Posted: February 20, 2012
As a Cincinnati accident lawyer representing car accident clients and other personal injury victims I know that my clients have many issues to address in trying to get them maximum compensation for their personal injury car accident case. What most personal injury victims want to know at the time of the settlement is, how much money compensation will I go home with. I try to explain to my clients at the initial meeting how to get by until we reach a personal injury insurance settlement. I also explain that their medical insurance should be used since the wrongdoer normally will not pay until the end of the case. And then by their contract the medical insurer normally are entitled to be paid back after settlement. ( This is legally termed subrogation ) I had a seriously injured client and there was only $100,000.00 in insurance coverage. The medical insurance carrier paid $55,000.00 for medical bills and wanted their money back. Obviously this would not leave much for my client. I had the medical insurance company send me their policy language and I saw an opening. My client was not "made whole" by the settlement, as the $100,000 liability policy limits of the wrongdoer was all that there was to recover from. Even $200,000 would not have made her wholeas I judged and argued my client's injuries merited a greater amount. I argued and sent case law that the medical insurance companies' policy did not have the right language to overcome the made whole doctrine. This doctrine states that if the personal injury victim is not fully compensated by the settlement because their damages exceed the policy limits they do not get to be paid back out of the injury victims' settlement. That is, unless the medical insurance company has the exact correct language. The medical insurance agreed and waived their claim for $55,000.00. So my client had $55,000.00 more dollars to put in their pocket. If you have a serious personal injury car accident case consider hiring a experienced personal injury lawyer. I welcome your call to discuss your case at no obligation and no cost to you for the initial consultation. Read my client service satisfaction guarantee Anthony Castelli Attorney is accredited by the Better Business Bureau Rated preeminent by Martindale Hubbel and superb by AVVO