Example #1
You purchased an auto insurance policy for your car. You purchase bodily injury liability coverage in the amount of $100,000/$300,000. Because you bought $100,000 in BI, your car insurance policy automatically comes with
$100,000 UM unless your select lower limits. So, you now have $100,000 in UM coverage.
Example #2
You purchased an auto insurance policy for your car. You purchase bodily injury liability coverage in the amount of $100,000. You can elect to have $50,000 UM limits.
UM insurance can come in the form of per-person and per-occurrence limits. An example is $50,000/$100,000. In this case, if 1 person is injured, the most that he or she can get is $50,000. If 5 people are injured, the most that the UM insurance company has to pay is $100,000.
In a wrongful death claim, the amount that UM insurer is responsible to pay is limited to the per-person limit even if there is more than 1 survivor.
Example #3
Mike is not married and has 2 kids, Joe and Andy. Mike is killed when he is a pedestrian and he is walking across a street and he is hit by car. Whether the driver of the car is at fault for hitting the pedestrian depends on many factors. But let’s assume that the driver of the car was at fault for speeding or careless driving.
Let’s assume that the driver of the car has per-person and per-occurrence limits of $10,000/$20,000 bodily injury (BI) liability coverage. Let’s assume that Mike has a per-person and per-occurrence limits of $10,000/$20,000 UM coverage.
Joe and Andy can bring a wrongful death claim against the driver of the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle and the employer of the driver (if applicable). Joe and Andy can bring a wrongful death claim on behalf of the estate, and themselves as survivors.
They are considered survivors because they are the adult children (not under the age of 25) and their father is not married. As survivors, they are allowed to bring a claim for mental pain and suffering and other damages.
The amount that the survivor can recover for mental pain and suffering is reduced by the decedent’s comparative fault.
Joe and Andy can recover $10,000 from the bodily injury liability policy. They can also recover $10,000 from the UM policy. They cannot recover anything more than the $10,000 limit, even though the UM policy is $10,000/$20,000 and they are more than one “person.”
I was hired by an adult child of the decedent to hire a case very similar to this. Unfortunately, there was only a $10,000/$20,000 UM policy with GEICO and I withdrew from the case.
The same law applies to the spouse’s claim for loss of consortium.
Example #4
Mike and Maria are married. Mike is putting a prepaid parking ticket on the dashboard of his car in Coconut Grove, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
A federal government employee driving a rental vehicle hits Mike. He fractures tibia (bone in the lower leg).
He has surgery on his leg. Mike can make a claim for personal injury against the driver the vehicle that struck him, the owner of the vehicle and the employer of the driver (if applicable).
Maria can bring a claim for loss of consortium. Assume that Mike had $100,000/$200,000 UM limits with Ace Insurance Company.
Even though Maria has a claim for loss of consortium, in addition to Mike’s claim for personal injury, the most that the UM insurance company has to pay is $100,000.
I handled a case very similar to this except that I did not bring a loss of consortium claim for my client’s wife. The UM insurance company was Ace Insurance Company.
I filed a civil remedy notice of insurer violation against Ace. I sent it to Ace. I sent them a written request to waive subrogation.
They waived subrogation. Ace settled the UM claim for $100,000.
Fortunately, the rental car company had a contract with the US government that gave the US $100,000. The rental car company paid the $100,000 BI limit.
The US is self-insured and they paid $125,000 after I sued the US. The total settlement for the entire case was $325,000.
Philadelphia Insurance Company paid $100,000 of the total settlement.
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Check out some of the many personal injury cases in Florida that we have settled, including but not limited to car accidents, slip and falls, and cruise ships accidents. We want to represent you if you were injured in an accident in Florida, on a cruise ship or boat. If you live in Florida but were injured in another state I may be able to represent you as well.
Call us now at (888) 594-3577 to Get a Free Consultation. There are No Fees or Costs Unless We Recover Money. Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We speak Spanish. We invite you to learn more about us.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been completely revamped and updated.