Charlotte, NC
Workers compensation Lawyer at Charlotte, NC
Practice Areas: Workers Compensation, Car Accidents ... +2 more
OUTCOME: Won Settlement
Case No. Y30142 filed with the N.C. Industrial Commission where a school administrator suffered severe injuries after falling at work. The judge issued a decision awarding payment for lost time from w ... ork and required the defendants to pay past and future medical bills, as ordered by the doctors.
OUTCOME: The Motion was reversed. The driver's main car insurance coverage was exhausted when the full amount of the policy was tenedered, not paid. The Motion to Compel Arbritration with the UIM holders, then, was timely and should have been granted.
HOLDING: The plaintiff's Motion to Compel Arbitration should have been granted because his insurance company's liability limits had been "exhausted" for the purposes of G.S. 20-279-21 and the underins ... ured motorist policies of the plaintiff and his employer. The plaintiff was driving a vehicle owned by his employer when he was involved in a collision with another motorist. Because the plaintiff was driving in "the course and scope of his employment", his employer's underinsured motorist policy applied, as did a UIM policy the plaintiff held in addition to his regular car insurance. The UIM carrier advanced the liability limits of $50,000 and the plaintiff returned the liability limits to the defendant. The UIM carrier argued to the trial court that the advance of the limits meant that the liability policy was not exhausted. The carrier's argument concluded tht without exhaustion, the UIM statute did not apply and the plaintiff had no right to arbitration. The trial court denied the motion to compel artibration. The parties had no dispute about the timing of the advance, notice of tender or demand for arbritration. The only issue was whether the liability policy had been exhausted.
OUTCOME: Plaintiff was awarded interest on any unpaid balances from the date of filing of the complaint, until paid.
Where the underinsured motorists provision of an automobile insurance policy provides for payment of “compensatory damages” and the arbitration award defers the issue of prejudgment interest to the tri ... al court, the trial court erred in refusing to award plaintiff prejudgment interest on the amount of the arbitration award.