Nyeem Wartman-White files lawsuit against insurance company

[Lion8286]

Nyeem Wartman-White is seeking at least $1.5 million from an insurance company, claiming it reneged on a disability policy after a knee injury ended his Penn State career and cost him a shot at the NFL, according to court records obtained by PennLive.

The linebacker, who tore his ACL in a 2016 game against Temple, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. Middle District Court against International Specialty Insurance Co., an underwriter for Lloyd's of London.

According to the suit, Wartman said he purchased a loss of value and permanent total disability policy in 2016.

The policy ensured he would not suffer financially, if he was hurt during the 2016 season and was unable to play in the NFL, the suit states.

The policy benefits, according to the suit, are $500,000 for loss of value and $1 million for permanent disability.

In the suit, Wartman, 24, said the breach of contract was done maliciously, so he's entitled to actual, compensatory and punitive damages that amount to at least the benefits of the policy.

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/05/psus_wartman_files_suit_claims.html

 

[Raffycorn]

Good. I hope he takes them to the cleaners.

 

[Lion84]

Can't trust those Brits all the way back to the Boston Tea Party - Lloyds started the insurance industry so I am sure they are real good at getting out of paying claims.

 

[Nitt1300]

Can't trust those Brits all the way back to the Boston Tea Party - Lloyds started the insurance industry so I am sure they are real good at getting out of paying claims.

I believe that they managed to avoid many potential claims rated to the Titanic sinking by getting the British government to whitewash the White Star line of negligence

 

[Cletus11]

What I thought, those insurance policies players are taking out aren't worth the paper they are printed on. These insurance companies are taking the premium without any intent of paying out the money if a claim is made.

 

[dawgduice]

It makes you think that maybe a "Barkley" will have a "toe stub" to avoid playing too much this year and insure his BIG paycheck. Certainly not play in a bowl game. I would check on my insurance if I were him I mean REALLY check.

 

[heckmans]

Nyeem Wartman-White is seeking at least $1.5 million from an insurance company, claiming it reneged on a disability policy after a knee injury ended his Penn State career and cost him a shot at the NFL, according to court records obtained by PennLive.

The linebacker, who tore his ACL in a 2016 game against Temple, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. Middle District Court against International Specialty Insurance Co., an underwriter for Lloyd's of London.

According to the suit, Wartman said he purchased a loss of value and permanent total disability policy in 2016.

The policy ensured he would not suffer financially, if he was hurt during the 2016 season and was unable to play in the NFL, the suit states.

The policy benefits, according to the suit, are $500,000 for loss of value and $1 million for permanent disability.

In the suit, Wartman, 24, said the breach of contract was done maliciously, so he's entitled to actual, compensatory and punitive damages that amount to at least the benefits of the policy.

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/05/psus_wartman_files_suit_claims.html

Playing devils-advocate - I'm not so sure Wartman has a legit claim. I'd assume the language of the policy is very specific. (If it were vague, the policy would cost way too much.)
White blew out a knee a few years ago, rehabbed, and came back to play. Against Temple, he blew out his other knee(I think) and is on record talking about how he was rehabbing and taking care of his body, making good progress, and doing everything right.
I assume he can run, jump, and technically, play football. Unless he has a medical opinion that he is medically incapable of playing football, he probably has no claim. IF, when he blew his knee out against Temple, he didn't do serious, aggressive rehab, he'd probably have a claim.

 

[Art]

Playing devils-advocate - I'm not so sure Wartman has a legit claim. I'd assume the language of the policy is very specific. (If it were vague, the policy would cost way too much.)
White blew out a knee a few years ago, rehabbed, and came back to play. Against Temple, he blew out his other knee(I think) and is on record talking about how he was rehabbing and taking care of his body, making good progress, and doing everything right.
I assume he can run, jump, and technically, play football. Unless he has a medical opinion that he is medically incapable of playing football, he probably has no claim. IF, when he blew his knee out against Temple, he didn't do serious, aggressive rehab, he'd probably have a claim.

Getting documentation, either from doctors or NFL teams themselves, that his injury prevents him from playing at the NFL level is not that difficult; I would characterize it as pretty easy. I would venture to guess that he hasn't at this point been examined by the insurance company's doctor, but that will happen if this moves forward. It will be interesting to see how this plays out

 

[Raffycorn]

It appears that Wartman bought two policies - a loss of value policy worth $500K and a permanent disability policy worth $1M. He bought them after his 2015 ACL tear to cover the 2016 season.

The policies have two separate "triggers" - the loss of value would trigger if he suffered an injury as the policyholder (which he did in 2016) that caused him to lose value as an NFL prospect (which almost certainly occurred and can likely be proven). The permanent disability premium triggers if he suffers just that as the policyholder (which I don't believe he did).

What Wartman is claiming, though, is that the insurer entered into the deal with him in bad faith, with zero intention of ever actually paying out regardless of circumstance. In that case, even if his claim wouldn't ordinarily trigger the $1M permanent disability option, he would still collect anyway if he's able to show bad faith from the insurer.

 

[sss]

I heard them say during the draft this year that Butt had made at least 300K in insurance payouts. He was being paid for every pick he was not chosen after the 1st or 2nd round. So even though he was drafted, he was still getting a payday for dropping.

 

[humpydudas19]

 

[Obliviax]

Insurance companies are in the business to NOT pay out on their insurance claims. As I've gotten older, I have reduced my insurance dependencies on catastrophic events, only. Ones that are worth an attorney's time to pursue.

 

[interrobang]

How do these policies gauge loss of value? He likely would have been a UDFA even had he not gotten hurt.

 

[Raffycorn]

How do these policies gauge loss of value? He likely would have been a UDFA even had he not gotten hurt.

The policy defines loss of value as triggering if Wartman does not receive an offer from a team of $2.8M or more over four years, directly as a result of death, injury or illness occurring during the insurance period (8/2016-8/2017).