An insurance company can refuse payments if their insured is not cooperative in the defense of a case. There are numerous cases on this subject but the basis for the proposition can be found in The Maryland Code, Insurance Article, 19-110. The cases suggest that the right to refuse payment derives from the fact that the insurance company has been prejudiced in their ability to properly defend the case. Prejudice, therefore, becomes the real issue in these cases. If, for example, the accident is a simple rear end accident where liability is virtually not in question, the suggestion of non cooperation might not apply because liability is often stipulated anyway. Moreover, if the defendant/insured really cannot offer any testimony regarding the injuries of a party at the scene of the accident, there can hardly be any prejudice under those circumstances either. Thus, the insurance company cannot just arbitrarily deny coverage of a claim because the insured failed to cooperate if the failure is inconsequential anyway. In order to invoke this defense, the insurance company must prove that the failure of cooperation has, in a significant way, precluded or hampered it from presenting a legitimate jury issue.
Maryland Auto Accident Lawyer.