Small Case Delivers $300,000 Policy Limits by Chuck Boyk

Not every case turns out the way you expect. Alex came into our office for a motor vehicle/workman’s compensation claim in September 2023. He was a previous client for another small workman’s compensation claim in 2018.

Alex was a CDL driver driving a powered broom vehicle used for road construction. He was rear-ended in the scope of employment. His initial injuries were small neck, back, and hip issues. My legal assistant questioned why we even took the case. He continued to work for several months before finally being forced off work for his injuries.

Insurance coverage was a big issue in the motor vehicle case. The defendant driver was uninsured. His employer’s insurance had no uninsured motorist coverage. His personal auto uninsured motorist coverage of $300,000 had an “exclusion” for a vehicle “provided for the regular use of the employee.”

The injuries got worse. We were able to go to workman’s compensation hearings and win “additional conditions” for “substantial aggravation” of preexisting spinal stenosis, disc displacements, and osteoarthritis of the hip. Alex received a hip replacement and remained off work for the substantial back conditions.

At the insurance level, Allstate, the uninsured motorist carrier fought coverage. We prepared the client in detail on the status of the law and how we met the criteria for coverage before our client’s in person examination under oath. We were able to show that our client had only driven the broom vehicle 6 times per year in the prior 5 years, he needed permission to drive it, he could only drive it for an express purpose, and only in a specific location. We finally got Allstate to accept coverage.

We attempted to get the treating doctors to write prognosis reports. Of course, they refused. We then hired an independent expert to review the medical file and wrote a report. He concluded our client could never return to work as a CDL driver and had numerous permanent limitations. After 3 levels of Allstate evaluation they finally coughed up the $300,000 policy limits the day before we were going to file the lawsuit. We further substantially negotiated down the workman’s compensation lien to allow our client to have a good recovery.

Each case is different. Sometimes they get a lot stronger or weaker. It is our job to use our best judgment and strategy to maximize the client’s full recovery.