Partner Scott Perry had the privilege of representing a local gentleman who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mr. C was simply driving in a parking lot in Palm Beach County,
stopped at a stop sign when another driver ran a stop sign and crashed into a turning vehicle. That turning vehicle was pushed into the front of our client’s pickup truck . The forceful crash resulted in substantial injuries to our client. The driver who caused the incident had limited coverage and knowing the likelihood of that and the potential for competing claims – a demand for policy limits was sent early and resulted in the entire policy being tendered to the benefit of our client.
Mr. C unfortunately had serious injuries from the accident and after consulting with multiple orthopedic surgeons and a neurologist, was told that he needed a cervical fusion to stabilize his neck and to avoid potentially becoming paralyzed. Despite the multiple surgical recommendations in writing, our client’s own insurance company took an approach of “we will believe it when we see it.”
Following his surgery, the insurance company continued to try to avoid paying the policy limits and dragging its proverbial feet. A threat of a Civil Remedy Notice which would trigger a bad faith claim on the part of the insurance company ultimately resulted in a tender payment of the policy limits.
Had our client carried stacked Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage, then the recovery would have been even larger for our client. His damages caused by the inattentive driver would have well exceeded the limited limits that we secured. Despite this fact, the underinsured motorist insurance company still tried to underpay our client/ its insured’s damages.
The important lessons to remember are to know the value of a claim and to understand that insurance adjusters are often trying to save substantial money by undervaluing claims. The team at Murray Guari knows that every case is different and must be treated as such. Here ,our clients are their own individual case and individual story, not just a number.
