
Husband and wife hit head on a intoxicated driver in a stolen car. The at-fault driver was driving a stolen car while high on drugs. The intoxicated car thief smashed head-on into our clients doing about 55 mph. The husband’s left anklebones were shattered. Luckily the client’s surgeon was able to save his foot, but the client will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. The wife suffered a left hip dislocation, left thigh bone fracture and six broken ribs. She was luckily able to heal slowly over time.
The intoxicated car thief had no insurance. There also was no insurance available with the car itself. In Washington, as in most states, no insurance coverage is available when a car is stolen and the thief later causes injury to another person with the stolen car. Therefore, the only insurance available was the clients’ UIM coverage under their own car insurance policy.
Both husband and wife spent four days in the hospital, 30 days in a rehabilitation center and many more days in therapy recovery from their serious and debilitating injuries. Our clients’ incurred in excess of $130,000 in medical bills. Luckily, the clients had purchased some UIM coverage instead of waiving it, which is allowed under Washington law. The clients received the maximum allowed under their UIM policy, which was $100,000 per person for a total of $200,000.
The $200,000 that was available to our clients was not enough to fully compensate them for all the permanent injuries they will live the rest of their lives with. Fortunately for the clients, we were able to convince the clients’ health insurance company to waive its right to be repaid the $130,000 it paid in medical bills.
Scott McDonald and Associates PLLC
410 Market Street
Kirkland, WA 98033
Phone: 425-822-5700
Fax: 425-828-0871
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