GEICO Pays $200,000 Settlement for Pedestrian Hit By A Car
Our client was a pedestrian struck by a car in February 2019. The at-fault driver was south-bound on Rowan Road in New Port Richey, Florida when he turned into a shopping center. He barely slowed down.
Our client was coming out of her doctor’s office in the plaza and heading towards her parked vehicle.
The at-fault driver struck our client. She toppled over the hood of the at-fault driver’s vehicle and struck the pavement.
Liability
We wanted to firm up to liability at the onset of the case. Sometimes, at-fault drivers will recollect events differently over time.
The eye witness who saw the accident was a medical assistant. She was more than happy to speak to us about what she saw. She stated clearly the driver of the vehicle was not looking at the road.
Luckily, we had a super client who talked to her doctor and found out his office had video footage of the parking lot. She went above and beyond and got the video for us. We were blessed to be able to work for this client.
Injuries
An ambulance was called. Our client took the ambulance to Trinity Medical Center. At Trinity, the doctors diagnosed her with neck and lower back injuries along with a concussion.
Her doctor sent her for diagnostic testing. The testing showed or exacerbation of injury in her spine. A brain MRI showed the intensity that was consistent with brain injury.
We learned that the bad driver had 100K in insurance and that our client had an extra $100K in “uninsured motorist” coverage. We knew the case was worth every bit of the $200K in coverage. So we need to start with the bad driver’s insurance.
We sent a comprehensive demand to GEICO spelling out our client’s injuries. GEICO came back with an offer of $55,000.00.
We filed a lawsuit against both insurance companies. We were not going to negotiate with GEICO. GEICO needed to pay the policy so we could get State Farm (the excess policy) to pay.
Note: While I classified this as GEICO for the settlement, the reality is sometimes we have to deal with two or more insurance companies like we are here. In these situations, I am categorizing it under the primary bodily injury insurance, which is GEICO here.
Result
Ultimately GEICO and State Farm paid the policy limits.
Once this happens, we “shift gears” to make sure the medical bills that need to be paid by the client are as low as possible. After all, for this to be fair and worthwhile, our client needs to recover a substantial portion of the settlement.
As you can see below, our client recovered $112K after all bills, costs, and fees were paid.
$100K Settlement Against GEICO For Car Accident Pain and Suffering
Our client was injured when she was rear-ended by the Defendant’s bad driver. The damage to the vehicle was moderate.
Injuries
Our client went to Mease Dunedin Hospital shortly after the wreck. She was diagnosed with a back sprain. She then followed up with a car wreck doctor who affirmed the diagnosis and sent her for MRI’s.
Our client did physical therapy and chiropractic for a few months but did not get better. Ultimately she had two epidural steroid injections to help with her pain.
We demanded the $100K policy limits before filing suit. GEICO is notorious for low initial settlement offers. This case had an initial offer of $1608.39!
The offer was so bad in this case that we immediately filed suit.
Our client went back to the orthopedic surgeon looking for a third round of injections.
If a client needs to have injections, then they are obviously hurting. As a result, cases with invasive treatment like injections usually settle for higher values since the client has had to suffer because of the car wreck.
Unfortunately, the doctor discovered a health condition that stopped him from giving my client the additional injection.
Shortly before mediation, I sent an updated demand letter to the attorney for the insurance company redemanding the $100K policy limits. I made it clear just how much of a tragedy it was that my client could not get additional injections and/or treatment to make her feel better.
I like to email demands because it makes it easier for the insurance attorney to share them with his client.
Ultimately, the insurance company settled the case for $100K at mediation. After medical bills and fees, the client received for $47,913.46
The client had taken out a small loan. I had to pay the loan back for her out of her funds. So the final check written was a shade more than $45,000.00.
