auto Insurance.
Related Content
More About
Many of the people interviewed for this article insist that Gallagher, as the state's CFO, could use his bully pulpit to rein in United. Barak, the Hollywood attorney, has written Gallagher often and recently informed him in writing that he has the "perfect case" for investigation.
In April 2004, Barak sued United on behalf of Dale Moulton, whose car four months earlier had been broadsided by a truck that ran a stop sign. Moulton racked up $7,225 in medical bills. United refused to pay but provided no reasons. Through all of last summer, Barak filed motions requesting information from United. Nothing was provided. Finally, in September, Judge J. Leonard Fleet, weary of United's behavior, slapped the company with a $5,000 sanction and ordered it to pay Moulton the money he had coming. Fleet noted that the company was "stonewalling" and had "deliberately engaged in dilatory tactics."
But Barak had taken an unusual step in this case by suing both the doctor who performed an independent medical examination for United and the company that hired the doctor. Barak contends in court documents that the company that hired the doctor wasn't registered to do business in Florida and simply acted as United's "alter ego" by "using doctors who will provide ultra-conservative opinions, and in some cases, misrepresentative opinions." (Parrillo describes the "alter ego" assertion as "absurd.")
Barak also claims that the doctor "never physically examined or touched" Moulton's neck and that the doctor "intentionally failed to report the herniated discs to support his fraudulent medical opinion." The case is scheduled for trial in October.
"This is as clean a case as you'll ever see," Barak declares, hoping it will spark a serious investigation from Tallahassee. "They're taking hard-earned money from blue-collar workers, and when they need the company to pay, it's just not there for them," he says. "Shouldn't Tom Gallagher protect the public? Isn't that his job?"
