Why Having Enough of Your Own Insurance Can Make a Big Difference
claim with our client’s own insurance company. Fortunately, our client was smart enough to carry an auto insurance policy with double the policy limits of the at-fault car. As a result, she was able to make a claim against her own auto policy for her injuries. This essentially allowed her to have two claims against two different insurance companies from a single accident. Although her treatment record was problematic, she had several advantages we were able to highlight: • She is a nice person, and the insurance company was able to see that she would be a good witness. • She had a reasonable explanation for her lack of follow-up treatment. • She had no complaints of prior back injuries (and her primary care doctor was willing to say so). • She really suffered from her injuries. In the end, we were also able to resolve the second claim for her entire policy limit! This case had a relatively happy ending, but there are lessons in it for anyone who is involved in an auto accident. 1. Follow (and follow-up on) your doctor’s treatment instructions. Everyone involved agreed that, had the client followed the recommended medical treatment at the time of the accident, her condition would not have deteriorated to the point that she needed back surgery. 2. Carry enough insurance. Don’t allow your recovery to be limited to the amount of coverage picked by someone else who has already proven to be a negligent driver. Carry uninsured/underinsured coverage of your own. Consult your insurance agent for what coverage is right for you. In many instances, you can purchase an extra $80,000 to cover a potential claim for only a few dollars per month. 3. Act quickly and seek professional advice. Preserve your rights so you don’t come close to losing them.
We were recently contacted through an existing client by a person who had been injured in an auto accident nearly three years earlier. The victim was a single mom who worked full-time and had a young daughter to care for. She was advised by her doctors to seek physical therapy but never found the time. Like most moms, she put taking care of others ahead of herself. Over time, her back pain got worse. She finally attempted physical therapy more than two years after the accident, but by that time, it did not help and neither did nerve block injections. Finally her pain became unbearable, causing her to go to the hospital. Surgery to enlarge her spinal canal and relieve pressure on the spinal cord — known as a laminectomy —was performed the same day. After a lengthy recovery, her pain was much improved, although she is still not perfect. Before contacting us, she had contacted two other lawyers who told her that she didn’t have a claim because too much time had passed between the accident date and her surgery: It would be tough to prove that her back surgery was required as a result of the accident; the treatment was too remote; and anything could have happened in the nearly three years between the accident and the surgery. In Massachusetts, if a personal injury case is not filed in court within three years of an auto accident, the claim is forever barred. When we met her, there was less than a week before the statute of limitations expired. We believed her, sympathized with her situation, and decided to help her. We filed a lawsuit in the appropriate court to preserve her rights. The circumstances were unusual. As we prepared the claim for submission to the other driver’s insurance company, we worked closely with our client and got to know her. During negotiations, we were able to put the pieces of her story together in a way that the other party’s insurance company understood. As a result, the company offered their full policy limits in order to settle her claim. After resolving the bodily injury portion of her claim, we next pursued an underinsured motorist
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