$250K Policy Limits Settlement the Week Before Trial

Our client, Donna, was stopped at a red light when another driver who was speeding attempted to make a right turn and collided head on with her. According to witnesses at the scene, the other driver was traveling at a high rate of speed, and as it made the turn, the tires squealed and the driver lost control of the vehicle.

Both cars were totaled in the wreck. Donna fractured several ribs and hit her knee on the dashboard of her car. She was hospitalized for several days and had extensive medical treatment. Ultimately, she required a total knee replacement.

Our firm took over Donna’s case from another firm who had already filed suit and litigated the case for over a year. As soon as we got the case, we filed a motion to set the case for trial and received a trial date of April 24, 2023.

The defendant’s insurer did not dispute liability but claimed that Donna’s knee replacement was necessary because of pre-existing arthritis rather than trauma from the crash. As such, their highest settlement offer was $50K, which did not even cover Donna’s medical bills.

We knew that Donna would be undercompensated by anything less than a policy limits settlement. So, we made a policy limits demand for $250K and told the defendant’s insurer that they were in bad faith by failing to offer the policy limits.

Then we deposed Donna’s doctor who performed the knee replacement surgery. The doctor testified that her knee injury was caused by the crash, and that the replacement surgery was necessitated by the crash.

In the weeks leading up to trial, the defendant’s insurer asked if we wanted to mediate the case to try and reach a settlement without going to trial. We declined, insisting that Donna would settle for nothing less than the full amount.

One week before the trial was set to begin, the defendant offered the full $250K policy limits to settle Donna’s case. Donna was happy to get this great result after multiple years of being injured without compensation.

We fought hard for Donna, and we were happy to get her the best result possible. At Burger Law, our car accident lawyers always strive to get our clients full compensation for their injuries and damages. Sometimes this means pushing cases to trial when the defendant will not make a reasonable settlement offer.