Insurer 'ecstatic' about $413K judgment on $100K policy, defense lawyer says
Denying a demand for payment of its $100,000 insurance policy limit in a 2012 accident proved expensive for Allstate.
After a jury trial this summer in Henry County, Georgia, found policyholder Daniella Barry negligent, the insurance company paid a judgment of $413,543 to an injured motorcycle driver, including interest, explains the Daily Report (sub. req.).
But a defense lawyer for Barry, whose fees were paid by Allstate, tells the legal publication that the insurer representatives he spoke with were “ecstatic” the jury award wasn’t higher. That’s because the plaintiff had been seeking $1 million, and under state law an insurer can be held liable for an above-policy-limits amount, as well as interest, if it refuses a lower demand.
“Allstate considers the verdict to be an excellent result,” said defense attorney S.E. “Trey” Moody III. The plaintiff, off-duty sheriff’s deputy Linton Reeves, had $240,000 in special damages for medical expenses and lost work time, Moody said, so the award against Barry could easily have been a multiple of that amount.
Both Moody and the plaintiff’s lawyer Linley Jones agreed that Jones’ firm’s willingness to try the case resulted in more money for Reeves.
“This is the way the bad-faith statute was intended to work to allow an injured person to recover in full for their claim if an insurance company denied it in bad faith,” said Jones, who tried the case with Jennifer Ivey, an associate at her firm. “It’s so important not to be deterred by an insurance company’s bad faith, but to forge ahead and get the verdict your client deserves.”
But Moody took issue with her characterization of the award as a judgment for bad faith, saying that “Allstate always protects its insured” and no bad-faith finding had been made.
Barry admittedly was negligent in pulling out from a stop sign in front of Reeves, who swerved in an effort to avoid an accident, crashed into Barry’s car and skidded out sideways after the impact. He suffered multiple cracked ribs and a broken foot.
