Rules of an Underinsured Motorist Case

Answer:

Are there special rules that apply to a situation where you’re in a car crash, the other driver is at fault, and that driver does not have enough insurance to cover the value of your claim? Yes, there are special rules involved in those types of situations.

First, understand that you are actually entitled to sue the individual not only for their insurance up to their limits, but also personally for the value of your claim. While you have that perfect right, however, if the person has no financial stability or ability to satisfy the value of your claim, then you may have a claim that’s not worth pursuing. That’s the first question you have to ask yourself: Does the defendant have the financial wherewithal to satisfy judgment over and above their insurance limits?

If they don’t, then that triggers either an underinsured motorist claim under your own policy, or, if the other driver had no insurance at all, an uninsured motorist claim under your own policy. Idaho law requires you to have, if you have a policy at all, uninsured motorist coverage. You don’t have to have underinsured motorist coverage, but most policies are sold with both benefits. Those claims are pursued directly against the insurance company, your own insurance company, for what would have been the value of the claim against the at-fault driver.

Insurance companies have lots of lawyers on retainer and they have seriously experienced lawyers who do this as a profession, so if you have such a claim, you, too, want to have an experienced lawyer on your side who has a track record of actually pursuing such claims and actually going to trial or hearing over such claims. You want them on your side. You want to level the playing field. You want somebody who has the track record of success in pursuing such claims.

Our firm has been doing this for more than 50 years, at this point. If you have such a claim, please feel free to call us anytime. We all work closely together and all do the same type of work.