Personal Injury Law

Brain Injury claim yields $5.3 million Verdict in Bad Faith Personal Injury Suit

By Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.

A personal injury claim for a 2003 accident that left an ecologist with permanent brain injuries after a head on car accident, just resulted in a $5.3 million in a bad faith verdict against Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.

It is hard to believe that after being presented the facts of the brain injured 32-year old accident victim, the medical bills, video of the client having a seizure, a large insurance carrier with such  resources stalled in paying the Plaintiff's Under insured Motorist policy of $1.5 million for several years or her medical payments policy. Since the person at fault in the accident only had minimal coverage, the Plaintiff made a claim on her  personal Under insured Motorist Policy. (Side Note: Remember to check your personal insurance coverage for policy limits on Under insured and Uninsured Motorist coverage).

Samantha Chilcote's five-day trial, the unanimous bad faith verdict of $5.3 million awarded by the jury, sends a strong message to insurance Carriers and Insurance Adjusters about denying an injured accident victim's Under insured and Uninsured Motorist insurance claims. Although, we understand that there is a chance for the verdict to be modified by the Judge, the verdict still sends a strong message. 

Please take note that all insurance carriers do not are not like this when it comes to paying Under insured and Uninsured Motorist insurance claims. You can verify this with your personal Insurance Agent.

This case makes me wonder about Bad Faith verdicts for Personal Injury Claims in Florida. I will report my findings in future blog posts... A few immediately come to mind.. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive list of Bad Faith verdicts in Florida Personal Injury cases. 

To read more on this $5.3 Million Bad Faith Verdict against Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, click here to read TRISTAN SCOTT's  Missoulian article .

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on April 18, 2008 (boomark / email).