Oregon News JANUARY 2018.pdfOCAA Vital Statistics 2017-18 PO Box 87, Dexter, OR 97431 Website:...

www.oregoncasualtyadjusters.orgPO Box 87 • Dexter, OR 97431

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OregonJANUARY 2018

At the OCAA Holiday Partytoys were collected anddonated to My Father’sHouse. Thank you every-one who brought a gift!

OCAA — January 2018OCAA — January 2018 - 3 -- 2 -

This newsletter is a publication of the Oregon Casualty Adjusters AssociationIt is produced and distributed monthly by

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OCAA Vital Statistics 2017-18PO Box 87, Dexter, OR 97431Website: www.oregoncasualtyadjusters.orgEmail: [email protected]

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BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEEJUDY DAUFEL, 503/266-9603CONSTITUTION & BYLAWSPAST PRES. & CHAIR SPUNKY GRAY,800/788-3933PAST PRES. RON GRAY, 855/426-8898GOLFPAST PRES. MARK JOHNSON, 503/565-2833PAST PRES. MIKE MEADOWS, 503/565-3755HOLIDAY PARTYPOSITION OPEN

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PRESIDENTJUDY DAUFELNORCROSS503/[email protected]

PRESIDENT-ELECTNANCY GREENIDGENORCROSS503/[email protected]

TREASURER (ACTING)JUDY DAUFELNORCROSS503/[email protected]

SECRETARYBRIAN BEAUDRYAIG503/[email protected]

ASSOCIATE BOARD MEMBERMELODY EWERSRGL FORENSICS971/[email protected]

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTTREVOR ARNOLDMCLARENS425/[email protected]

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~ Welcome New Vendor Partners ~DCBS Bulletin

Time11:30am to 1:00pm

LocationOld Spaghetti Factory715 SW Bancroft St, PDX

Menu Choices $15Chicken Marsala, Spaghetti w/Mizithra Cheese, or Chicken CaesarSalad

Checks, cash or credit card accepted

RSVP Requestedwww.oregoncasualtyadjusters.org

Who will takehome the

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PRESENT TO WIN!

At each monthly meetingsomeone could be

a lucky winner!Will you be present

to win at the next meeting?$100 up for grabs!

No Winner in NovemberIt pays to attend a meeting!

Crying Corner

You don’t want to see your namehere, attend a meeting to win!

Featured Luncheon Topic:

Kirsten Curtis & Chelsea Pyasetskyy ofThenell Law Group will present “ZombieClaim-O-Pocalypse: Don’t be a Zombie in

your claims handling”They will touch on claims log entries, preparing to be sued/deposed,taking accurate recorded statements, and finding the oddities when

everything seems to be the same.

Next OCAA Meeting

JANUARY 9, 2018 DCBS announces new administrator ofDivision of Financial Regulation

The Department of Consumer and Business Ser-vices has hired Andrew Stolfi as the administratorof the Division of Financial Regulation. Stolfi’sfirst day at DCBS will be Feb. 1.

Stolfi is currently the chief operating officer andchief counsel at the International Association of In-surance Supervisors (IAIS) in Basel, Switzerland.In these roles, he is responsible for leading andmanaging the operations, legal, communication,finance, risk management, and human resourcesfunctions of the association. He is also an advisor tothe IAIS Executive Committee and helps lead stra-tegic planning and stakeholder engagement activi-ties.

Stolfi replaces Laura Cali, who is now the chief fi-nancial officer at the Oregon Health Authority.

“We are pleased that Andrew is coming to DCBS,”said DCBS Acting Director Jean Straight. “His pas-

(See DCBS… continued on page 5)

- 5 -

sion for consumer protection, leadership, and ex-perience with state and international regulation per-fectly aligns with the values and mission of DCBSand the Division of Financial Regulation.”

Before joining the IAIS in 2012, Stolfi served invarious senior management roles at the Illinois De-partment of Insurance, including acting director,chief of staff, and special counsel for policy and leg-islative affairs.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from theUniversity of Vermont and a law degree from Chi-cago-Kent College of Law.

Governor Brown announces leadershipchange at DCBS

Salem — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown today appointedCameron Smith as the director of the Department ofConsumer and Business Services (DCBS), Oregon’slargest business regulatory and consumer protectionagency. Pending Senate confirmation, Smith re-places Patrick Allen, who left DCBS in August tobe the director of the Oregon Health Authority.

