Repeat Auto Crashes and an Underinsured Claim

Second, there still was not enough money to fully compensate her for her damages – so we are now filing her
underinsured lawsuit against her insurance company.  She had worked the same medium labor job for 15
years at a local grocery store.  After the car crashes, she couldn’t work at all. Her pain was truly
excruciating and her doctors restricted her activity.  She worked hard to improve herself and eventually was
able to return to work. Her employer was great and put her in a less strenuous job – but she makes less.

Underinsured coverage applies when a negligent driver does not have enough insurance to cover all your damages.
If your damages are $100,000 and the driver who crashed into you only had $25,000 in insurance coverage, you are
underinsured for $75,000. Insurance companies sell coverage to fill in this gap. We always make underinsured
claims where damages exceed coverage.

To make an underinsured claim, we first have to settle the claim with the main tortfeasor and exhaust their
coverage (including excess or umbrella and we get an affidavit of no more insurance). If a negligent driver has
$25,000 in insurance and settles for $20,000, there is no underinsured claim. Insurance companies erect
roadblocks against their own insureds in underinsured claims. They do not tell claimants they have underinsured
coverage or how to make a claim. Often they will have separate claims adjustors and separate departments for
underinsured coverage. After I made Audra’s underinsured claim, the adjustors were calling me to ask if I was
really trying to settle a property damage claim, get medical payment coverage or what mistake had I made.
Obstacles decrease payouts and improve profits.

After an underinsured claim is made clearly and in writing, the insurance company assigns a separate
underinsured claims adjustor. We communicate with that adjustor about the status of the claim and advise when we
are about to settle the claim against the negligent driver (they want to make sure there is no more insurance).
We get a full recovery from the underinsured carrier for all damages, make time limited, policy limit demands
and file suit quickly. In Illinois, we make an arbitration claim as all policies mandate arbitration (which is
enforced by statute).

Underinsured policies usually provide a “set off” or credit for the amount recovered from the negligent driver.
Lack of disclosure of this is, frankly, a misrepresentation by the insurance company. When you buy $100,000 in
underinsured coverage, it is promised as such and you pay the premium on that amount. What you do not realize is
only $75,000 in coverage is provided because the negligent driver would have at least $25,000 in coverage.

Please call or email if I can ever help like we helped Audra. We generously share fees with referring lawyers
under Rule 4-1.5(e). I hope this note was informative and thanks for reading.