Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog
You’ve been hit by another person in an auto accident. Anytime this happens, it is stressful. When the driver who hits you is also uninsured, the stressfulness is that much higher. While you undoubtedly have much on your mind during this time, it is important not to overlook your potential legal case. Insurance companies often will do everything they can to minimize their payouts, so you should do everything you can to ensure you get a fair recovery, including working with knowledgeable Louisiana car accident counsel. By working with skilled counsel, you may find you have more options than you’d think.
One recent example of this involved a man named Brandon, who was injured when he was involved in a three-vehicle accident in the summer of 2013. At the time, Brandon was driving a vehicle that he owned and that he insured. The driver who hit Brandon was uninsured. Brandon filed a claim with his insurer, and the insurer allowed Brandon to receive an amount equal to the policy limit of his uninsured motorist coverage.
In many situations, the policy limit of your uninsured motorist coverage may be far less than the total amount of damages you suffer as a result of harm caused by an uninsured driver. In these situations, it pays to understand exactly what the law allows you to do to obtain recovery for all of the harm that you’ve suffered.
In Brandon’s case, he sought coverage under a second insurance policy. Brandon lived with his mother, who had uninsured motorist coverage with the same auto insurance company, except the policy limit on the mother’s policy was much higher than the limit on Brandon’s.
The insurance company denied the claim made against the mother’s policy, so the injured man took his case to court. To the untrained eye, Brandon’s case might seem like a difficult one to win. However, the man was successful in his litigation in the trial court. The key was his evidence of the company’s previous handling of previous claims. Brandon and his mother had both been insured by the same company for many years. Back in 2007, Brandon was in another accident caused by an uninsured driver. In that accident, Brandon was driving his own vehicle that he had insured in his own name. Following that accident, the insurance company concluded that Brandon was entitled to recover compensation under both his uninsured motorist coverage and his mother’s uninsured motorist coverage.
The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment in Brandon’s favor. That court pointed out that, under Louisiana law, courts are required to interpret uninsured motorist policies and uninsured motorist statutes in favor of injured insureds. The court concluded that, contrary to the insurance company’s argument, the proof of payment of claims on both policies based upon the 2007 accident was sufficient to demonstrate that the insurance company had waived (or forfeited) its right to deny coverage under the mother’s policy this time.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident, make sure you are fully prepared to seek recovery for the harm you suffered. The determined Louisiana uninsured motorist accident attorneys at the Cardone Law Firm have spent years working to help people in auto accidents, as well as other types of personal injury cases, pursue the recovery they deserve.
For your confidential consultation, contact us online or phone Cardone at 504-522-3333.
More Blog Posts:
A Long, Strange Trip: Dealing With the Complexities That May Arise in Your Louisiana Auto Accident Case, Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog, Oct. 16, 2017
Louisiana Stepmom and Stepson Allowed to Pursue Injury Case Because Insurer’s Evidence Didn’t Prove a Valid Cancellation, Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog, July 25, 2017