If you’ve unfortunately been in a car accident, you may discover that the available insurance coverage seems far too small for your medical bills, lost income, pain, and other losses. And you may find yourself wondering: can a car accident settlement exceed the insurance policy limits? The short answer is yes, but obtaining compensation beyond a single policy’s limits can be complicated.
Policy limits generally cap what a particular insurer must pay, not necessarily the total amount an injured person may legally recover. Depending on the circumstances, additional insurance policies, underinsured motorist coverage, multiple liable parties, or the at-fault driver’s personal assets may provide other sources of compensation.
Injured in a car crash? Contact a car accident lawyer at Hauptman, O’Brien, Wolf & Lathrop, LLC today.
What Do Insurance Policy Limits Actually Mean?
An auto insurance policy limit is the maximum amount an insurer has agreed to pay for a covered loss, subject to the terms and exclusions of the policy. It is important to distinguish that contractual limit from the actual value of an injury claim.
For example, suppose an injured driver suffers $150,000 in legally recoverable damages, but the negligent driver carries only $50,000 in applicable bodily injury liability coverage. The insurer ordinarily will not simply pay the remaining $100,000 because the damages are higher. That does not automatically mean the injured person has only a $50,000 claim.
Nebraska law illustrates why coverage matters. Nebraska Revised Statute § 60-534 establishes minimum motor vehicle liability limits of $25,000 for bodily injury or death to one person, $50,000 for two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage. Serious injuries can exceed those figures surprisingly quickly.
How Can a Settlement Exceed the At-Fault Driver’s Policy Limits?
Recovering more than the negligent driver’s liability limit generally requires identifying another legally available source of compensation. This is where our attorneys come in. We investigate insurance coverage as well as the facts surrounding the collision because stopping at the first policy can leave substantial compensation unexplored.
Potential sources may include:
- Underinsured motorist coverage: Your own policy may provide additional compensation when the at-fault driver’s insurance is insufficient.
- Umbrella insurance: A defendant may have an umbrella or excess liability policy providing coverage above the underlying auto policy.
- Additional liable parties: An employer, vehicle owner, contractor, manufacturer, or another negligent driver could share responsibility in certain cases.
- Personal assets: In some situations, an injured person may pursue the at-fault party personally for damages beyond available insurance.
- Other applicable policies: The facts may reveal additional coverage that was not obvious when the claim began.
Finding these sources can make a major difference in a catastrophic injury case.
Can Underinsured Motorist Coverage Help?
Underinsured motorist coverage, often shortened to UIM coverage, can become especially important when serious injuries exceed the negligent driver’s liability insurance.
Nebraska law requires applicable motor vehicle liability policies to provide uninsured and underinsured motorist protections, subject to statutory requirements. Nebraska Revised Statute § 44-6408 specifies minimum underinsured motorist bodily injury limits of $25,000 for one person and $50,000 for two or more people. A policyholder may have purchased higher limits.
Consider a collision that results in surgery, months away from work, and lasting physical limitations. Even a relatively substantial liability policy can be exhausted before those losses are fully addressed.
A UIM claim is made under your own coverage, but that does not mean the process is automatic. Coverage terms, valuation disputes, documentation, offsets, and other insurance issues can affect what is ultimately available. Careful policy review is therefore an important part of evaluating a significant accident claim.
When Can Multiple Parties Increase Available Compensation?
Some crashes are not solely the responsibility of one individual driver. Identifying every party whose negligence contributed to an accident can increase the insurance coverage available and, more importantly, help ensure responsibility is assigned accurately.
This frequently deserves closer attention in commercial vehicle and complicated multi-vehicle accidents. For instance, an employee may cause a collision while performing work duties, potentially raising questions about the employer’s liability and commercial insurance coverage.
Other possibilities include:
- Vehicle owners: Ownership and permission to use a vehicle can raise additional liability and coverage questions.
- Employers: A business may potentially be responsible for an employee’s negligence under applicable circumstances.
- Other motorists: A chain-reaction collision can involve negligence by more than one driver.
- Product manufacturers: Defective vehicle components may contribute to certain crashes or injuries.
Nebraska law also contains specific rules governing the allocation of liability when multiple defendants are involved. These cases require more than simply asking which driver received the traffic citation.
Can You Pursue the At-Fault Driver’s Personal Assets?
Technically, a negligent driver can remain personally responsible for a judgment exceeding available insurance coverage. Practically, however, pursuing personal assets is not always the most productive route.
A defendant with limited savings, income, or nonexempt property may simply lack the resources to satisfy a substantial judgment. Spending considerable time and litigation costs chasing money that cannot realistically be collected may not serve an injured person’s best interests. On the other hand, a defendant with significant recoverable assets presents a different situation.
This is why an excess-value claim requires a practical investigation, not just arithmetic. An attorney may examine available insurance, excess or umbrella policies, additional defendants, the defendant’s financial circumstances, and other recovery options.
The goal is not merely to establish that damages exceed $100,000 or $500,000. The goal is to determine how compensation can realistically be recovered.
How Fault and Filing Deadlines Affect Your Recovery
Available insurance is only one part of a car accident claim. Liability rules can substantially affect the amount an injured person is entitled to recover.
Under Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-21,185.09, a claimant’s damages are reduced proportionately according to the claimant’s share of negligence. If the claimant’s negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of the parties from whom recovery is sought, recovery is barred. In practical terms, fault arguments can directly reduce the value of an otherwise substantial claim.
Timing also matters. Nebraska’s general statute governing actions for injury to a plaintiff’s rights provides a four-year limitations period, although different circumstances and claims can create different deadlines. Iowa has its own statutes and procedural requirements.
Waiting can create problems well before a statutory deadline arrives. Evidence disappears, witnesses become harder to locate, vehicles are repaired or destroyed, and insurers have more opportunities to dispute what happened. Early investigation can be particularly valuable when several policies or defendants may be involved.
Why Policy-Limit Cases Require Careful Valuation
Before deciding whether policy limits are inadequate, the full value of the claim must be understood. That can be difficult while someone is still receiving medical treatment.
A quick settlement may account for today’s hospital bills while overlooking future surgery, reduced earning capacity, rehabilitation, chronic pain, or permanent disability. Catastrophic injuries and traumatic brain injuries are particularly likely to create long-term financial consequences that are not obvious immediately after a crash.
At Hauptman, O’Brien, Wolf & Lathrop, LLC, we look at the entire loss rather than treating an injury claim as a stack of invoices. With more than 268 years of combined legal experience, our lawyers handle personal injury matters with an emphasis on individualized representation and careful case preparation. The firm serves accident victims throughout Nebraska and Iowa, including Omaha, South Omaha, Bellevue, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, and Sioux City.
Ask a Car Accident Lawyer Whether Compensation Beyond the Policy Limits Is Available
When an accident causes losses greater than the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage, accepting the apparent policy limit should not necessarily be the end of the investigation. Our attorneys can review available policies, investigate other potentially responsible parties, evaluate UIM coverage, document the full extent of your damages, and pursue appropriate sources of recovery. Every case is different, particularly when severe or permanent injuries are involved.
Wondering if your car accident claim may be worth more than the available liability policy limits? Contact Hauptman, O’Brien, Wolf & Lathrop, LLC at (402) 241-5020 for a free consultation about your legal options. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency basis, so attorney fees are not owed unless we obtain a recovery for you. With offices serving communities across Nebraska and Iowa, we are ready to protect your rights, investigate every reasonable source of compensation, and help safeguard your future.
