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Harrington vs. Twin City Fire Insurance Company

Harrington v. Twin City Fire Insurance Company.  On July 12, 2002 Edward Ricci successfully settled the bad faith claim of James Harrington and his mother, Anna Harrington, against Twin City Fire Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hartford.

In November of 1998, James Harrington, age 37, a drag strip racer was involved in a collision on Military Trail in West Palm Beach.  A passenger in the other vehicle was seriously injured suffering brain damage and quadriplegia.  Michelle Hannon, age 26, was a college graduate and banquet manager at The Breakers Hotel.  She was a passenger in a vehicle being operated by Jeffrey Fowler, a co-worker from the Breakers.

Within days of the accident, Progressive Insurance Company which insured the Fowler vehicle tendered its policy limits of $100,000 to Michelle Hannon's mother.  Within days of the accident, Twin City Fire Insurance Company on behalf of Mr. Harrington set its reserves at policy limits ($250,000).  However, for 11 months Twin City, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hartford, never offered any money to settle the Harrington's claim.  Jim Harrington, the driver, was operating the vehicle owned by his mother, Anna Harrington, age 80.

As a consequence of Twin City's dilatory tactics, Michelle Hannon through her mother, Theresa Hannon, hired a law firm that proceeded to trial in the Fall of 2000 resulting in a net judgment against James and Anna Harrington in excess of $15,000,000.

Ed Ricci undertook representation of James and Anna Harrington against Twin City Fire Insurance Company for its failure to settle the underlying auto accident claim within policy limits when it "could and should have done so had it acted fairly and honestly towards its insureds, James and Anna Harrington, and with due  regard for their interests."  Suit was filed against Twin City in the late spring of 2001 and the case was settled literally the evening before commencement of trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Judge Dimitrouleas presiding.

At the request of Twin City Fire Insurance Company, the details of the settlement are confidential. 

James Harrington, now age 41, and Anna Harrington now age 83, were quoted as saying "We are greatly relieved that the judgment against us has been satisfied and our insurance company has been forced to live up to its obligations to protect our interests.  We were utterly dismayed to discover that the delay in making any settlement to Michelle Hannon was caused in part by The Hartford Insurance Company using a secret settlement group out of its office in Connecticut called The Unrepresented Claimant's Unit.  We could not believe that insurance companies really do take advantage of people who do not have lawyers.  We are grateful to Mr. Ricci and his law firm for its excellent representation of our interest.  We are thoroughly satisfied with the outcome."