Does insurance company 'low-ball' pain and suffering?

Industry's use of Colossus, a service to judge the worth of claims,
comes under fire

By CANDACE HECKMAN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Since her car was rear-ended by a speeding SUV four years ago, Barbara Martin's life has dissolved into a drug-induced daze -- prescribed to mute a crippling cycle of back and neck pain, blinding migraines and depression.

The accident changed the Redmond woman more than she could have imagined. A promising career in tourism marketing was ruined. She could barely function as a wife and mother.

Martin's insurance company of 15 years never sent an adjuster to interview her. Farmers Insurance processed her claim through Colossus, an insurance industry computer program shrouded in secrecy.

The computer's call: Don't compensate Martin for "pain and suffering" -- her lost career, inability to have another child, continuing emotional and physical pain.