Atlanta Injury Lawyers Convince Court to Require State Farm to Expand Uninsured Motorist Coverage When Medical Liens Involved in Automobile Accident Case.
In a recent and very important Georgia Court of Appeals opinion, an Atlanta personal injury attorney persuaded the Georgia Court of Appeals to require State Farm Insurance Company to expand uninsured motorist coverage when medical liens are involved in a automobile accident case. In Georgia, drivers can carry one of two types of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. In cases where the driver carries uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage that is set off by the amount of liability coverage carried by the at fault driver, until Georgia Court of Appeals ruling in Adams v. State Farm mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the uninsured motorist carrier could set off the entire amount of the liability coverage available even if much of that coverage was used to pay medical liens. Before Adams, therefore, insurance from an innocent driver's uninsured motorist policy may not be available even if all the liability coverage went to pay medical liens and nothing was paid to the innocent driver.
A simple example can illustrate the effect of this court decision. You are in an accident and suffer a badly broken arm and are taken to the emergency room where you undergo surgery to repair your injuries and have a bill of $38,000.00. The hospital then files a lien in the amount $38,000.00. At the time of the accident, the at-fault driver had $50,000 in liability insurance coverage, and you had $100,000 in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Before Adams, if the case was settled for $100,000.00, $38,000.00 of the liability coverage would be paid to the hospital to satisfy the lien, and the remaining $12,000 in liability coverage would be paid to you. Then, the uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier could take advantage of the entire $50,000 in liability coverage as a set off and would only have to pay a total of $50,000. After Adams, since $38,000 was paid to the hospital to satisfy the lien, the uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier cannot take advantage of that amount in determining the set off and would have to pay you $88,000.00, rather than $50,000.00. Now, you would receive an additional $38,000.00 when the same amount of insurance is available.
Additional good news about the Adams opinion is that it not only applies to State Farm, but it applies to all insurance companies providing uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage in Georgia, including, not limited to, Allstate Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, GEICO, Progressive Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance Company, Cincinnati Insurance Company, Georgia Farm Bureau, USAA, Nationwide Insurance Company, Chubb Insurance Company, as well as many others. If you think you have a case where this issue may be relevant, please contact the Atlanta injury lawyers in our firm.
