Personal Injury Law

Good Hands? More Like Hands in Your Pocket. Insurance Companies and Demands for Repayment

By Michael Myers

Even after your case settles, an arbitration award is entered or a judgment rendered, your problems aren’t over. Your insurance company – whether you pursued a claim against the at-fault driver or prosecuted a UIM claim – will want to recoup at least some of the benefits it’s paid to you.

There are a couple of strategies that can be employed to lessen or eliminate this repayment obligation. One of them involves utilization of the Sherry case. The decision in Sherry holds that if there is any allegation of comparative fault, you do not have to pay back your own insurance company. It is also possible, in the UIM context, to allege that your UIM carrier failed to deal with you in good faith and to offset this UIM claim against any repayment obligation.

This repayment issue and the related strategies to address it underscore(s) the importance of retaining competent personal injury counsel to assist you from the inception through the conclusion of your case.

Full post as published by Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).