Smith comes to DCBS from the Oregon Departmentof Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA), where he took thehelm as director in 2013. From 2009 to 2013, Smithserved as senior policy advisor to Governors JohnKitzhaber and Ted Kulongoski, managing a portfo-lio that covered both veterans’ affairs and publicsafety issues. Before state government, Smithserved five years in the United States Marine Corpsas a captain, completing three tours of duty in Iraq.He is a graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota.

Smith’s first day as DCBS director was Dec. 21.

DCBS… (Continued from page 3)

www.facebook.com/OregonClaimsAdjusters

OCAA — January 2018OCAA — January 2018 - 5 -

sion for consumer protection, leadership, and ex-perience with state and international regulation per-fectly aligns with the values and mission of DCBSand the Division of Financial Regulation.”

Before joining the IAIS in 2012, Stolfi served invarious senior management roles at the Illinois De-partment of Insurance, including acting director,chief of staff, and special counsel for policy and leg-islative affairs.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from theUniversity of Vermont and a law degree from Chi-cago-Kent College of Law.

Governor Brown announces leadershipchange at DCBS

Salem — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown today appointedCameron Smith as the director of the Department ofConsumer and Business Services (DCBS), Oregon’slargest business regulatory and consumer protectionagency. Pending Senate confirmation, Smith re-places Patrick Allen, who left DCBS in August tobe the director of the Oregon Health Authority.

Smith comes to DCBS from the Oregon Departmentof Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA), where he took thehelm as director in 2013. From 2009 to 2013, Smithserved as senior policy advisor to Governors JohnKitzhaber and Ted Kulongoski, managing a portfo-lio that covered both veterans’ affairs and publicsafety issues. Before state government, Smithserved five years in the United States Marine Corpsas a captain, completing three tours of duty in Iraq.He is a graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota.

Smith’s first day as DCBS director was Dec. 21.

DCBS… (Continued from page 3)


- 7 -

Helping You Solve The Puzzle

Ready to assist you now with:

Structural Evaluation

Origin & Cause Fire Investigation

Accident Reconstruction

Construction Defect Investigation

Vehicle Component Failure

Product Safety Analysis

Electrical Analysis and Evaluation

503.736.1106 Portland [email protected]

www.case4n6.comDenver * Anchorage * Honolulu * Seattle

Las Vegas * Salt Lake * Spokane * Tacoma

Consultants ArchitectsScientists Engineers

Expanded Move Over Law

SALEM – Beginning Jan. 1, drivers will be requiredto move over to another lane or slow down by atleast five miles an hour below the posted speed forany vehicle stopped next to the side of the road dis-playing hazard lights or other signs of distress. Un-der the current law, drivers have to move over (or ifunable to move over safely, to slow down) only foran emergency vehicle, a roadside assistance vehicle,a tow vehicle or ambulance, when it is displayingwarning lights.

The new law makes it clear that drivers have achoice to comply by either moving over or slowingdown by at least five miles an hour below the postedspeed; and now the law applies when approachingany vehicle at the side of the road displaying hazardlights or distress signs. The offense remains a ClassB traffic violation.

ODOT introduced Senate Bill 34 as a means to in-crease safety for motorists stopped along Oregon’shighways by expanding the scope of the law to in-clude all stopped motor vehicles displaying hazardlights or indicating distress. Between 2011 and 2015in Oregon, there were 167 serious crashes and eightpeople died in incidents where a vehicle was parkedon the side of the road and there was no emergencyvehicle with lights on involved. During that sametime frame, in incidents where an emergency vehi-cle with lights on was aiding a motorist, there werejust six serious crashes and no fatalities.

The bill states a person is not in violation of themove over law if the stopped motor vehicle is in adesignated parking area.

New laws for Oregon drivers take effectCrash reporting requirements are among changes

In addition to passing a major transportation fund-ing package, the 2017 Oregon Legislature passed ahandful of other laws that will affect drivers and

NEWSfrom

Around the Web


Helping You Solve The Puzzle

Ready to assist you now with:

Structural Evaluation

Origin & Cause Fire Investigation

Accident Reconstruction

Construction Defect Investigation

Vehicle Component Failure

Product Safety Analysis

Electrical Analysis and Evaluation

503.736.1106 Portland [email protected]

www.case4n6.comDenver * Anchorage * Honolulu * Seattle

Las Vegas * Salt Lake * Spokane * Tacoma

Consultants ArchitectsScientists Engineers

Expanded Move Over Law

SALEM – Beginning Jan. 1, drivers will be requiredto move over to another lane or slow down by atleast five miles an hour below the posted speed forany vehicle stopped next to the side of the road dis-playing hazard lights or other signs of distress. Un-der the current law, drivers have to move over (or ifunable to move over safely, to slow down) only foran emergency vehicle, a roadside assistance vehicle,a tow vehicle or ambulance, when it is displayingwarning lights.

