Legal Question in Personal Injury in West Virginia

Re: settlement for a minor child

Initially, I think that you should speak in person to an attorney. Your daughter has very serious injuries and the resolution of this matter should be carefully considered. There may be options to recover funds in addition to the liability carrier's policies. However, if you do not follow certain procedural steps, you may miss any such opportunities. It would be a shame to walk away from funds which, in effect, exist to compensate your daughter and to provide for her future needs. I would be happy to meet with you or talk to you to discuss some possible options at no cost for an initial consultation. If you then choose to continue without counsel or with a different counsel, that would then be your choice.

Unfortunately, your question leaves out too many important details to allow me to provide good advice.

(1) Was your daughter a passenger in the vehicle that the liable driver was driving or was she driving a separate vehicle?

(2) Does your daughter have a driver's license and is she insured to drive someone's vehicle?

(3) Was your daughter driving the vehicle which she was insured on at the time of the accident?

(4) If yes, does your daughter have underinsured motorist coverage on her policy? If so, are the limits of her coverage greater than $100,000 per claim?

(5) If your daughter was not driving her insured vehicle, is your daughter's insurance carrier Farmer's?

(6) If your daughter was not driving her insured vehicle, and was not a passenger in the liable parties vehicle, does the owner of the vehicle that she was in have underinsured motorist coverage and, if so, are the limits greater than $100,000?

(7) If your daughter was a passenger in the liable driver's vehicle, did the driver's insurance have both medical payment's coverage to pay medical expenses separate from the liability?

(8) Did the liable driver have other automobiles with other insurance policies?

(9) Was the other driver in the scope of his / her employment at the time of the accident?

Without answers to these (and probably a few other) questions, I cannot really give you good advice. I would be forced to guess and make assumptions regarding too many important facts.

Unfortunately, this response is limited to 3,000 characters. My lengthy attempt to make a response based upon certain assumptions was rejected.

There are complicated legal issues involved in this case. The best advice that I can give you is to get legal counsel. Even if you simply hire an attorney on an hourly rate to review options with you, rather than hiring one to pursue the case for you, your money would be well spent. Whether you consult with me or some other attorney, I suggest that you seek counsel before making any additional decisions.

Please feel free to e-mail me directly if you wish to provide additional information and ask additional questions.

Re: settlement for a minor child

You do not state when the accident happened. It is important that you consult a lawyer to make sure you do not lose rights because of inaction. Most personal injury lawyers will speak to you at no cost and because of the circumstances will represent you and your daughter at a reduced rate. Generally speaking, you daughter as a matter of law cannot be negligent for her injuries. Generally speaking there has to be some fault in the occurrence of an automobile crash, there are very few "accidents" in which there is no fault at all. Even so, the insurance company is recognizing liability, as they should. There are several areas of inquiry which are critical for you and your daughter which include analysis of the full value, reimbursement of medical expenses, and stacking of coverages to maximize recovery for her trust fund. It is, as I began this answer, very important that you inform yourself, as you have started to do so with this posting. Full advice can only follow disclosure of additional details to your lawyer. It would be very risky to rely on the adjuster for advice as his or her allegence is to the company. Tom Zimmerman

Re: settlement for a minor child

A follow up to my prior response: I noted after posting my response that your message was posted to the Wyoming and West Virginia sections for some reason. From your zip code, it appears that you are in West Virginia and not Wyoming. This changes my response only in that I strongly urge you to consult with a West Virginia attorney (not me) to discuss the issues I mentioned. Injury law does vary from state to state and I am not familiar with West Virginia law. Best of luck.

Re: settlement for a minor child

Your query gives me great concern that you are going to be manipulated into a very bad settlement for your daughter. You need to talk with an attorney at once. You omit too many details for me to give you any specific advice but saying that you are not going to sue because it was an "accident" indicates you do not understand that insurance exists precisely to compensate people for accidental injuries. I'm also not sure what you mean by the "remaining portion" of the liability insurance.

Equally importantly, you may have underinsured motorist coverage in YOUR auto insurance policty which would provide additional compensation for your daughter.

Your daughter was obviously very seriously injured. You would be doing your daughter a grave disservice if you did not retain a competent lawyer to ensure that she receives all the compensation to which she is entitled. that may well involve filing a lawsuit but you owe it to your daughter to look after her best interests.