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 the pickup truck that our client was in. The forceful crash resulted in substantial injuries to our client. The driver who caused the crash 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 the client.
Mr. C unfortunately had serious injuries from the crash and after consulting with multiple orthopedic surgeons and a neurologist, was told that he needed a cervical fusion to stabilize his neck and 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 bad faith on the part of the insurance company ultimately resulted in a tender of the policy limits.
Had our client carried stacked Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage then the recovery would have been even greater for our client, as his damages caused by the inattentive driver would have well exceeded the limited, limits that we were able to secure. Despite this fact, the underinsured motorist insurance company still tried to underpay our client’s damages, its own insured.
The important lessons to remember are to know the value of a claim and understand that the insurance adjusters are often trying to save substantial money by undervaluing the claim. 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.
