M.I.S.T Personal Injuries

M.I.S.T. – It’s an acronym used by insurance companies to describe certain kinds of auto accident injury claims. It stands for Minor Impact, Soft Tissue. Some insurance companies have a policy of denying these types of claims across the board. This is true even though liability may be unquestioned, like in a rear-end collision. The problem with this unfair claims policy is that people do get injured in auto accidents where there is little damage to the vehicles. I was recently reminded of this while attending a seminar by a local chiropractor. Using slow motion video of staged low impact crashes, one could clearly see just how much the neck and body snaps in reaction to even the smallest of impacts.

Back to an insurance company’s wholesale denial of all MIST claims. I suppose this policy saves the insurance companies money, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. Insurance companies’ instincts are pretty good when it come to holding on to their money. I think they are relying on plaintiff’s injury lawyers who settle all of their auto accident injury cases. If the only way to make a recovery on a case is to go to trial, I’m sure there are a percentage of lawyers who won’t bring these cases, especially since the possible recovery is usually quite modest.

Yet, these kinds of cases can be, and are won at trial. I’ve also found that being willing to try these cases is great for client relations. Clients view a denial letter as the insurance company saying they are lying. Clients aren’t stupid- this is exactly what the carrier is doing. Nobody is going to come back to an injury lawyer who is unwilling to fight for them. I’m not suggesting that injury lawyers actively seek out these kinds of cases. But on the occasions where you find yourself facing a MIST defense, remember that you can try and win these cases.