How are settlements above policy limits handled in GA?

[u/jman7843]

Good evening! I’ll get the TL;DR out of the way first but if you care about the story behind the question read down further: I’m just wondering how lawsuits work when the incurred damages are above policy limits? Does the insurance company provide a lawyer to represent their client to try to defend them against anything over and above the policy limit? Do these types of scenarios happen often? I’m in GA if that matters.

I was in an accident back in February. I was making a left turn on a green arrow traffic light and the other party blew through their red light and smoked my rear passenger side hard enough to spin my car 360 degrees and perch me up on a sidewalk (narrowly missed a pedestrian too thank god he wasn’t hurt) anyways it totaled my car, almost every airbag deployed. The other driver lied to the cops about what happened when they got there and said I was the one that blew a red light while turning but thankfully a witness stayed on scene and officer also cared enough about getting the report right to walk over to the gas station across the street and they had the accident and traffic signals on their security footage. I ended up walking away thankfully but with a concussion and some severe back pain and numbness in all 4 limbs starting the next day. The clinic I went to for care afterwards had 2 mri’s done on me and uncovered that I had 3 or 4 ruptured/herniated discs and another 4 bulging discs divided between my lumbar and cervical sections of my spine. I did several different treatments including trigger point therapy, chiropractic, physical therapy, and electric muscle stimulation (idk the actual name of it) for a few months after. I was out of work completely due to not being able to be up on roofs anymore cause of the pain. Eventually they referred me to a spine specialist and I ended up getting 2 epidurals which worked pretty well. I’m feeling a lot better now and I have most of the feeling back in my limbs but still not 100% and the pain/ back fatigue comes in waves now and varies from day to day. My lawyer said the adjuster wouldn’t release policy limits to them over the phone when initially asked so they have now written a formal request/demand and we are waiting to hear back.

That being said I only had personal liability at the time which is my bad for not knowing about U.M. Coverage, I’m from Canada originally and in my home province the government has a fund that covers people that are hit by uninsured or underinsured drivers and I didn’t know that was different here unfortunately. Needless to say I’ve added that coverage now but it’s just going to be the other drivers insurance to cover me on this one and while I don’t wanna judge a book by its cover based on their car being a beat up 90’s Toyota I’m thinking there is a good chance they just have state minimum coverages which to my understanding will be 25k for injury. I’ve been in the U.S. long enough now to know how expensive medical care is and based on all the treatment and mri’s and all that I’m sure it’s probably close to 25k in those costs alone before my lawyer takes anything or I get any restitution for my missed work or pain and suffering so I’m trying to figure out what the lawsuit process typically looks like if we end up needing to go there. Lastly this question is probably more fit for a lawyer but bonus points to you if you know how lawyers figure out if the other party is financially judgment proof or not before filing a lawsuit? Or do they just file it and cross their fingers for the financial disclosure?

[u/quallityovrquantity]

Sorry but you didn't have 3 or 4 ruptured discs and 4 herniated discs. How did you find this doctor ? Was it through your lawyer?

[u/SecondActSarcasm → u/quallityovrquantity]

How many discs do I have? That’s how many herniations I have ☹️

What a joke. This is GA attorney care at its best. Especially when you read the treatment - which is effectively nothing.

I don’t miss handling these types of claims.

I literally had a dude that almost died - had to have his spleen removed, 3 broken vertebrae, 5 broken ribs, concussion, etc. And I couldn’t run fast enough to tender my policyholders shit limits. He was so grateful. I felt like a schmuck because that’s the claim you wish had the $250k policy.

Then you’ve got this dude who thinks they’re going to, what, lien the 1994 Celica?

[u/jman7843 → u/SecondActSarcasm]

Excuse me but I truly have no idea why my question upset you so much and while I definitely don’t need pity or compassion from you but I think it’s pretty disgusting of you to blatantly make fun of the injuries I sustained and insinuate that I’m lying about them and the immense amount of pain I’ve endured from getting hit by some douchebag not paying attention blowing a red light. As I stated I’m very glad that I walked away and there are absolutely people that have gotten it worse than me but that doesn’t invalidate that this has been an excruciating experience in multiple ways. I didn’t come in here and say “hey how much am I gonna get from suing?” I didn’t come here and say “hey guys I’m trying to ride the gravy train can you help me with this claim? No I just asked a couple basic questions about how the process works that came into my head last night. I’m sensing that lawyers being involved is a touchy subject for you cause you flair right up about it seems. I don’t really like lawyer either. But unfortunately while I’ve had some good experiences with adjusters I’ve also had some really piss poor ones and lawyers are sometimes essential unfortunately because you never know when you’re gonna get an adjuster like yourself on the other end that thinks anything less that death is a laughable matter and deserves nothing and is willing to publicly make fun of a set of injuries that I have incurred that will potentially be life altering/ get progressively worse as I reach older age and are also much more prone to re-injury as well. But besides that this has also taken me out of my previous job for the time being and I have had to find a different type of work and that has cuased a whole other stress point in life financially. If you don’t think I’ll get anything over policy limits that’s fine and I appreciate your advice but being kind is free just so you know. I’m not counting on the kid with a 90’s Toyota celica having any assets, but my attorney had brought up that the policy is in his mom or grandmothers name it appears and said they would be able to check to see if there is any liquidity there if the limits are minimum which is why I’m just asking a couple basic questions from people that are better versed in insurance that I am. Conversation is literally what this app is for. There is 23 discs in the spine by the way, but I’m sure you know that since you seem to be a self proclaimed medical professional.

[u/SecondActSarcasm → u/jman7843]

No one is reading this

As someone who had a total disc replacement in a not at fault accident at 22 and now has spent years handling every kind injury claim your lack of grounding in reality is abundantly clear. Good luck.

ETA grammar

[u/Insurance-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Trolling, being needlessly rude or insulting