The new law makes it clear that drivers have achoice to comply by either moving over or slowingdown by at least five miles an hour below the postedspeed; and now the law applies when approachingany vehicle at the side of the road displaying hazardlights or distress signs. The offense remains a ClassB traffic violation.

ODOT introduced Senate Bill 34 as a means to in-crease safety for motorists stopped along Oregon’shighways by expanding the scope of the law to in-clude all stopped motor vehicles displaying hazardlights or indicating distress. Between 2011 and 2015in Oregon, there were 167 serious crashes and eightpeople died in incidents where a vehicle was parkedon the side of the road and there was no emergencyvehicle with lights on involved. During that sametime frame, in incidents where an emergency vehi-cle with lights on was aiding a motorist, there werejust six serious crashes and no fatalities.

The bill states a person is not in violation of themove over law if the stopped motor vehicle is in adesignated parking area.

New laws for Oregon drivers take effectCrash reporting requirements are among changes

In addition to passing a major transportation fund-ing package, the 2017 Oregon Legislature passed ahandful of other laws that will affect drivers and

NEWSfrom

Around the Web

OCAA — January 2018OCAA — January 2018 - 8 - - 9 -

Three-Wheel Vehicle Driver Testing

As of Jan. 1, a licensed Oregon driver will not needto take a drive test to receive an endorsement ontheir license to drive some three-wheeled motorcy-cles.

Under Senate Bill 36, this change applies only tothree-wheeled vehicles that operate much like afour-wheeled car. The vehicles affected may be de-fined as motorcycles under Oregon law but are op-erated more like a car than a motorcycle – with asteering wheel instead of handlebars, for example.

Ex-POW Vehicle Plates

House Bill 2149 changes the registration for Ex-POW vehicle plates to permanent registration. Newapplicants for Ex-POW registration will pay a one-time registration fee of $15, plus the plate manufac-turing fee. Persons who have current Ex-POW reg-istration as of Jan. 1, 2018, will not be required topay a renewal fee.

Crater Lake Plate Surcharge

House Bill 2922 increases the surcharge for CraterLake license plates from $10 per plate to $15 perplate as of Jan. 1, 2018. The Crater Lake fee sup-ports the Oregon Community Foundation for use onprojects at Crater Lake National Park.

Any time you need to visit a DMV office, firstcheck www.OregonDMV.com to find office hours,locations, and current wait times at our larger of-fices. You also can do some DMV business fromhome – renew your vehicle registration, file achange of address, or file notice of the sale of yourvehicle online without getting in line at an office.

Judge Tosses ‘Underfilled Lattes’ Class ActionAgainst StarbucksBy Jonathan StempelReprinted from www.insurancejournal.com

Starbucks Corp. has won the dismissal of a U.S.lawsuit accusing the coffee chain of overchargingcustomers by underfilling lattes and mochas to re-duce milk costs.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers onFriday found a lack of evidence that Starbuckscheats customers by making its cups too small, us-ing “fill-to” lines on baristas’ pitchers that are too

vehicle owners. Most will take effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Crash Reporting

As of Jan. 1, you will not need to report a fenderbender if the damage is under $2,500. This is an in-crease from the $1,500 threshold that had been inplace since 2004.

Senate Bill 35 is raising the threshold to reflect theincrease in cost to repair vehicles. In recent years,many reports submitted to DMV because of the$1,500 threshold have been for minor crashes, con-suming staff time that would be better used for fo-cusing on more serious incidents.

ODOT uses crash data to make informed decisionson how to prioritize engineering the safety of high-way and road facilities, and to help provide focusfor traffic enforcement resources. Raising thethreshold helps focus crash data on incidents thatinvolve fatalities, injuries and serious property dam-age.

You must report a vehicle crash to DMV within 72hours if:

— Damage to any vehicle is over $2,500 ($1,500through Dec. 31, 2017);

— Any vehicle is towed from the scene;

— Injury or death resulted from this incident; or

— Damages to property other than a vehicle in-volved in the crash is more than $2,500 ($1,500through Dec. 31, 2017).

