When David Martin felt his insurance settlement claim fell short, he contacted NBC Boston Responds to help recover his money.
"I'd like to know how the disbursement of $10 million got dispersed and make sure it was just," said Martin. "Did $9 million go to the lawyers and a million or so go to the victims? Wouldn't that be nice to know?"
Martin had a health insurance policy from 2006-2007 with National Health Insurance, a subsidiary of Mega Health and Life.
"I was paying premiums right along and every time I put in a claim for a health insurance-related matter, it got denied for one reason or another," Martin said.
Martin eventually switched insurance carriers, but he filed a complaint against National Health with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office in 2007. Nine years later, he stumbled upon his old paperwork and decided to follow up on the complaint. The AG's office told him the case had been settled in 2009 for $10 million and he qualified for victim compensation.
"They confirmed that I would get a check in six months, and six months later I got a check," said Martin. "The check was for the grand total of $79.60. I thought that was a little lean. I thought, either way you looked at it, from paying premiums or through incurring medical bills, I had incurred $4,000-$5,000, maybe more, in damages."
When Martin questioned the amount with the AG's office he says they told him the file was closed and there was nothing they could do, so he contacted NBC Boston Responds for help.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
"I understand they are busy people and they have big fish to fry, but this is important to me," Martin said.
The AG's office tells us that consumer restitution is determined by the unique terms of each settlement and that processes for receiving payment differ in each case. They reviewed David's claim and determined that he was owed additional money.
David received a check for $1,328.56 and emailed us a thank you.
"I doubt they would have re-opened their file for me, without the great effort from your team. Your effort certainly made the difference," said Martin.
If you are trying to seek money from a settlement, you should carefully review any information about the settlement you can find online. If it requires you to submit a claim, you need to do that and provide required documentation by the established deadline.
