Chad Stavley reached a settlement totaling $477,500 for a Beaverton couple involved in a rear-end car crash. They were stopped at a red light when they were struck from behind by a driver with minimal policy limits ($25,000 / $50,000). The driver estimated her speed at 25 MPH. The husband and wife both suffered disc injuries that required surgical repair. However, the pictures of their car did not appear to show any damage. As a result, the insurance company for the at-fault driver did not think the injuries were related. The husband and wife hired Chad because they were getting nowhere with the insurance company. Chad filed a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Shortly before trial, the defense finally offered their policy limits. Chad then brought a claim for underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. Before trial on that case, the insurance company agreed to settle. They paid $227,500 for her and the $250,000 policy limits for him.
The lesson from this case is that while damage photos are important in determining the force of a crash, they aren’t everything.
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