Registration Card Privacy

Senate Bill 930 allows the owner of a vehicle toblack out or obscure the residence address, businessaddress, mailing address or vehicle address shownon the registration card and on proof of insurance orother current proof of compliance carried in the ve-hicle.

Hardship Permits

Senate Bill 252 allows a person with a hardship per-mit to apply to drive for the purposes of participat-ing in gambling addiction treatment. This bill ap-plies to hardship permits issued on or after Jan. 1,2018.

OCAA — January 2018OCAA — January 2018

The family who owned the property in questionwere longtime residents of the village of Aniak inWestern Alaska. Some 60 years prior, the claim-ant’s father had built a 1,000-square-foot store andthe family lived above it. Not too far from the struc-ture, a river flows.

In Alaska, a “break-up” is what happens when icebreaks up, typically in the spring, and travels downriver. Several immense blocks of ice had created adam that blocked the water behind it, causing thewater level to rise in the river by the store.

“The family was watching TV and said they felt likethe house was floating,” LeNorman recalls. Thestructure was indeed moving, as it had been builtatop a series of logs; the sediment at the locationwas too sandy to build on without having a solidfoundation to hold it in place.

A corner of the store was damaged, and the entirebuilding shifted about 3 feet. Luckily, the store hadbeen placed it on the riverbank near a rock outcrop-ping; a corner of the platform got caught on therocks, which protected the store from floating away

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Property & Casualty adjusters encounter plenty ofmundane claims: flooded basements, trees falling inattics, and cars backing into one another at the gro-cery store. But every adjuster has at least one un-usual claims story. You know — the ones that areshared over drinks at a conference or during lunchat an industry event.

The stories are probably embellished a little overthe years, but they’re memorable because of thesituation or the policyholders involved.

1. Slip-sliding away

Everyone knows about floater policies, but this taletakes it to a whole new level.

David LeNorman, senior investigator and adjusterfor Alaska Adjusters in Anchorage, recalls onehomeowner’s claim that literally went off the rails.

- 11 -

To submit an article to this publication contact Barb Tyler [email protected]. Length of the article is not as important as its

content, which should be educational in nature.

6 Insurance Claims So CrazyThey Must Be True!By Patricia L. Harman, Shawn MoynihanReprinted from www.propertycasualty360.com

low, and instructing baristas to skimp on ingredi-ents, such as by leaving a quarter-inch of space atopdrinks.

The Oakland, California-based judge also rejected aclaim that milk foam added to lattes and mochasshould not count toward advertised volumes. Shesaid reasonable customers expect foam to take upsome volume, and the plaintiffs conceded that foamis an essential ingredient in their drinks.

“Accordingly, plaintiffs fail to show that lattes con-tain less than the promised beverage volume repre-sented on Starbucks’ menu boards,” Rogers wrote.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately re-spond on Sunday to requests for comment. Star-bucks did not immediately respond to similar re-quests.

Lattes contain espresso, steamed milk and foam.Mochas are similar but also contain a chocolatesauce.

Siera Strumlauf and Benjamin Robles, both of Cali-fornia, and Brittany Crittenden of New York hadaccused Starbucks in their proposed nationwideclass action of fraud and false advertising by under-filling 12-, 16- and 20-ounce lattes by about 25 per-cent, causing unspecified damages.

Starbucks countered that its cups hold more thanthe advertised number of ounces, and that the “fill-to” lines provide guidance to baristas as to howmuch cold milk, which expands when steamed, topour into pitchers.

In 2016, two federal judges dismissed separate law-suits accusing the Seattle-based company of cheat-ing customers who bought iced beverages, findingthat reasonable customers would understand that icecounts toward their drinks’ contents.

The case is Strumlauf et al v Starbucks Corp, U.S.District Court, Northern District of California, No.16-01306.

OCAA — January 2018OCAA — January 2018 - 12 - - 13 -

down river.

“How many people can say they were sitting therewatching TV, and an iceberg floats by the window?”LeNorman quips.

2. The 300-pound stripper

When Mark Nixon, president of St. Louis-basedNixon and Company, was a new adjuster, he experi-enced one of his more memorable claims. “It was asewer backup,” he recalled. “I called and made theappointment with the policyholder.”

When he arrived, the woman took him downstairs tothe basement to see the damage. “It was a legitimateclaim. She had some evening gowns and other itemsthat were in a basement and had been damaged.”

