Legal Question in Personal Injury in Oklahoma

Re: Pain & suffering pay & lost wages

You can place a claim for your pain and suffering as well as any lost wages against your uninsured motorist policy. You said that you had full coverage on your car. To an attorney, and an insurance claim's adjuster, this means med-pay coverage (which will cover your medical damages without even touching your uninsured motorist coverage), liability coverage and uninsured motorist coverage.

If you have placed your claim against your uninsured motorist policy, and your company is refusing to pay, you need to see an attorney. This is called "insurance bad faith". Bad faith needs to be handled very carefully, to get you and your son the best possible return on this.

Insurance companies have a new policy to pay the least amount on each filed claim. This is state wide and reaches across most of the insurance companies. But, as an insured, you have protections against being short changed under the law.

I strongly advise you to get an attorney as soon as possible. If an insurance company commits bad faith, it is actually the one scenario in Oklahoma where folks are getting big settlements and big verdicts. You need to make sure to protect your rights.

Re: Pain & suffering pay & lost wages

Thank you for your question. In your son's case the only possible coverage would be found under the Medical Payments provision of the policy. Your liability coverage does not apply to cover him but only injury to others due to his negligence, if any. Also, I am not aware of any case which would allow him to make a claim under the Uninsured Motorist (UM) provision, as that is usually to protect him from injury caused by the fault of another who is uninsured or under-insured.