Legal Question in Personal Injury in Maryland

Re: Am I entitled to money from my insurance company?

As you can see by the other replies, this may be more complicated that you originally believed. Both of the other attorneys have indicated that your uninsured motorist coverage will most likely offer you some compensation. Both of the previous answers also point out to you that there may be other sources of insurance and assets (was the uninsured driver the owner of the car? did the uninsured driver have a homeonwer's policy? do you? does the uninsured driver have any assets? is there any chance that the uninsured driver was working at the time of the collision)?

These are facts that require investigation. Also, I note that your collision occured well over a year ago. I am curious to know what has been happening in the past year? Did your ins. co. repair your car? Were you or any of your passengers injured (and if so, what is the status of treatment and the prognosis)? Did you or any of your passengers lose time from work?

Send me an email or call me at the numbers listed below -- I'll be happy to chat for a few minutes -- and, whatever you do -- find a lawyer to negotiate with the adjuster under these circumstances -- they are trained to convince you that they are giving you as much as they can (when there's usually more to be had).

Lawrence R. Holzman, Esquire

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.

6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400

Greenbelt, MD 20770

(301) 220-2200

fax (301) 220-1214

Disclaimer: Please note that the posting of this response is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain information applicable to your situation. This posting is not confidential or privileged and does not create an attorney/client relationship.

Re: Am I entitled to money from my insurance company?

It depends on what your insurance policy says. Have you performed an asset search on:

1. The driver who hit you?

2. The owner of the vehicle which hit you?

The driver and owner may not be the same person.

Also do you, the driver who hit you or the owner of the vehicle which hit you have homeowner's policies? Those may or may not come into play. Was the driver acting as an agent or employee of a business when you were hit?

Re: Am I entitled to money from my insurance company?

If the other driver is uninsured, your insurance company should pay you the amount of your damages which would be recoverable against the other driver, up to your UM policy limit (which, in MD, must match your liabiity limit unless you signed an express waiver). It then has the right to pursue a subnrogation claim against the other driver personally. Your lawyer should negotiate with your insurance company in essentially the same way that it would against the other driver's. If your UM policy is not enough to cover your full damages, you should still be able to pursue the excess against the other driver personally, but usually uninsured driver don't have the assets to collect that kind of recovery from. Your lawyer should also, in that event, investigate whether the other driver was driving on business or if otherwise there is a deep pocket who can legitimately be pursued. You should be sure to have a lawyer handle this, as insurance adjusters are trained to obtain the lowest settlement possible, and an inexperienced individual is no match for them.