As he was reviewing the claim, the policyholdermentioned that she needed her wedding dress for Sat-urday. Nixon thought, “Oh no — she’s getting mar-ried on Saturday.” When he asked for more details,she told him she had an event and handed him a busi-ness card that read, “The 300-lb. Stripper.”

It turned out that all of her dresses were costumes forher act. She gave him a brief demonstration and said,“Usually I do adult-only parties, but for you and yourfriends, I’ll do it all.”

Needless to say, her offer left him speechless. Hetook her card and said thank you.

3. Mountaintop retrieval

Northern Adjusters Inc. serves all of Alaska withclaims handling and administration; one of the taglines on its website reads, “For over six decades,we’ve traveled to remote villages and crossed gla-ciers to get the job done.”

On one such mission, agency principal J.D. Danielshad to retrieve a wrecked four-wheeler (ATV) offCrown Pointe Peak, located near Moose Pass,Alaska. It was a task that involved Daniels and a col-league transporting their own ATVs 100 miles,unloading them, and then riding them up to about4,000 feet, the elevation of Crown Pointe.

During the ascent they had to pass through a miners’site at the base of the mountain, and the miners didn’texactly feel the intruders belonged there. They pur-posely made their sidearms visible, and in a very

gruff manner let the interlopers know they didn’twant Daniels to take the ATV off “their” mountain.

The miners knew where the vehicle was and had puttogether their own plan to retrieve it, Daniels ex-plains: “This didn’t include us, and there was a veryawkward and antagonistic conversation that tookplace. They made it very clear that they would chal-lenge anyone for the ATV.”

The insurance carrier needed to retrieve the ATVbefore it faced an environmental claim from the gov-ernment, as it was on federal land. But the minerswere less than impressed with the adjusters’ predica-ment.

Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere,Daniels finally put his boot down and stated thatthey were going to get back on their ATVs, passthrough the miners’ site and retrieve the wreckedATV from the top of the peak, like it or not. Thingswere getting tense.

Whether the miners were unprepared or impressedby such boldness, they let the “insurance guys” pass

(See Crazy Claims… continued on page 15)

- 15 -

through the site, unharmed. “Later that day as wewere retrieving the ATV, a group of the miners hadmade their way to the site and were watching ourevery move,” Daniels relates. “But honestly, I think Iwas more scared of encountering a moose or a bearalong the way so I was relieved that neither of thosecrossed our path!”

If another adjuster should find himself or herself inthe same position, what advice would Daniels givethem? “My advice would be that it is best to commu-nicate openly and firmly,” he adds. “If you findyourself at an impasse, take the action you haveopenly communicated.”

4. Madame Butterfly

A young woman had been in a car accident that in-volved her T-boning a truck that was making a leftturn in front of her. Nixon received the claim and theinsured gave him the address where they shouldmeet.

It turned out to be a biker bar in rougher part oftown. Dressed in khakis, Nixon felt as awkward ashe looked. Fortunately, the bar was relatively emptywhen he entered.

“It looked like a set out of the movies,” he described.“The jukebox was playing ‘Bad to the Bone’ prettyloudly, and there was a woman in the back of the barin a completely see-through negligée.”

Nixon noticed that she had a giant butterfly belowthe waist, but the more immediate problem was, howwould he get a recorded statement from a scantilyclad woman?

As he was asking her about the accident and gettingthe details, Nixon thought he was being careful tojust look at her eyes. “In reality, I was looking at herbutterfly.” She noticed where he was looking andcasually said, “It’s a butterfly.”

5. Mice in the house

Usually, a mouse or two in the house isn’t a big deal.But one couple had an experience that’s worthy of ahorror movie.

The couple were married and left for a month-longtrip to Greece. While they were away, the power

Crazy Claims… (Continued from page 13)



through the site, unharmed. “Later that day as wewere retrieving the ATV, a group of the miners hadmade their way to the site and were watching ourevery move,” Daniels relates. “But honestly, I think Iwas more scared of encountering a moose or a bearalong the way so I was relieved that neither of thosecrossed our path!”

If another adjuster should find himself or herself inthe same position, what advice would Daniels givethem? “My advice would be that it is best to commu-nicate openly and firmly,” he adds. “If you findyourself at an impasse, take the action you haveopenly communicated.”

4. Madame Butterfly

A young woman had been in a car accident that in-volved her T-boning a truck that was making a leftturn in front of her. Nixon received the claim and theinsured gave him the address where they shouldmeet.

