Case of Victim in Tragic Car Accident Enters Arbitration

JULY 8, 2015, St. Louis, Missouri…Attorneys at the law firm Drivers Defense Counsel in St. Louis have filed for arbitration on behalf of a male high school student in Illinois who was badly injured in a car accident that killed one female student and seriously injured three other students.

The five students were riding in a car in August, 2012, when the car flew off the top of a hill and rolled several times before landing upside down.

The young female student died in the car after it stopped rolling but before paramedics arrived at the scene. She had changed seats with the law firm’s client before the students began their fateful trip.

David Gregory, founding partner of Drivers Defense Counsel, said, “In addition to his extensive physical injuries in the accident, our client suffered severe psychological trauma after watching his friend suffer, cough up blood, and then learning that she died.”

“He experienced tremendous emotional damage as a result of the incident, including profound guilt because he believes the young woman would be alive today if he had not traded places with her in the car before the accident,” Gregory said.

The driver of the car that night, a male high school student, was determined to be the at-fault party in the accident. He had a 100/300 insurance policy stipulating that no individual person would receive more than $100,000 for his or her injuries, and that the insurance company would not award more than $300,000 in total payment for the entire event. The family of the young girl who was killed received $100,000. A young male passenger whose head injuries caused permanent brain damage received $100,000. This left $100,000 for the two additional injured parties to split.

Gregory said, “Our client’s initial and future medical bills, alone, will total more than $75,000. He settled with the at-fault party’s insurance carrier for only $30,000 due to the split of the final $100,000 insurance limit. Via his own insurance carrier, our client had additional Underinsured Motorist Insurance (UIM) coverage of $100,000.”

“UIM coverage means that if you are injured in an accident by an at-fault motorist who is underinsured to compensate for injuries that he or she caused, your UIM insurance carrier will cover the financial deficiency of the underinsured motorist.”

“However, the UIM insurance company offered only $25,000 in full and final settlement of our client’s claim; it has refused to pay the full coverage amount of $100,000. We are now seeking the additional $75,000 from that UIM carrier. Our law firm has demanded arbitration which is required under the underinsured motorist portion of his insurance policy,” Gregory said.

“Our law firm is fighting to give our client a second chance.”

“Our client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is a treatable mental health issue triggered by experiencing or witnessing a horrifying event. According to psychologists, it may take years for PTSD symptoms to appear: They include terrifying flashbacks, nightmares, constant feelings of guilt and severe anxiety, compounded by negative thoughts about the triggering event.”

“Our client doesn’t deserve to pay out of pocket for his medical bills arising from this traumatizing incident,” Gregory said. “If he were required to pay out of pocket, his deductibles and co-insurance payments would most definitely cripple him financially for the rest of his life. He deserves excellent treatment – at no out-of-pocket expense – to get back on his feet and gain a second chance to lead a productive life. Our firm is fighting to give our client that second chance at no cost to him, as we do for all of our firm’s clients.”

Gregory said, “In this case a family paid its UIM insurance premiums every month fully expecting that if disaster occurred the insurance company would honor the UIM policy. The purpose of insurance is to financially protect people. It is wrong for an insurance company to deny a legitimate claim, to disregard expert opinions and unilaterally undermine the credibility of this 16-year-old student who witnessed his friend die.”

“No one should experience worry and concern about how they will pay medical and mental health treatment bills in a case like this,” Gregory said. “Our firm aggressively fights for our clients so that they can focus on what matters most: Healing. We fight for second chances so that our clients can overcome financial distress arising from accidents, mistakes or errors that are someone else’s fault.”

Drivers Defense Counsel filed its demand for Arbitration requesting that the insurance company appoint its arbitrator immediately so that a third arbitrator can be appointed and the matter can proceed to hearing.

For more information, call 314 727 7220 or see the websitehttp://driversdefensecounsel.com.

Per Missouri Supreme Court Rule 4-7.2: The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

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