Cincinnati Insurance Claims and Settlements

On this page, our lawyers will look at what to expect when handling personal injury cases involving Cincinnati Insurance Company and what the average settlement payouts are in these claims.

About Cincinnati Insurance Company

The Cincinnati Insurance Company was created over sixty years ago.  Cincinnati Insurance Company is a property and casualty insurance company headquartered in Fairfield, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. The company was founded in 1950 by four independent insurance agents who saw a need for a company that would provide quality insurance products and personalized service to their clients.

Since its founding, Cincinnati Insurance has become one of the largest property and casualty insurers in the United States, with products and services that include commercial lines, personal lines, and excess and surplus lines coverage. The company is known for its strong financial performance and commitment to exceptional customer service.  At least this is what we have been told.

In addition to its core insurance business, Cincinnati Insurance also operates subsidiaries in life insurance and asset management. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol CINF and has a market capitalization of over $18 billion as of April 2023.

Overall, Cincinnati Insurance has a long history of providing quality insurance products and personalized service to its clients and has established itself as a leader in the insurance industry through its strong financial performance, community involvement, and commitment to ethical business practices.

Today, they are a part of the Cincinnati Financial umbrella and are in the top 25 in the property insurance market. Cincinnati Financial is a Fortune 500 company with 5,000 employees and $10 billion in revenue. This insurer sells property insurance in 39 states, including Maryland.

Types of Coverage Cincinnati Offers

Cincinnati Insurance has four key segments: personal lines, property casualty insurance, commercial lines, property insurance, life and disability insurance, and investments. The company historically keeps a low profile, but a few years ago, it started running property and life insurance commercials.

Our Maryland accident lawyers will mostly see this company in the commercial car and truck accident cases and its premises liability claims.

Dealing with Cincinnati Insurance on Claims

This insurance company tends to fight on liability dispute claims- in other words, a dispute about who is responsible. At the time of the writing, we have just come out of a trial against Cincinnati Insurance. They offered $150,000 at the pre-trial in the case, and we assumed they would increase their offer. The pre-trial judge told them they should. They did not, the case went to trial, and the jury awarded $537,000.

Cincinnati Insurance typically makes a better first offer than their brethren at insurers like State Farm or Allstate. This is partly because they do not have an in-house lawyer in individual states, making their litigation cost higher. Still, because they find themselves in more serious injury claims, you can’t expect full value for an accident claim without filing a suit (at least in most cases).

Cincinnati Insurance Lawyers in Maryland

Again, this insurer does not have in-house lawyers in Maryland. We know they use the Baltimore law firm of Franklin & Prokopik for some of the claims involving their insureds filed in Maryland. They do have local claims adjusters in Maryland.

Settlement Payouts and Jury Awards in Cases Involving Cincinnati Insurance

Here are a few results of cases involving Cincinnati:

