You turn to your own insurance company or your defendant’s insurance company if you were involved in a personal injury accident and seek compensation. One thing to remember is that the insurance company generally only pays up to the policy limits. While rare and challenging to do, it’s possible to collect a settlement of $100,000 when the defendant’s policy limits are $50,000.
However, there are some exceptions.
How do Insurance Policy Limits Work?
Any insurance policy you buy will have a coverage limit. It doesn’t matter if it’s a health, life, or liability insurance policy. The insurance company will pay only up to the policy limits. However, you can get extra money from other sources. You just have to know how to do it and where these sources are!
You can Collect Excess Damages
You can resort to other legal means to get the total settlement amount you want, need, and deserve! Just do one or more of the following:
• Sue the multiple defendants involved
• Try to file a claim under an umbrella insurance policy
• Try to sue the defendant for their assets.
Suing More than One Defendant
You can hold more than one person or party legally responsible for your damages. You can also sue those people for extra money. The defendants would be “jointly and severally” liable for your accident, injuries, and damages in that instance. You could get a higher settlement since the courts, and insurance adjuster would pool their limits together.Some good examples where multiple defendants would be involved include:
Medical malpractice – you may have multiple defendants involved if you were the victim of medical malpractice.
Product liability – you can generally sue the manufacturer for a defective product. You could even sue the distributors and the store that sold the product.
Vicarious liability – you could sue the employee and the company that the employee works for if you were injured.
Umbrella Policies
A defendant can hold many related policies. These are known as umbrella policies. The limits of each policy would be pooled together, allowing you to get a much higher settlement.
Going After the Defendant’s Assets
It only works if the defendant has assets. If not, you could garnish the defendant’s wages or put a lien on their property. But you are really out of luck if the defendant doesn’t work and own property.
If the Insurance Company Acts in Bad Faith
It applies when the insurance company can get you a settlement but fails. The company would be said to be acting in bad faith. You can generally sue the insurance company in that incidence. It helps to have a personal injury lawyer in Red Deer in your corner to help you navigate the legal intricacies.