Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Passenger Minor Son injured, Driver Killed

At most, the parents' insurer will offer you the parents' policy limits. If they only bought $30,000 of insurance, the insurer will not offer a penny more than that regardless of how much it would take to adequately compensate your son. The job of an insurer is to provide the coverage its customers pay for, not to pay out whatever amount seems fair from the other side's perspective.

You haven't said what the policy limits are, and that is an important piece of information. If the parents have more than $30,000 of insurance you can press for a larger settlement, but there's no point trying to get them to pay more than what they agreed to provide.

How much the insurer will pay is one thing, but how much you can get from the parents may be another. If they have assets you can try to get a settlement for the policy limits plus some additional money from their own pockets. If they seem judgment-proof you may need to make do with the policy limits. Be very careful about settling with the insurer aloine, since doing so will likely cut off your rights to go after the parents unless you make sure to preserve those rights.

And I'm glad you aren't "trying to retire on this money", since the money will not be yours to spend. It will be paid for your son's benefit and you will hold it in trust for him until he becomes an adult, at which point it will become his. YOu will be able to use some or all of it for his benefit, but spending any of it for your own use would get you into some very serious legal trouble. I realize you aren't planning to do this, but I want any other readers in similar situations to understand that this is how it works.

Re: Passenger Minor Son injured, Driver Killed

There are a great many issues here and in my view this needs to be handled by counsel. Among these issues in order of import are the statute of limitations (2 years in CA) but may be different in CO. Second, the extent of insurance coverage. This may not be clear cut and you may not even be getting proper answers, if any, from the adjustor on this issue. Third, the potential assets of tortfeasors beyond the policy. Whether there is parental liability possibly on an independant negligence theory--leaving the keys where the parents presume the driver will use them. Did they have reason to know he might take the car? What were the circumstances of the police chase? Is there responsibility there? In my mind, you need to locate counsel right away on this case or you will find yourself being forced to accept 30G that may well be inadequate in this case. Another reason to locate counsel now, is that this case may be venued in Colorado. If this turns out to be the venue you will need to find that out now, so the case can be referred to qualified counsel there assuming no jurisdiction in CA.

Re: Passenger Minor Son injured, Driver Killed

In addition to what the other attorneys have said, I want to express my indignation with you for not having hired an attorney by now. It makes no difference that you do not want to retire (as it is your son's case). Evidently you have been listening to (and believing) some of the more far-out media hype about attorneys and personal injury lawsuits. Responsible people compensate other people when they cause injury. Responsible people put aside money, in the form of their monthly insurance premiums, to create a fund in order to compensate these other people whom they might injure. This is why people buy insurance. You are not looking for a windfall or to win some lottery, you are looking for your son to be made whole. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney without delay -- there are legal time limits that could cause the insurance company not to have to even pay the $30,000 they are offering you. If you are one of those people who feel that attorneys make too much money or do not work hard enough in personal injury cases to justify their fees, I would also point out that in cases involving minors, the courts usually place limits on contingent attorney fees.

Re: Passenger Minor Son injured, Driver Killed

The $30K offered by the driver's policy may be the policy limit so that would be the max available. You'll have to ask and find out. If that's the case, I would next look to any vehicle policies in force at the time of the accident where you son was living at the time--parent's policies, etc. I'm looking for uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage. If that coverage is higher than $30,000, a 2nd claim could be made.

If you can find out that info and there's something there, contact a PI atty for a consultation. If you are anywhere in the Orange County area, I can give you more specific advice.