• 2024, Wisconsin: $550,000 Settlement. THe plaintiff was crushed under a pile of metal fire doors when the stack collapsed on top of him. The plaintiff said he suffered personal injuries due to the accident, which included an L1 vertebral body fracture in the lumbar region of his spine, for which he underwent an L1 kyphoplasty, and T11 and T5 vertebral body fractures in the thoracic region of the spine. The settlement was split between several insurance companies, including Cinncinatti Insurance which was the liability carrier for the property owner.
• 2023, Wisconsin: $130,000 Verdict. The plaintiff was allegedly walking in the parking lot of a commercial building complex when she stepped into an unmarked hole in the pavement and suffered personal injuries.  Our law firm had a pretty similar case against Cincinnati. The plaintiff filed a premises liability action against the complex owner (which was insured by Cincinnati Insurance) for negligently failing to properly repair and maintain its premises, failing to timely repair the hole, despite allegedly having notice of the hole, and failing to warn employees and/or invitees of the hole, caused her accident.
• 2022, Alabama: $762,000 Verdict. The plaintiff was rear-ended at speed on the highway, causing his car to go into the median and flip over. The plaintiff suffered a compression fracture of the C2-C3 vertebrae and other injuries which left him permanently partially disabled. He brought claims against his UIM insurer, Cinncinatti Insurance, for UIM benefits and the case went to trial on damage.
• 2020, Pennsylvania: $300,000 Settlement. A 43-year-old man died from traumatic injuries he sustained in a head-on collision with an ambulance. Hospital staff took him off life support five days after the collision. The ambulance’s passenger also died after the ambulance ejected her. The man’s estate claimed that the ambulance driver negligently sped, failed to maintain a single lane of traffic, lost control of the vehicle, and crossed over the centerline into the man’s vehicle. They also sued the driver’s employer for vicarious liability. The employer had a $500,000 single-limit liability policy with Cincinnati Insurance. The parties agreed to divide the policy limits whereby the man’s estate received $300,000, and the woman’s estate received $200,000.
• 2019, Wisconsin: $2,800,000 Settlement. A man was working on a scissors lift at a warehouse facility. One of the facility’s employees, operating a forklift at the time, struck the scissors lift, causing the man to fall onto the concrete floor. He suffered unspecified head, neck, and back injuries. He and his wife sued the facility and their insurer, Cincinnati Insurance. They alleged that the facility failed to require truckers to slow down and honk their horns when crossing aisles. The couple also alleged that the facility failed to ensure that truckers did not travel with a full load when their vision was obstructed. This case settled for $2,800,000.
• 2019, Kentucky: $2,213,030 Verdict. A 92-year-old woman was admitted to a nursing home with Alzheimer’s dementia with an agitation diagnosis. Three months into her stay, the nursing staff failed to transcribe a doctor’s order for psychiatric consultation and ensure it was conducted. The woman was involved in two altercations with other residents that were reported as potential abuse to state authorities. She would be discharged a day after the altercations. The woman would be in six beds in four different facilities over three-and-a-half weeks. Her constant moving affected both her physical and mental health. She would eventually be hospitalized after she suffered gastrointestinal bleeding. Three days into her hospitalization, she died from cardiac arrest. Her estate sued the initial facility, alleging they improperly discharged her. Cincinnati Insurance insured the facility. The jury awarded the estate $2,213,030. This comprised $17,196 in medical expenses, $570,834 in pain and suffering, and $1,625,000 in punitive damages.
• 2019, Iowa: $700,000 Verdict. A 57-year-old man was driving his employer’s vehicle. While stopped at a work zone, he was rear-ended. The man suffered cervical disc damage and a 15 percent impairment to his entire body. He underwent fusion surgery to treat his damaged cervical disc. Cincinnati Insurance covered his employer’s vehicle, and the policy included UIM coverage. The man claimed that he had already received the other driver’s policy limits and that his damages exceeded them. He claimed that the other driver negligently failed to keep a clear distance, keep a lookout, and maintain control of his vehicle. The man also claimed he was entitled to his employer’s UIM benefits. Cincinnati admitted that the other driver was at fault but disputed the man’s damages. The jury awarded a $700,000 verdict. However, the final judgment reduced the award to $680,000 based on the settlement with the other driver.
• 2019, Oregon: $1,846,425 Verdict. A 42-year-old railroad conductor was rear-ended while stopped in traffic. The vehicle behind him was traveling about 40 miles per hour, and its driver just took his eyes off the road to look for his sunglasses. Its impact caused the man’s vehicle to push into the vehicle in front of him, which also pushed into a fourth vehicle. The man suffered a cervical injury requiring a total cervical disc arthroplasty at C5-6. He also sustained a thyroid hemorrhage that necessitated its removal. The man sued the driver for negligence and his employer (insured by Cincinnati) for vicarious liability. A jury awarded a $1,846,425 verdict.
• 2019, Maryland: $500,000 Verdict. A 64-year-old woman suffered neck trauma after someone struck her friend’s vehicle that she was a passenger in. The woman sued the driver, claiming negligence. She sued Cincinnati Insurance and Liberty Mutual for failing to provide full UIM benefits. The driver was dismissed from the case after she tendered her policy to settle the claim. Cincinnati’s counsel contended that her injuries and surgeries were unrelated to the impact. The Prince George’s County jury awarded the woman $500,000 in damages.
• 2018, Ohio: $116,780 Verdict. A salesman suffered soft-tissue neck, back, left elbow and left hip injuries after a pickup truck struck his sedan in a construction zone. He sued the driver and his insurer, Cincinnati Insurance, seeking UIM benefits. Cincinnati also made a cross-claim against the man for subrogation. Their attorney was present at the trial but was not actively participating. The jury awarded $116,780 in damages.
• 2014, Ohio: $39,000,000 Verdict. An uninsured driver struck and killed a construction inspector while on the job. The collision occurred at midnight. His estate sued the driver for negligence. They also sued a construction company for failing to create safe working conditions that caused the accident. The deceased’s employer and their insurance carrier, Cincinnati Insurance, were also named in the case. The estate also filed a UIM claim against State Farm, the deceased’s insurer. State Farm settled with the estate, while Cincinnati was granted summary judgment and was dismissed from the case. The verdict totaled $39,000,000 in damages.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision or have a premises liability case in Maryland, call us at 800-553-8082. We also handle severe injury and wrongful death claims outside of Maryland.

How Do I Make a Claim with Cincinnati Insurance?

You can call 877-242-2544 to contact Cincinnati Insurance directly to report your claim. Before contacting any insurance company, you should contact a lawyer for a free consultation contact a lawyer for a free consultation before contacting any insurance company because you could potentially jeopardize your claim.

How Does Cincinnati Insurance Determine the Settlement Value of Personal Injury Claims?

The Great American Insurance Group, which includes Cincinnati, uses Colossus to evaluate the settlement value of your injury claim. Colossus is a computer program insurance adjusters use to value personal injury settlements. The program is notorious for being unfair to victims.

Is Cincinnati Insurance Eager to Take Personal Injury Cases to Trial?

Cincinnati Insurance is easier to deal with after a lawsuit is filed. As you can see from the sample settlements and verdicts involving this insurance company above, this insurer is willing to go to trial. But as a personal injury case gets closer to trial, Cincinnati gets more realistic, and settlements are widespread.

Where Does Cincinnati Insurance Issue Insurance Policies?

The Cincinnati Insurance Companies write insurance policies in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and 44 other states.

More Information on Cincinnati Insurance

• Miller & Zois’ Most Recent Verdict Against Cincinnati Insurance
• 2018 Opinion where Cincinnati Insurance gets out from under a $28 million bad faith verdict)
• Cincinnati Insurance v. Zen Design (insurance company required to defendant lawsuit)
• Cincinnati Insurance v. Beazer (insurance company manages to avoid covering losses from the home builder)
• Reviews about Cincinnati Insurance (in fairness, people usually don’t write positive reviews about insurance companies generally)

Bringing Your Claim (or Your Client’s Claim) Against Cincinnati

• Valuing Personal Injury Cases (how much is your case worth?)
• Handling Personal Injury Claims Without a Lawyer (tips for personal injury victims)
• Handling Your Property Damage Claim (Cincinnati uses Audatex software to estimate property damage claims)
• Sample Demand Letter (letter to the insurance company for compensation by settlement)
• Personal Injury Frequently Asked Questions (questions about handling claims against Cincinnati Insurance and other insurance companies)
• Maryland Lawyer Help (samples of everything and anything an accident lawyer may need to handle a premises liability or truck or car accident lawsuit against Cincinnati Insurance)