If my husband was in an accident with life altering injuries and driver at fault is uninsured, what is our best recourse?

Question

My husband was in an accident that has left him with life altering injuries including tremendous amounts of pain and suffering.  The quality of life has been completely compromised with injuries multiple doctors and specialists have concurred that are permanent.  He was driving north on Telegraph Road (US 24 Highway) when another driver cut across Telegraph driving east through a median turn-around trying to continue east on an adjacent street.  My husband’s car t-boned her car going 45 mph.  There were three total cars involved in the accident and the driver cutting across Telegraph was found 100% at fault and was issued a citation.  She was driving a co-workers car.  The owner of the car did not have insurance on the car and the 19 year old driver stated she was also uninsured.  We later found out that she is a dependent and lives with her parents.  Based on a letter we received from our insurance company, we believe she is covered by her father’s auto insurance.  My husband has only filed through our insurance a PIP claim and an uninsured motorist claim which is only a $100,000 policy. My husband has seen three doctors including our family doctor, a neurosurgeon who specializes in back injuries, and a pain management clinic.  My husband has gone through all alternatives to relieve the pain, including physical therapy, ultrasound therapy, deep massage therapy, electrotherapy, and has even lost weight in hopes of relieving the pain.  The medical reports and MRI’s show three bulging discs and two herniated discs.  The neurosurgeon has told my husband that the injuries are permanent.  He stated that surgery is his only option to attempt to relieve the pain; however, the surgery was extremely dangerous (including paralysis) and is not guaranteed to relieve any pain.  Below are my questions: 1. Is it true that because the car owner and the driver at fault do not have insurance that my husband’s medical care will not be covered for life?

John Turck · Answer

Given how serious the injuries are, you should consult with an attorney right away. Simply put, you're not going to get a fair shake from the insurance company(ies) unless you consult with an attorney. You might end up not needing to hire one, but you should definitely get a formal, sit-down consultation, at the very least.

Dustin Deissner · Answer

Insurance pays only up to whatever limits are present. After that they have no liability. You can sue the driver for assets beyond the insurance, but it is unlikely she has anything beyond what she could protect if she filed bankruptcy. Maybe her parents would be liable but unlikely. Sounds like all that would be there is her father's insurance limits. There is no mechanism I know of to pay your husband's medical for life, except for health insurance. You need to sue the driver to get to her parents' insurance.

Gregory Shurman · Answer

You really should consult with an attorney.

NA richard@jandjlaw.com · Answer

If you have an uninsured driver / vehicle that caused the injuries, and you have no other persons / entities to look to as liable parties, then you are going to have to go on your own auto Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UM), and your own auto Personal Injury Protection Coverage (PIP). PIP will exhaust with a limit of up to 10K, 25K or 35K, depending on which coverage limit you had in effect. Once PIP exhausts, then you go on your general health insurance coveage, such as Premera, Regence, Group Health, etc. Your spouse may also be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits. If so, then your spouse is also going to be eligible for Medicare. Suggest that you consult with a lawyer who does injury / disability cases.

Wayne Wimer · Answer

If the driver had no insurance, and the owner likewise had no insurance, and if your PIP will cover $10,000 and your UIM will cover $100,000, then as concerns the parties involved in the accident, if your insurance covers $110,000, then the only way that you can expect to recover over and above your own insurance is to file suit against the other parties and hope that they are not candidates for bankruptcy. If the driver was not drunk, and/or under the influence of drugs, and did not deliberately cause the accident, any recovery you might get from her could be discharged in bankruptcy.

Andrew Sigal · Answer

If your husband, or someone on his behalf, filed the SR-1 with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), then you can find out if the parents and/or the driver of the other vehicle had liability insurance. You need to file form SR-19 with DMV. There is a $20 fee. After DMV processes the request, you will be advised if there is insurance. There are also services which locate the existence or non-existence of insurance.

James Eugene Hasser · Answer

Okay, as to the first question you ask in your question detail about medical coverage for life, there is no such thing in a car wreck case as medical coverage for life. That only happens in compensation claims. You get one shot at getting enough money to cover your medicals in a car wreck claim, and none of that has anything to do with whether or not the at fault driver has insurance. As to your second question regarding your best recourse, I suggest you consult an experienced personal injury lawyer. From your description of the injuries and damages, it's difficult for me to tell, but it sounds like you might have a limits problem. One of the jobs of the personal injury lawyer is to find you the maximum number of liability sources from which you can recover.

Thomas Edward Gates · Answer

You have to sue the driver and owner of the car. You have to make sure you receive the money to take care of his needs for life.

Marc Lazarus · Answer

This is a very unfortunate situation; however, there is a recent case in California (within the last 2 years or so) with which not all attorneys are familiar and which could be of significant help your family. The case holds that a personal vehicle used by someone who is employed and whose vehicle provides an incidental benefit to an employer may be found to be a work vehicle and thus create a vicarious liability on the employer even if the vehicle was not being used for work purposes at the time of the collision. Also, based on your description of the collision, there may also be a claim against the government for a dangerous roadway. You should have an attorney who does personal injury look at the file right away in order to properly assess the case.

Matthew Kaplan · Answer

Let me say I am very sorry to read about your husband's injuries. They sound very serious and should be treated that way. As far as compensation goes, the Under Insured Motorist policy might be all there is to collect unless you can establish the driver's father somehow new what his daughter was doing and should have stopped her. This would help if she is on his policy and lives with him. Otherwise she is an adult responsible for her own actions. There is the small possibility to recover from the vehicle owner if there are some assets. Your PIP /UIM coverage will only pay the medical up to the amount of the contract your policy states you have. They will not pay your bills for life. You will have to rely on your health insurance at that point.

Gregory Janks · Answer

In Michigan your husband is covered for No Fault Benefits, which includes life time medical care, under his own policy so it is irrelevant whether the other vehicle/driver are/aren't insured. So your husband does have lifetime medical benefits for conditions that are caused by the crash. You/your attorney will want to see if there was any umbrella/excess coverage available to the other parties in addition to the primary liability limit. The likely problem with your uninsured claim against your own carrier is that it won't apply if indeed there is insurance on the other  vehicle/driver. If you also have underinsured coverage, it would apply, but usually offsets the policy limit you collect ($100k per your question) against the coverage you purchased, so there may not be a full, or any, benefit due from your insurer for the uninsured/underinsured coverage, but you'll need to read your policy to see what the terms of coverage are.

Dennis P. Mikko · Answer

If you have uninsured motorist coverage, you may want to make a claim against your insurance company under this aspect of the policy.

Erven Nelson · Answer

I suggest that you look into the policy of the parents of the at fault driver.

Willie Stephen Graves · Answer

If the other driver was listed as an insured on her parents' policy, you may be able to recover from her carrier, though if so it could be a s little as $30,000. See a lawyer. You need one.

Georges Shers · Answer

You should attempt to find out if the use of the car was at all related to her employment to see if the employer can be sued.  Your medical insurance and uninsured motorist protection only cover a lump sum so there is nothing in the tort system that will provide life time medical care.

Paul Whitfield · Answer

I am curious. If there is no insurance on the part of the owner and driver of the offending car, then you could pursue your own carrier but only if you have uninsured motorist coverage. If you don't know what that is talk to your agent. if you don't have that type coverage and no one else has coverage you have no help. Where do you think you will find help.

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If my husband was in an accident with life altering injuries and driver at fault is uninsured, what is our best recourse?

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