On Apr 27, 7:02 am, Johnny.An...@gmail.com wrote:
> A bit over a year ago, I was hit by an uninsured motorist in
> Washington State. Being a cheapskate, I did not have uninsured
> motorist property damage on the 10-year-old car I was driving at the
> time. The total cost of repairs was about $3400, of which I paid my
> $2500 collision deductible and the insurance company paid the rest.
>
> This week I got a check in the mail for $550 from my insurance
> company's subrogation department. As I understand it, this is my
> share of their final recovery after deducting collection expenses.
Sounds pretty slim to me, but it may be all that was left after they pursued the guy to get the best recovery they could.
Your insurance only paid $900 toward your repair, and you paid $2500. So, after paying off the lawyer whom the insurer probably hired to pursue the uninsured other guy, you should have gotten the lion's share of whatever they recovered from him. If they got full recovery ($3400), and if the lawyer charged 1/3 plus reasonable expenses for a simple PD case, they should have netted well above $2000, which they would then have to split proportionally with you OR, if your state's subrogation law requires the insurer to be "made whole" before you get one penny of your deductible back, they would take their $900 off the top of their net recovery, and give you the remainder, which should be quite a bit more than you got. OTOH if they settled with the other guy for, say, about half the value of the claim (say, $1800 to make the math easy) the lawyer would take about $600, and the remaining $1200 would be split proportionally between you and the insurer OR they would take their $900 first and give you the rest. So the numbers may be about right.
At least, you are entitled to get a full accounting from your insurance company of how much they actually collected from this guy, and where the settlement dollars went, to show how they got to your bottom line on the $550 check they sent you. If they refuse, you may want to complain to your state's insurance commission and they will investigate. But the upshot may be that you got all you were entitled to.
Keep in mind that your insurance policy (you did read it, right?) almost surely gives your insurance company the right, without your further knowledge or consent, to pursue a claim against the unrelated third party who caused your injury (the uninsured guy) for recovery of BOTH the subrogated amount they paid toward your claim, AND the amount you paid for your deductible. That means that you, the insured, NO LONGER have the right to separately pursue the other guy for anything, IF you make a claim and accept money from your insurer relative to the damage he caused you; the INSURER, instead, has that right to "step into your shoes" and act on your behalf.
> While the insurance company considers the claim closed, from where I
> stand, I am still out of pocket $1,950.
But they SETTLED with the other guy, and/or got a verdict from him, and gave you your share. If it was a compromise settlement, the insurer got less than the full amount they were entitled to receive also. Even if it was a full verdict, they still had to pay the lawyer who represented them AND you in trying to get some money back from this uninsured tortfeasor to reimburse the amount the insurer paid out on your behalf (that's the "subrogation" part) and also to reimburse your deductible.
> Question: am I precluded by the insurer's settlement from pursuing the
> remaining damages myself?
Short answer: YES you are precluded. There are no "remaining" damages. Your claim, along with the insurance company's subrogation claim, was already settled and/or already went to trial and resulted in a verdict, which is why they were able to get some money from this guy and give you some of it. Whatever you got, the case is over. Subject, of course, to my note above that you are entitled to make sure your insurance company gave you your FAIR share of what they recovered, or to complain to the insurance commission if they didn't.
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
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For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
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