Defendant's Insurance Company Makes Low Offer To Plaintiff Hurt In Suv Accident

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In this article we look at yet one more claim in which an insurer made only low ball

offers to settle a car claim in which the plaintiff sustained a considerable injury, this time an injury that definitely affected the injured person's ability to work.

In this claim an individual driving an SUV was involved in an accident with bicyclist. The bicyclist described seeing the driver come from the opposite direction then make a U-turn immediately in front of him giving him no time to stop his bicycle. This caused him to go over the hood of the vehicle. The victim tore a cartilage in his wrist in the accident. This caused him problems at work where he was a mechanic for a high-end motor vehicle dealer. And a physician testified that the plaintiff's wrist will likely eventually have to be fused and that this will probably end his career as a mechanic. Because of this the plaintiff would likely not be able to make as much money in the future leading to a loss of earning capacity.

The law firm that handled this matter for the victim found that the driver was test-driving the SUV in an effort to be able to write an advertising review of the SUV for his employer.

This sum represented $250,000 in economic damages (which would generally include medical expenses and loss of earning capacity). Additionally, it included $300,000 in non-economic damages (this is the pain and suffering resulting from the injuries).
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Both sides knew the particulars of this case prior to trial. The testimony of the doctor was not a surprise. But, each viewed the claim from a very different angle and thereby arrived at a very different conclusion as to the proper settlement value. The insurance company adjuster and defense lawyer no doubt saw the matter as concerning an injury from which there was a full recovery. They probably discounted the bicyclists assertion that he had problems from the injury when he went back to his job. And they most likely believed that the physician's testimony was either too speculative or too far removed from the present.

But the law firm representing the victim positioned the case so that it was not about an injury that resolved itself but about an injury that would do even more significant damage in the future. The injury may not have required surgery immediately but it caused enough damage to the wrist that it would require in all likelihood, not only surgery but a fusion. And this would almost certainly put an end to the plaintiff's career as a mechanic of high-end cars. By letting the jury consider the total effect of the injury the law firm was able to achieve a verdict over 18 times the sum offered by the insurer.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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