It turned out to be a biker bar in rougher part oftown. Dressed in khakis, Nixon felt as awkward ashe looked. Fortunately, the bar was relatively emptywhen he entered.

“It looked like a set out of the movies,” he described.“The jukebox was playing ‘Bad to the Bone’ prettyloudly, and there was a woman in the back of the barin a completely see-through negligée.”

Nixon noticed that she had a giant butterfly belowthe waist, but the more immediate problem was, howwould he get a recorded statement from a scantilyclad woman?

As he was asking her about the accident and gettingthe details, Nixon thought he was being careful tojust look at her eyes. “In reality, I was looking at herbutterfly.” She noticed where he was looking andcasually said, “It’s a butterfly.”

5. Mice in the house

Usually, a mouse or two in the house isn’t a big deal.But one couple had an experience that’s worthy of ahorror movie.

The couple were married and left for a month-longtrip to Greece. While they were away, the power



- 17 -

went out and their upright freezer defrosted. Thefood coagulated and spilled out onto the garagefloor.

Nixon received the claim and learned that the cou-ple’s house was infested with mice from the freezermelting. “When I arrived, the house smelled like itwas infested by mice. I told them I didn’t think theyhad coverage because it was damage from rodents.”

The claims manager confirmed that the couple didnot have coverage for the loss, but the claim was es-calated to someone else at the insurance companywho said the company would pay for the loss.

Nixon went back to the house and assessed the dam-ages. An exterminator was hired, and he stopped bydaily to remove literally dozens of mice. WhenNixon was talking to the exterminator, he learnedthat mice don’t usually eat meat. “Are you sure thehouse wasn’t infested before?” asked the extermina-tor as he pointed out the field behind the house.

Nixon held up the claim again, but it was reinstated.The damage to the house was substantial. “Micewere eating the bait and going into the walls and dy-ing,” explained Nixon. The ceilings, walls and car-pets had to be pulled out because the entire housewas infested. By the time the job was completed, theexterminator had pulled hundreds and hundreds ofmice out of the house.

But that’s not even the end of the story …

6. Fluffy is missing!

While their home was being exterminated and re-built, the owners stayed at a motel in St. Louis. Theirlittle dog, Fluffy, got loose and was kidnapped. Theowners told Nixon, “We want to put up a reward.Will the insurer pay for it?”

Again, Nixon told them he didn’t think there wascoverage, but the insurer agreed to pay for the re-ward.

The following night, Mr. & Mrs. Insured were on thelocal news saying, “Our dog, Fluffy, was kidnappedbecause the insurance company put us up at this ho-tel. We’re offering a $500 reward to get our dogback, and the insurance company has agreed to payit.”


Employment OpportunitiesOCAA Website PutsYou in Touch withLocal Employment

Opportunitieswww.oregoncasualtyadjusters.org/calendar.html

If you are an employer seeking Claim Professionals andwould like to post a job opening on our website at no charge,please send an email to [email protected].

Include job description and contact info.

When they didn’t get a response to the $500 reward,the president of the insurance company authorizedan increase in the reward to $2,000. When no oneresponded, the insureds asked if they could keep themoney and use it to purchase a new dog. The in-surer agreed. The owners went on the news againand shared that the insurer had let them keep thereward money to get a new dog.

When the policyholders returned home, Mr. Insuredsaid that some contents were missing from the in-ventory. Nixon told the policyholder to put it on thelist, and he would contact the restoration contractorabout the missing contents. Mr. Insured said hewanted a meeting with everyone involved in hisclaim because some very personal items were miss-ing.

Nixon gathered representatives from every vendorinvolved in the claim — the cleaners, restorationcompany, electrician and exterminator — for ameeting. The homeowner said, “We are missingsome very personal videos that my wife and I madein the bedroom.”

Someone said they were probably already on theinternet. This was not good news. The wife was aprofessor at a local university and was concernedabout who might see the videos; however, they werenever returned.

— Special thanks to the members of the National Associationof Independent Insurance Adjusters for sharing some of theirmore memorable claims.


went out and their upright freezer defrosted. Thefood coagulated and spilled out onto the garagefloor.

Nixon received the claim and learned that the cou-ple’s house was infested with mice from the freezermelting. “When I arrived, the house smelled like itwas infested by mice. I told them I didn’t think theyhad coverage because it was damage from rodents.”

