Confidential
Settlement – $178,472Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
The claimants, a family of four, were rear-ended on the 91 freeway in the city of Cerritos by an uninsured motorist. The claimants suffered various injuries. The claimants were insured with Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury (UMBI) limits of $100,000 to $300,000 and medical payments limits of $100,000. The mother's claim was settled on Dec. 23, 1996. The minor son's claim settled on Jan. 3, 1997. The father and daughter petitioned to compel arbitration with the superior court on April 22, 1997. The claimants brought this action against respondent insurance carrier under the UMBI provisions of their policy. The claimants contended that all injuries alleged were due to the uninsured motorist accident. Respondent insurance carrier admitted liability for the accident but disputed the nature and extent of injuries, the reasonableness and necessity of treatment, the presence of residual symptoms caused by the accident and the need for future medical care, treatment, or surgery as to the claims of the father and minor daughter.
Settlement Discussions
The insured minor daughter made an initial demand for total available insurance policy limits on Dec. 26, 1996. The insured father made a similar demand on Jan. 10, 1997.
Specials in Evidence
$22,752 (minor daughter); $15,700 (father)
Injuries
The minor daughter suffered soft tissue neck and back injuries. As a result of the impact, she also allegedly hit her left knee against the front seat of a 1992 Landmark Chevrolet Conversion Van in which she was a passenger seated on a wrap-around couch. She was not wearing a seat belt. She claimed she suffered a severe, left knee contusion aggravating an underlying pre-existing asymptomatic osteochondritis dissecans lesion. She underwent arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 5, 1996. The father claimed to suffer a herniated disc at C5-6 requiring a future cervical disc excision and fusion surgery and a lumbosacral strain superimposed on a previously herniated lumbar disc at L3-4 and L4-5.
Other Information
The award was rendered approximately six months after the Petition to Compel Arbitration was filed. Russell Bostrum was selected as the Arbitrator.
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