Curry v. Trustmark Ins. Co., (Maryland District Court, July 15, 2013)

This case involved a dispute regarding disability benefits. Under a policy of disability insurance, Mr. Curry was required to provide proof of ongoing disability in order to continue receiving benefits. Included in this was the requirement to submit to a reasonable number of Independent Medical Evaluations ("IME") requested by the insurer. There came a point when Mr. Curry refused to attend an IME scheduled by the insurer, after the insurer had stopped providing monthly benefits.

Mr. Curry filed a lawsuit against the insurer alleging breach of contract. The court determined that the insurer acted within their contractual rights in choosing to deny benefits after Mr. Curry failed to attend the IME. The court also felt that the insurer's request for an IME after providing nearly three (3) years of benefits was unlikely to be deemed unreasonable by a jury. Under this set of facts, the court determined that Mr. Curry had not raised any genuine dispute as the material facts of the case and therefore upheld the trial court's decision granting summary judgment in favor of the insurer.