I have a question regarding a personal injury lawsuit that was filed against me. First, let me you give you a brief background:
In July 2003, I rear-ended a Pontiac Sunfire which was in turn pushed into a Chevy Bronco. The Sunfire sustained moderate damages to the front and rear while the Bronco sustained a 0-800 dent to the rear bumper. All vehicles were driven from the scene of the accident.
A few months after the loss, the driver of the Bronco and his wife (who was a passenger in the vehicle at the time) filed suit against me for personal injury.
Since 2003, my insurance company (Allstate) and my defense attorney (provided by Allstate) have attempted on multiple occasions to settle the suit with the plaintiff attorney. Per my attorney, the plaintiff attorney has not once responded to a settlement offer or relayed a demand on behalf of her clients.
In 2009, I provided a deposition as did the plaintiffs. While at my deposition, the plaintiff attorney agreed to high-low arbitration to resolve the matter by year end. I never heard anything after. I then called my attorney in March of this year who advised me that the plaintiff attorney had became unresponsive after the high-low arbitration offer. My attorney advised me that she made the decision to file a certificate of readiness to push the suit to trial. A few days ago I received notification from my attorney that the suit is now set for trial for the first week of June.
I have been an adjuster myself for the past three years and I have never seen a plaintiff attorney not submit a demand or respond to an offer. I initially thought she was pushing for a UIM claim but now that this is going to suit, I have no idea.
At the time of the loss I had k in bodily injury limits. Allstate’s last offer was 00 combined. Based on the plaintiff’s treatment history, there’s nothing to suggest that they sustained any significant injuries from the loss. And I do know that Mr. Plaintiff has a history of auto injury suits, workers comp suits, etc. And per my attorney it appears Mr. Plaintiff is the one that has been more adamant about claiming injury.
My questions are: 1.) If this does indeed go to trial and the plaintiffs receive a verdict in excess of my policy limits, will Allstate cover the excess? I know they are not obligated to, but I feel as if they filed the certificate of readiness to push this to trial and not made attempts to settle (even for my limits) prior, there is an element of bad faith there. 2.) Anyone that is experienced with attorney rep’d injury claims (I only handle unrepped claims), what do you feel the suit is worth at trial? Keeping in mind that the plaintiff injuries appear to be limited to soft tissue with minimal treatment. 3.) At the extreme, if the verdict is well beyond my limits and Allstate does not pick up the excess, can I have the excess discharged in bankruptcy?
Thanks!
@ mrbrcatz.
1. My question was not specifically whether or not Allstate would be required to pickup an excess verdict. Obviously they are not required to. My question was, and I believe was answered very well below, whether or not bad faith existed given that Allstate pushed this to trial for resolution.
2. Yes, you can discharge a judgment via bankruptcy and retain your assets such as your home and automobile. This is allowable under Chapter 7. I’ve never seen a bankruptcy judge deny a request nor have I seen a plaintiff fight it when their injury claim was so-so. Again, that was not my question. My question was regarding the excess portion and bankruptcy.
@MDAS - Thanks for the well thought-out responses.
Technorati Tags: allstate, arbitration, bronco, chevy, damages, defense attorney, deposition, few days, google, insurance company allstate, occasions, personal injury lawsuit, plaintiff attorney, plaintiffs, pontiac, pontiac sunfire, rear bumper, script type, text javascript, year end