Settlement of $610,000 for Florida accident

The interplay of three auto insurance policies for a full recovery

Attorney Robert Feinberg, licensed to practice in Florida for more than 30 years, was able to resolve a pedestrian/motor vehicle accident for the full amount of available insurance, $610,000. The plaintiff, an elderly man, was struck in Lakeland, Florida as he was crossing the street. There were no witnesses, although the driver did stop and made herself known to the police.

Plaintiff’s counsel faced two obstacles: very little evidence as to how the accident happened and the need to stack three automobile policies, one from the Florida vehicle involved in the accident, one from the driver’s own vehicle in Michigan and a third form the pedestrian’s own underinsurance policy on a vehicle that he owned. As to the issue of how the accident happened, plaintiff’s counsel sought to portray the injured client’s pre-accident status as one with good cognitive skill, no history of falls, not needing a handicapped license plate, and pointing out that the client was known for being an avid walker. This was used to dispute any attempt by the insurance companies to blame the accident on an alleged fall by the elderly client.

All insurance policies were obtained in full. This required a careful review of the terms of two Florida policies (a bodily injury policy and an underinsurance policy) and a Michigan bodily injury policy. Each state has its own laws on whether coverages may be stacked or layered on top of each other. As a matter of interest to Massachusetts drivers, the layering of two bodily injury coverages is permitted in certain circumstances but there wouldn’t have been underinsurance coverage for this accident if it were on a Massachusetts policy.