Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey

Re: Good Morning

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Re: Good Morning

As a personal injury attorney representing plaintiffs, I often see this problem. Your father needs to tell his insurance carrier to take any and all steps to protect him, including settlement of the claim. More often than not, the plaintiff will accept the insurance money. My guess is that the insurance carrier is trying to save money to protect themselves instead of the insured.

As long as your father cooperates and tells his carrier to settle the case, and the policy or demands within the policy are not met, then he should be well protected, even if there is an excess verdict.

If the carrier acts like they are not responsible for any overage, then this is a violation of their duty and called "bad faith". They have a duty to protect the insured and when they put their self interest ahead of the insureed by trying to not pay or pay less, even when the insuraed is at risk, that is a violation of their duties to the insured. Consequently, they can be responsible for amounts above and beyond the policy for that violation.

Never allow a family member or friend to tell the carrier not to settle; that just takes them off the hook and empowers them to protect their money. Since he was in an at fault accident, his concern is not "how much", his concern is clearly to get the matter resolved without financial worry to him. Only if by instructing the carrier not to settle does it let them off the hook to try to settle the case in the polciy limits or for the limits.

In summary, cooperate - advise you expect them to protect and resolve the claim and if the case goes for an excess amount, contact a personal injury attorney to act to protect you as personal counsel.

Best wishes.

Re: Good Morning

The attorney representing your father was retained for him by his insurance company. In order to protect his interests your stepfather should immediately contact a private attorney who should demand that the lawsuit be settled, if possible, within the limits of the available insurance coverage, and if it is not, to pursue a claim against the insurance carrier for bad faith. Other options are also available. If your step-father cares to discuss this matter, please feel free to contact my office.