The claims manager confirmed that the couple didnot have coverage for the loss, but the claim was es-calated to someone else at the insurance companywho said the company would pay for the loss.

Nixon went back to the house and assessed the dam-ages. An exterminator was hired, and he stopped bydaily to remove literally dozens of mice. WhenNixon was talking to the exterminator, he learnedthat mice don’t usually eat meat. “Are you sure thehouse wasn’t infested before?” asked the extermina-tor as he pointed out the field behind the house.

Nixon held up the claim again, but it was reinstated.The damage to the house was substantial. “Micewere eating the bait and going into the walls and dy-ing,” explained Nixon. The ceilings, walls and car-pets had to be pulled out because the entire housewas infested. By the time the job was completed, theexterminator had pulled hundreds and hundreds ofmice out of the house.

But that’s not even the end of the story …

6. Fluffy is missing!

While their home was being exterminated and re-built, the owners stayed at a motel in St. Louis. Theirlittle dog, Fluffy, got loose and was kidnapped. Theowners told Nixon, “We want to put up a reward.Will the insurer pay for it?”

Again, Nixon told them he didn’t think there wascoverage, but the insurer agreed to pay for the re-ward.

The following night, Mr. & Mrs. Insured were on thelocal news saying, “Our dog, Fluffy, was kidnappedbecause the insurance company put us up at this ho-tel. We’re offering a $500 reward to get our dogback, and the insurance company has agreed to payit.”


Employment OpportunitiesOCAA Website PutsYou in Touch withLocal Employment

Opportunitieswww.oregoncasualtyadjusters.org/calendar.html

If you are an employer seeking Claim Professionals andwould like to post a job opening on our website at no charge,please send an email to [email protected].

Include job description and contact info.

When they didn’t get a response to the $500 reward,the president of the insurance company authorizedan increase in the reward to $2,000. When no oneresponded, the insureds asked if they could keep themoney and use it to purchase a new dog. The in-surer agreed. The owners went on the news againand shared that the insurer had let them keep thereward money to get a new dog.

When the policyholders returned home, Mr. Insuredsaid that some contents were missing from the in-ventory. Nixon told the policyholder to put it on thelist, and he would contact the restoration contractorabout the missing contents. Mr. Insured said hewanted a meeting with everyone involved in hisclaim because some very personal items were miss-ing.

Nixon gathered representatives from every vendorinvolved in the claim — the cleaners, restorationcompany, electrician and exterminator — for ameeting. The homeowner said, “We are missingsome very personal videos that my wife and I madein the bedroom.”

Someone said they were probably already on theinternet. This was not good news. The wife was aprofessor at a local university and was concernedabout who might see the videos; however, they werenever returned.

— Special thanks to the members of the National Associationof Independent Insurance Adjusters for sharing some of theirmore memorable claims.

Under the Oregon Evidence Code(“OEC”), certain evidence is con-sidered to be “scientific evidence”and requires that the offering partylay a proper foundation before thetrial court will allow the evidence tobe admitted. If a police officer re-sponds to an accident call and ar-

rives at the scene, will the officer be permitted totestify regarding the speed of the vehicles beforeimpact and the vehicles’ movements following theimpact? Read on to find out.

Claims Pointer: In this criminal case arising out ofa car accident, the Oregon Court of Appeals heldthat a police officer’s testimony about the speed ofa vehicle before the moment of impact and themovement of the vehicles following the impact wasnot “scientific evidence.” The court therefore heldthat the police officer could testify as an expert wit-ness regarding the speed of the vehicle and move-ment of vehicles even though the police officer wasnot a certified accident reconstructionist. This caseis a reminder that in some circumstances police of-ficers are permitted to testify on important mattersbased on their training and observations at the acci-dent scene.

State v. Rivera-Ortiz., 288 Or App 284 (2017)

Joel Rivera-Ortiz (“Defendant”) and R were in-volved in a motor vehicle accident. R was stoppedat a stop sign and was ready to make a right-handturn when she saw Defendant’s vehicle approachingfrom the left. R believed there was sufficient dis-tance for her to make a turn. As she pulled out tomake the turn, Defendant’s car hit the front of hercar. The impact spun R’s car 270 degrees and hervehicle ended up 35 feet away from the point ofimpact. Defendant’s car rolled side-over-side andslid on its roof, coming to rest 388 feet from thepoint of impact. Sergeant Flem (“the police offi-cer”), arrived at the accident scene. He observed atrail of scuff marks and took measurements. Based

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on his observations, the police officer concludedthat the accident occurred when R pulled forwardfrom the stop sign to turn right, and that the Defen-dant was driving at a high rate of speed. He issuedDefendant a citation for misdemeanor reckless driv-ing.

