Anonymous (withholding all parties' names)
Aug 15, 2017OUTCOME: The $25,000.00 BI limits check was received on 7/21/2018 and the $100,000.00 UIM limits check was received via overnight express mail on 8/15/2017, just two (2) days after it received the demand and my telephone call
This case was both a Bodily Injury (BI) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) case. The client has some serious back injuries with fairly high out-of-pocket medical expenses in the $15,000.00 range with not ... only a recommendation of back surgery but also the back surgery was scheduled with one of the more conservative and well-respected orthopedic clinics in Central Florida. In this particular case, both the BI carrier and the UIM carrier were with the same insurance company. The BI carrier adjuster with only $25,000.00 in BI limits attempted to "low ball" right off the bat after the $25,000.00 BI demand letter/package was mailed to the carrier. This was a major mistake. The only reason suit wasn't filed right away and bad faith alleged is that I had given the carrier thirty (30) days to respond formally (the carrier responded within a week of receiving the letter/package) and her response to the demand was basically an inquiry and not a counter-offer (the adjuster asked, "Would you CONSIDER settling for $20,000.00?; which under contract law is neither a rejection nor a counter-offer). I immediately sent the BI adjuster another demand letter with a courtesy copy of a Summons and Complaint, and, lo and behold, had the $25,000.00 overnight express mailed to me the following day. That left the UIM case still open. I sent the UIM letter/package to the carrier for the $100,000.00 UIM limits along with a copy of the BI tender check and a request for the carrier to waive its UIM subrogation rights (this is a requirement under Florida law, but is usually a formality unless the at-fault party has huge assets, and is especially a formality when the BI and UIM carriers are the same, as a carrier is loathe to go after one of its own insureds). I also called the UIM adjuster and made it clear that based on the seriousness of the injuries, the scheduled surgery, and the future medical expenses (back surgery can be quite expensive) that I was not looking for any counter offer to the $100,000.00 demand, and that any received would be met with a Civil Remedies Notice via the State of Florida (this is another requirement regarding first party coverages to preserve any claim of bad faith by the insurer, and entails a sixty [60] day waiting period before a lawsuit can be filed), which would be followed by a UIM lawsuit against the carrier.
