Mike (not real name) was a passenger in a car (“the host car”) that was heading east on SW 136 street in Miami-Dade County, near the Falls mall.
Another car was heading in the opposite direction. The other driver and made a left hand turn in front of the host car.
The front of the host car struck (T-boned) the side of the other car. The other car’s driver received a ticket for failure to yield right of way.
Ambulance Takes Passenger to Hospital
An ambulance came to the scene. It transported Mike to the hospital.
The doctor took x-rays that revealed a distal radial fracture (broken wrist). It was an intra-articular fracture.
Intra-articular fractures are those in which the break crosses into the surface of a joint.
The doctor scheduled surgery. A few days later, Mike had open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery. Screws and a plate were put into his wrist.
Below is an x-ray image (not from this case) of internal fixation on the radius and ulna.
Allstate insured the driver of the other car. State Farm insured the host car’s owner.
Host Vehicle’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Pays Passenger’s Medical Bills
At the time of the accident, Mike didn’t own a car. He didn’t have a resident relative who owned a car. Thus, he qualified for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) under the host car’s policy.
I helped Mike complete a written Statement of Vehicle Non-Ownership so that State Farm would pay his medical bills from the host vehicle’s PIP coverage.
I sent the completed form to State Farm. State Farm, under the PIP insurance, paid $10,000 of Mike’s medical bills.
State Farm did so even though the host vehicle’s driver may not have been at fault in the crash.
Allstate (Other Car) Pays $10,000 Limits
The other car’s insurance, Allstate, gave me a $10,000 policy limits check. I sent them a financial affidavit. Their insureds paid us an additional $2,500 on top of the $10,000.
Host Vehicle Pays $25,000 from BI liability Insurance
State Farm, the insurer of the host car, paid me $25,000 under the bodily injury (“BI”) liability insurance in the policy. They did so even though there insured may not have been at fault.
They did this because there was a chance that the settlement value of Mike’s personal injury case against the host vehicle owner and/or driver could have been worth more than the BI limits if the host vehicle driver was just 15% or more at fault.
State Farm didn’t want to take the risk to expose its insured(s) to an excess verdict.
The entire personal injury settlement was for $37,500. My client wasn’t insured under any insurance policy that had uninsured motorist (“UM”) insurance.
If my client would have had $100,000 in UM insurance, I think that they would have quickly paid me $100,000 limits.
I say this because I quickly settled a similar broken wrist (distal radius fracture) surgery case for the total available policy limits of $135,000. I also got a driver $200,000 for her broken wrist from a Miami car accident.
Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat?
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