Ameriprise Auto and Home Insurance is a national provider of auto, home, renters, and umbrella insurance.
The plaintiff filed an underinsured motorist claim as well as a claim under the Colorado Medical Payments Act (MPA). She later dismissed her underinsured motorist claim against Ameriprise but continued to pursue her claims under the MPA. The plaintiff, who had signed up for automobile insurance online using an electronic form, argued that she was entitled to med-pay benefits despite not requesting or paying for them because Ameriprise did not have a paper rejection of benefits form on file.
The case appeared to be an attempt by plaintiff’s counsel to create new law on this novel issue and pursue mass tort claims against Ameriprise and other insurance carriers who conduct business online.
In a motion for determination of a question of law, Taylor | Anderson lawyers argued that electronically stored information could constitute proof of rejection of benefits under the MPA and pointed out that should plaintiff’s interpretation of the statute be adopted into law, the way in which insurers conduct business in Colorado could be dramatically altered. The court sided with Ameriprise and dismissed the plaintiff’s MPA claim.