A woman recently made two recoveries totaling $95,000 after she was sideswiped by an elderly driver in Desloge, Missouri in August of 2019. The roadway had cars parked on both sides of the street, narrowing the lane for both directions of traffic. American Family Insurance originally determined this accident to be word versus word. Both cars were moved prior to the arrival of the police and there were no witnesses.
At the time of impact, the plaintiff was gripping her steering wheel with her right hand. Shortly after the accident, the plaintiff began having substantial pain in her right shoulder. This made it difficult for her to perform activities of daily living and caused her substantial problems sleeping. She went to her primary care doctor who recommmended an MRI of her right shoulder. This revealed a full thickness tear of the anterior supraspinatus. She had rotator cuff surgery in December of 2019.
The Gerring Law Firm was retained after the plaintiff's shoulder surgery. They were able to use the only photograph taken of the plaintiff's property damage to challenge the 50/50 liability decision. The photograph showed a dent above the front driver's side wheel well that could have only been caused by a vehicle traveling into the plaintiff's lane. After much deliberation, American Family accepted 100% responsibility and paid the $50,000 limits.
The plaintiff also had a $50,000 underinsured policy with Root Insurance. They fought hard to avoid paying on this claim. They initially offered $14,000 over the phone, hanging their evaluation on two points. They challenged the mechanism of injury, disputing how someone could have injured their right shoulder when hit on the left, and further hinted that the plaintiff may be unjustly enriched by a second recovery. The plaintiff's bills were all paid by Medicaid, and at that point the Medicaid lien had been already paid by the third party settlement with American Family.
The Gerring Law Firm was able to negotiate Root up from $14,000 to $17,000 to $22,000. Root finally offered $45,000 after multiple requests were made to put their settlement evaluation in writing. The plaintiff immediately accepted the $45,000 offer.
