Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Type of action: Personal injury
Injuries alleged: Multiple fractures
Special damages: Medical bills of approximately $500,000
Verdict or settlement: Settlement
Amount: $750,000
Attorney for plaintiff (and city): W.F. Drewry “Drew” Gallalee, Richmond
Description of case: A minor was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another high school student. The driver lost control and crashed; the minor suffered injuries. The injuries and damages well exceeded all the coverage.
The defendant driver was covered by a policy of $100,000, which was tendered. Another insurance company had all of the available UIM coverage. The minor’s mother had a personal auto policy with $250,000 of UIM coverage.
The next policy was the minor’s mother’s business policy, which listed the mother as the named insured and had $250,000 of UIM coverage. The minor was the child of divorced parents, who had a settlement agreement with joint custody.
Case law supports that a child of divorced parents can have two residences for UIM purposes. The minor’s father had a policy with $250,000 of UIM coverage.
The UIM carrier agreed to stack the UIM coverage of the three policies, each with $250,000 of UIM. The carrier of these three policies received $100,000 credit from the driver’s coverage, so it paid $650,000 and the defendant driver’s carrier paid $100,000 for a total settlement of $750,000. The case was settled between counsel and the insurance carriers before suit was filed and then was approved by the court.
[021-T-143]