At trial, the State of Oregon (“the State”) intendedto call the police officer to testify about the move-ment of the vehicles after impact and Defendant’sspeed before impact. Defendant objected to the po-lice officer’s proposed testimony, arguing that thetestimony constituted scientific evidence for whichthe State failed to lay a proper foundation. Further,Defendant argued that the police officer could nottestify regarding such evidence because he was nota qualified accident reconstructionist. The trialcourt allowed the police officer to testify as an ex-pert witness. The officer testified that based on histraining and observations, Defendant’s vehicle hitthe front driver’s side of the truck, spinning R’s car,and that Defendant’s vehicle was traveling at a“higher rate of speed.” The jury found that Defen-dant was guilty. Defendant appealed, arguing thatthe trial court erred by allowing the police officer’stestimony.

The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trialcourt’s decision. The court first considered whetherthe police officer’s testimony was scientific testi-mony. The court admitted the difficulty of setting adefinitive boundary between scientific evidence andtechnical or other specified knowledge. Accordingto the court, because evidence perceived as scien-tific by jurors possesses an unusually high degree ofpersuasive power, courts must ensure that the per-suasive appeal is legitimate. As such, if evidence tobe offered is scientific, the party offering the evi-dence must lay a proper foundation with scientificvalidation.

The court noted that a jury is likely to consider evi-dence to be scientific if the testimony “rests on ascientific underpinning that is unfamiliar to the juryor if it is phrased in scientific terms.” In caseswhere the expert’s testimony was based on the ex-pert’s professional background and where the ex-pert used vocabulary of scientific research, courtspreviously determined that the jury would have per-ceived the testimony to be scientific. The courtnoted that in the current case, the jury would not

(See Case Study… continued on page 21)

Oregon Case LawUpdate: When is PoliceOfficer TestimonyAdmissible?

From the desk of Josh Hayward:

Case Study

expert witness, the witness must have the knowl-edge, skill, experience, training or education to tes-tify regarding the particular topic on which the wit-ness claims expertise.

In this case, the police officer’s testimony was nar-row, and focused on the fact that Defendant’s carwas moving at a “higher rate of speed” at the mo-ment of impact and on the movements of the vehi-cles after impact. According to the court, such testi-mony was within the scope of the police officer’straining and experience. The police officer’s testi-mony was based on (1) an eight-hour training at thepolice academy, (2) two more full-day practicaltraining courses in traffic collision investigation,which included mock crashes and instruction, (3)two four-hour instructional classes in which he wastaught to read markings and debris to make conclu-sions about the point of impact and the movementsof vehicles during an accident, (4) and investiga-tions of over 100 traffic accidents. Thus, eventhough the officer was not a certified accident re-constructionist, he was qualified to testify about thephysical evidence and his conclusions from suchevidence.

likely perceive the police officer’s testimony to bescientific. The police officer testified based on histraining and experience of investigating more than100 traffic collisions. According to the court, thepolice officer did not state that he had scientifictraining, refer to any scientific principles, or use sci-entific terms. He used no calculations to determineDefendant’s speed and did not provide an exact rateof speed. Nor did he tell the jury that his opinionswere based on calculations, scientific modeling orscientific principles. The court concluded that thepolice officer’s testimony of how the impact oc-curred was not scientific evidence. As such, thestate was not required to lay a foundation in order toadmit the police officer’s testimony.

The court next considered whether the trial courterred in allowing the police officer’s testimony asexpert testimony, even though the officer was not acertified accident reconstructionist. Under OEC702, “a witness qualified as an expert by knowl-edge, skill, experience, training or education maytestify thereto in the form of an opinion or other-wise.” The court explained that in order to be an

Case Study… (Continued from page 19)

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In sum, the Oregon Court of Appeals agreed that thepolice officer’s testimony was not scientific experttestimony, and upheld the trial court’s decision toallow the police officer to testify about the move-ments of the vehicles following the impact and thatDefendant was driving at “a higher rate of speed”before impact.

— View full opinion at: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/docs/A157427.pdf

Case updates are intended to inform our clients and others about legal mattersof current interest. They are not intended as legal advice. Readers should notact upon the information contained in this article without seeking professionalcounsel.

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