Woman Wins $568,000 in Uninsured Motorist Claim
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran a short article recently on a jury's award to a woman who was involved in an accident with an uninsured driver. According to the article, the plaintiff in the case was rear-ended by an uninsured driver on Military Trail in West Palm Beach, causing neck and back injuries. The plaintiff had uninsured motorist insurance, but according to the article, her insurer refused to pay that part of her claim, making a settlement offer her lawyer called "exceedingly low." Instead of accepting that settlement, which would have barred any more payments from her insurer from the accident, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against her insurance company and recovered far more.
This story underscores one of the most basic and important tenets of Florida auto accident litigation: Do not trust the insurance company. Insurance companies, like all businesses, like to avoid spending money, and paying a claim from a serious accident costs serious money. For some victims, that means the insurer will find weak or trumped-up reasons to deny their claims, even if they've faithfully paid their premiums and even if they clearly have the coverage. Uninsured/underinsured motorist claims are especially notorious as likely candidates to be unfairly and illegally denied, especially if it was a hit-and-run driver, who legally counts as an uninsured driver but frequently is not treated as one.
This is an especially big problem because uninsured motorists are unlikely to have enough money to pay the costs of the accident themselves. It doesn't help that the uninsured or hit-and-run driver is often at fault for the accident, as in this case. The victims of these accidents are essentially victimized twice in this situation -- once by the careless drivers who hit them and again when their insurance company breaches its own contract. Often, they have no choice but to file a Florida car crash lawsuit to recover the money they need to pay for medical treatment, car repairs and other costs of the accident.
While I am pleased that Florida juries see through insurers' dirty tactics, I'm disappointed that drivers are continually forced into court to get what they're legally owed. A car wreck is already a traumatic, expensive and sometimes life-changing experience; victims don't need to fight red tape too. If you were hit by an uninsured, underinsured or hit-and-run driver in South Florida and you're facing this situation, you have rights. Contact our firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, for a free consultation to learn more about them.
