Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers has resolved an uninsured motorist case for $250,000 on behalf of a 41-year-old carpenter who sustained cuts to his face and injuries to his back and neck. The incident occurred when a hit-and-run driver veered into his lane of traffic and collided with him head-on.
After receiving emergency care at the scene from paramedics, the man was transported to an emergency room where a plastic surgeon removed the bits of glass from his face and closed the wounds with approximately 20 stitches. Due to ongoing lower back pain, our client’s family physician referred him to an orthopedist who confirmed that the pain was due to a bulging disc in the lower back.
After several months of physical therapy, our client made a good recovery and was able to resume most of his activities.
Un-Insured / Under-Insured Motorist Cases
Though hardly a glamorous topic, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is indeed an important consideration for all dri
vers and their families as it may afford them the ability to fully recover damages not covered under an offending drivers policy.
Un-Insured Motorist (UM) Coverage:
Un-insured motorist coverage affords a driver, passenger or pedestrian to recover damages for personal injuries and property damages when the offending party did not have any viable coverage. After presenting records substantiating damages to the individual’s auto insurance company, an uninsured motorist case may be able to be resolved. If an agreement between the injured party and the insurance carrier cannot be achieved, most policies allow the injured person to file a demand for arbitration or a direct action against the insurance carrier directly.
In order to determine how to present an uninsured motorist claim, the auto insurance policy must be carefully reviewed to determine the procedure. The policy language will specify language of the policy and the jurisdiction where the claim is being pursued with dictate the procedure for resolving disputed UM claims. Many uninsured motorist policies require written confirmation from the un-insured driver directly or the secretary of state that there was no insurance coverage before they will consider resolving the UM claim.
Under-Insured Motorist (UIM) Coverage:
Some states, such as Illinois, have passed legislation requiring drivers to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance. In theory, the minimum amounts of coverage would adequately compensate most automobile related injuries and property damage.
However, the minimum coverage will not cover many situations where a person has sustained more than minor injuries.
In cases where the responsible driver does not have adequate insurance to cover the damages of the person(s) injured in the accident, the injured party can pursue the balance of their damages directly from their insurance carrier under their own under-insured motorist policy.
Similar to an uninsured motorist claim, a claim for under-insured coverage must be pursued according to the terms of the auto insurance policy. In many situations, relief for an underinsured claim would be determined by a arbitrator who would listen to evidence presented by the injured driver and the insurance carrier before rendering an opinion.
A classic example of how a UM policy would come into play would be if the responsible party carries $20,000 in liability coverage and the injured party has $100,000 in UIM coverage. Assuming that the significance of the injuries exceeds $20,000, the injured party could theoretically recover an additional $80,000. Similar to the way damages are presented in a traditional legal setting, the injured party has the burden of establishing their damages in order to afford themselves coverage under the under-insured motorist policy.
