Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Not Knowing The Policy Limits Almost Cost A Personal Injury Claimant $70,000:
Recently a potential new personal injury client called me, Personal Injury Attorney Richard Griffin, about his personal injury case that arose from a motorcycle accident at University of Georgia. The Athens motorcycle accident occurred when a negligent driver pulled out in front of him causing him to crash his motorcycle. He suffered a fractured ankle that required extensive orthopedic surgery costing $20,000.

He had attempted to represent himself thinking that the insurance company would do the right thing and pay him what his case was worth. The insurance adjuster told him that the liability policy limits for his case was $30,000, and he offered to settle the case for the full $30,000.
The potential caller wanted to know if this was a fair offer? As an experienced personal injury lawyer I explained that there are two important factors when settling a personal injury claim. These factors include:

(1) What are the policy limits of all insurance policies that cover the claim?
(2) How much is the case worth based on the facts of the case (medical expenses,
lost wages, pain and suffering, and punitive damages if applicable)?

I explained to the caller that his case was likely to be worth a great deal more than $30,000 in light of the ankle fracture that required surgery. I further recommended that we verify the correct liability policy limits to make sure we were exhausting the policy limits. I further explained that if he settled his personal injury case for a penny less than the full policy limits, then he would lose his under-insured motorist claim. An under-insured motorist claim allows you to stack the policies to provide additional settlement funds to pay whenever a personal injury claim was worth more than the liability policy limits.

How do you find out the true policy limits for a personal injury claim?
The caller with the motorcycle personal injury claim thought he could trust the adjuster to verbally convey the policy limits of the claim. I explained to him that this was risky and could result in a great deal of lost settlement dollars. The Griffin Law Firm (a Georgia personal injury law firm) always sends certified letters pursuant to O.C.G.A. Section 33-3-28(a) which require the insurance adjuster to provide a sworn affidavit of coverage (the policy limits) within 60 days.

How much money would the motorcycle accident personal injury claimant have lost if he had settled for $30,000?
We accepted the caller's Georgia motorcycle personal injury claim and requested the policy limits the appropriate way under O.C.G.A. Section 33-3-28(a). The liability policy limits turned out to be $50,000 and not the $30,000 that the adjuster had verbally stated was the policy limits. This meant that the motorcycle accident personal injury claimant would have settled for $20,000 less than the actual policy limits. However, if the client had settled for $30,000, then he would have not only lost the $20,000 of additional liability coverage, but also the additional $50,000 in add on (excess) under-insured motorist coverage. Trusting the adjuster at his word and attempting to represent himself would have resulted in a loss of up to $70,000.

Why should you hire a seasoned personal injury lawyer?
(1) Experienced personal injury attorneys will negotiate or litigate to make sure you are fully compensated for your personal injury or wrongful death claim.
(2) Seasoned personal injury lawyers can identify all of the insurance policies that cover your claim, they can verify the policy limits, and they can properly stack the policies so that you can recover the full available coverage for the large personal injury claims.

Call Attorney Richard Griffin of The Griffin Law Firm today at 866-847-6545 for a free no pressure consultation or submit your case to FREE CONSULTATION:

The information is free, but the advice is priceless.