Large Law Firm Withdraws and Cullen & Hemphill Helps Widow Recover $215,000 in Additional Damages

DISCLAIMER: The results are specific to the facts and legal circumstances of each of the clients’ cases and should not be used to form an expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client’s case.

Our client was the surviving spouse of a 35-year old man who was tragically killed in a head-on pickup truck versus refrigerated food truck crash that occurred in Pierson, a town in the rural part of Volusia County, Florida. Our client came to us after a large, Orlando TV personal injury law firm had withdrawn. The firm had been offered the refrigerated food truck driver’s $10,000 in bodily injury liability insurance coverage and had advised our client to accept the offer and move on.

We Successfully Fought for Additional Wrongful Death Damages After the Other Firm Withdrew

After meeting with our client, we knew that she had a valuable claim under the Florida Wrongful Death Act (Link to “What is wrongful death FAQ“). Her deceased husband had an established earnings history and would have expected to continue earning income over approximately the next 30 years. His lost wages (also called “loss of support and services” under the Florida Wrongful Death Act) were over $1 million. Our client’s emotional pain and suffering claim was also valuable, as there was plenty of evidence that she and her husband had a loving marriage, and the loss of his life and companionship was devastating to her.

We had to figure out a way to recover more money for our client, since all the information in our possession suggested that the refrigerated truck driver had really only purchased $10,000 in liability insurance, even though he was operating a vehicle that weighed over 12 tons, and that could clearly cause catastrophic injuries if it was involved in a crash.

After doing some investigation, filing a lawsuit, and taking the refrigerated truck driver’s deposition, we were able to assert a claim against the truck driver’s insurance agent for negligence in advising the truck driver about his insurance needs (this is also sometimes called “errors and omissions” in the insurance world.) We were able to gather evidence that the agent did not know the proper entity that he was insuring, and that he did not ask the truck driver what assets he had that needed to be protected if his refrigerated truck injured someone in an accident. (The truck driver owned several pieces of real estate in Volusia County, as well as a produce business that generated regular revenue.)

At mediation—and despite some bad case law that seems to require almost no duty of care from insurance agents when dealing with customers’ coverage needs—we were able to convince the professional liability (errors and omissions) carrier for the insurance agent to pay our client $200,000.00. Additionally, the refrigerated truck driver paid $15,000.00 out of his own pocket—in addition to his $10,000.00 in liability insurance.

$215,000