Effect of At Fault Party Insurer upon Ability to Collect from My Insurer for UnderINS

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

Counterparty is NJ; venue will be NJ.

If I take an offer from a hit & run drivers insurer, what effect does this have upon my ability to go against my insurer to collect on a judgment? If I take 40 cents on the dollar of their $100,000 coverage does this mean I can only take 40 cents on the dollar from my insurer, or am I completely foreclosed from pursuing them for comp? In general, of course; I know there may be issues of subrogation and whatnot that go beyond the scope of the Q.

Thanks in advance.

what are you trying to claim from your insurer? what judgment? what is the judgment for?

Underinsured motorist coverage is for when your loss exceeds the policy limits of the other person. If they have 100k in coverage, you'd need to have MORE than 100k in bills and accept the full policy limits from the other party. If your bills don't exceed their limits, then they are not underinsured.

Oh, I get it now. OP wants to accept the offer from the other parties insurance and then somehow claim the difference between what he believes are that actual damages and what he got from the other party from his insurance.


Nope. Not going to work. When you take their money, you sign a release saying all claims are settled. The funny thing about that; your own insurance company can depend on that as well.

Clarification

ecmst12 said:

Underinsured motorist coverage is for when your loss exceeds the policy limits of the other person. If they have 100k in coverage, you'd need to have MORE than 100k in bills and accept the full policy limits from the other party. If your bills don't exceed their limits, then they are not underinsured.

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Thank you, but I am concerned with compensatory damages; not actual economic or "OoP" ones. All bills save one have thus far been paid. My only concern now is compensation for pain and continuing if not permanent discomfort resulant from the incident.

The end game here is to cash out his insurer, thus denying him free legal counsel, without letting my insurer off the hook for payment on a judgment in excess of the at fault party's BI limit. My question can be boiled down to whether or not I forgo my underinsured coverage by letting opposing insurer out at less that 100 cents on the dollar, or whether I subject myself to a pro-rated recovery by doing so (my strong suspicion).

@Justalayman: Thank you, but I would never sign any such settlement. This question assumes a specifically tailored agreement releasing only the at fault insurer, not a universal release.

Tiestofan25 said:

Thank you, but I am concerned with compensatory damages; not actual economic or "OoP" ones. All bills save one have thus far been paid. My only concern now is compensation for pain and continuing if not permanent discomfort resulant from the incident.

The end game here is to cash out his insurer, thus denying him free legal counsel, without letting my insurer off the hook for payment on a judgment in excess of the at fault party's BI limit. My question can be boiled down to whether or not I forgo my underinsured coverage by letting opposing insurer out at less that 100 cents on the dollar, or whether I subject myself to a pro-rated recovery by doing so (my strong suspicion).

@Justalayman: Thank you, but I would never sign any such settlement. This question assumes a specifically tailored agreement releasing only the at fault insurer, not a universal release.

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HUH? Instead of dancing around, why don't you just give the facts and ask your question. How much were your losses? What are your policy limits? What are the the other drivers policy limits? Who's been paying the bills all along? Then we can answer instead of guessing what you're asking.

Tiestofan25 said:

@Justalayman: Thank you, but I would never sign any such settlement. This question assumes a specifically tailored agreement releasing only the at fault insurer, not a universal release.

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THAT is where you are going to hit a brick wall.

Tiestofan25 said:

@Justalayman: Thank you, but I would never sign any such settlement. This question assumes a specifically tailored agreement releasing only the at fault insurer, not a universal release.

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then their insurance company is not going to give you a check. That is how they roll. It's going to be an all or nothing.

The end game here is to cash out his insurer, thus denying him free legal counsel, without letting my insurer off the hook for payment on a judgment in excess of the at fault party's BI limit.

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and where is this judgment going to come from? If they settle, there is no suit. The only way you are going to get a judgment is if you do not accept a settlement and successfully sue the guy.

Thank you, but I am concerned with compensatory damages; not actual economic or "OoP" ones. All bills save one have thus far been paid. My only concern now is compensation for pain and continuing if not permanent discomfort resulant from the incident.

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Your insurance company is not liable for pain and suffering.

your scheme is not realistic.

If you accept a settlement for less then the policy limits, then they are not underinsured.

You will NOT be able to get any money from the other party's insurance without signing a release preventing you from suing the other party. The release will include the insurance company too, but it doesn't really need to since the insurance company did not cause the accident. But if they paid you without protecting their insured from suit, they would be negligent in their duty to protect him.

If you want to get a judgement in excess of policy limits (which here are not small), you will have to refuse to settle and hire a lawyer, and wait a few more years to get through the trial...and I doubt your case is actually worth more then $100k anyway or you wouldn't have any trouble getting the full policy limits from them.