Insurance Agencies Face Juror Bias in Court

Insurance Agencies Face Juror Bias in Court

A recent study found that insurance carriers get the short end of the stick when it comes to juror bias in court cases.

A national association for defense attorneys, DRI and in-house counsel found in a recent poll that the majority of people hold a bias against insurers. In particular, participants said as jurors in an insurance case, they would be more likely to support an individual suing a carrier. Only twenty percent said they would not favor either party. Ten percent said they would favor insurance carriers.

The odds are not in the carrier’s favor. There was no difference between male and female participants. However, age and political inclination both played factors in their views. Seventy-one percent of individuals ages 18-29 in the survey said they would be inclined to favor the individual over the insurance company. Seventy-three percent of liberals said they would favor the individual, versus fifty percent of conservatives. Individuals with higher incomes were also more likely to support the insurance carrier rather than the individual.

Ideally, bias would not play a role in insurance cases. That is the end goal of the jury. However, the reality is there are multitudes of factors that can influence a juror’s decision. PR for insurance companies isn’t always a pretty thing. Nationwide’s recent struggles show the difficulties the insurance industry can face when dealing with claims. It isn’t always a neat, clean process.

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