Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: How does Attorney find at-fault drivers coverage limits?

These are good questions.

How does my attorney find out limits from the other insurance co? An insurance company is under no obligation whatsoever to disclose their insured's policy limits to a claimant or claimant's attorney outside of formal discovery. In fact to do so, without their insured's permission ,would violate their fiduciary duty to their insured. If a lawyer or a handling paralegal has a good relationship with a particular adjuster, the adjuster may hint at at whether or not the policy limit is enough to cover the perceived damages of the particular claim. A claimant's/plaintiff's first real opportunity to effectively demand disclosure of the policy limits is after a lawsuit has been filed and formal discovery begins. The issue of insurance and insurance limits is usually first addressed in interrogatories (written questions that must be answered under oath normally within thirty-five days of mailing). There may be reasons to first address the insurance issues in a deposition (oral questioning under oath), if a deposition is taken before propounding interrogatories.

How do we know the at-fault driver's carrier will be forthright and honest in reporting limits? I always wonder about this, since I do not trust insurance companies to tell the whole truth. What we do is, if the insurance policy is not enough to cover the full extent of our client's injuries and we are settling for the policy limits, we require an affidavit signed by the insured/defendant stating, not only the policy limit of the subject policy but that there are no other insurance policies that have any possibility of covering any portion of the claim and that the insured/defendant was not somehow with the course and scope of employment. If my client's settlement demand is not reject due to being in excess of the policy limit, then the policy limit is not an issue and we do not concern ourselves with it.

Re: How does Attorney find at-fault drivers coverage limits?

1. There are a number of ways to find this out, including private services. Also, your attorney could send a letter to the other party's insurance company requesting this information, but it is generally private and cannot be released without the other person's permission. It is required to be turned over in discovery, as well, after a lawsuit has been filed.

2. You don't know unless you file a lawsuit and get it in discovery.

You should really be having this discussion with your attorney. He or she should be able to answer this for you.