Tel Aviv District Court Judge Rahamim Cohen, received today (Sunday) Class action Filed against the five major insurance companies: Clal, Migdal, Phoenix, Harel and Ayalon. This, on the grounds that they refrain from adding interest to the insurance benefits paid by them. In 2015, it was decided to approve the claim as a class action, and today, as stated, the ruling in the class action was given in its entirety.
In the lawsuit, it was argued by the plaintiffs, through attorneys Michael Bach and Ron Lederman of Bach, Lederman & Co., that the insurance companies refrain, as a policy, from adding interest on insurance benefits paid by them, in all insurance industries, in all types of insurance, and in all insurance policies, without Exception, in violation of the provision of section 28 (a) of the Insurance Contract Law.
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The plaintiffs argued that in accordance with section 28 (a) of the Insurance Contract Law, the interest amounts accrued by insurance companies on insurance benefits, in the period from the end of 30 days from the date of filing the claim to the actual payment date, belong to the insured, while for years. For huge sums, for a pocket.
The plaintiffs claim that beyond the significant restitution amounts, estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels, that insurance companies are expected to be reimbursed to policyholders, third parties and beneficiaries for a period of about 11 years, this ruling will affect almost every person in the country. Most in the insurance market – the practice of attrition, “tartar” and dragging its feet is what, according to the plaintiffs, insurance companies practice when they are required to exercise the insurance coverage promised by them.
Adv. Michael Bach
As is well known, the insured pay the insurance premium to the insurance company for years, so that on the day of the order they can receive the compensation they need to deal with the insured event that God forbid will happen to them. For example, when an insured is injured in an accident, is unable to work and is required to undergo treatment, he needs the insurance money immediately; When an insured person finds himself in a medical condition that requires surgery, he needs the insurance money immediately. The plaintiffs claim that the insurance companies have a built-in interest in many cases to postpone the payment date as much as possible, while delaying the decision-making process in the claim and the payment to the insured, without paying the price for this conduct. The insurance companies rejected the claims against them.
In the ruling given today, the district court ordered that an expert be appointed on behalf of the court to determine the amounts that the insurance companies will have to repay to the public.
The judge ruled that “the class action is acceptable. The definition of the group is: Any beneficiary (insured, beneficiary or third party) who during the period, which began three years before the filing of the lawsuits and ended on the date of this judgment (28.2.2021), received from the defendants, not according to Judgment in his case, insurance benefits without interest attached to them lawfully. The ‘day of delivery of the claim’ from which the 30-day race begins, after which linked interest will be added to the insurance benefits in accordance with section 28 (a) of the Insurance Contract Law, is the date first received by the insurance company or agent. The insurance, according to the earlier, is an indication that the insured (or a third party or the beneficiary) is interested in receiving the insurance benefits, without the need to attach any document. And that the announcement is for the sake of caution only. ”