When a simple stop at a light in Brevard County turned into a nightmare hit-and-run, our client’s life was thrown into a medical and emotional whirlwind. She faced debilitating neck and low-back injuries, severe PTSD, and mounting medical bills. Worse, the initial insurance limits available wouldn’t come close to covering her needs.
However, in true Farah & Farah fashion, this is not a story of defeat, but of tenacity, leverage, and justice. We sat down with one of Farah & Farah’s top Tampa accident attorneys, Joseph Nemeh, to learn how his determined strategy saw the at-fault driver pay $375,000 out of pocket, resulting in a $725,000 total recovery for a truly deserving client.
“When My Own Mother Was Hurt, I Told Her To Call Farah & Farah.”
What made this case uniquely personal was that the client was the mother of a Farah & Farah employee. As Joe Nemeh noted, “This was personal. When one of our employees’ own mothers was hurt, he told her to call Farah & Farah. She was an A+ witness and a truly nice person who understood there were some complexities on the legal side, but she was hurt and knew she needed an advocate.”
Our client, who worked for the government, was violently T-boned by a driver who then simply drove away. She managed to photograph the license plate, leading police to a man with a history of DUIs and an alcohol problem, a factor we strongly inferred played a role in the daytime hit-and-run.
How Our Attorneys Can Turn Policy Limits Into Leverage
The key difficulty in this case was that the client had a mountain of medical bills totaling more than $265,000 (including a costly $150,000 in medical debt), but only $250,000 in the at-fault driver’s policy and $100,000 in her own Underinsured Motorist (UM) policy. Accepting the insurance company’s earliest offer of $350,000 would have barely covered her medical debts and left her with very little to fully recover.
To gain leverage, Nemeh thought outside the box and decided not to waive the defendant’s appearance at mediation. Usually, in mediation, the insurance adjuster and defense attorney are present, but not the defendant. However, in this case, the facts aligned, and Nemeh decided it would be best to have the defendant there. That means the defendant had to be at mediation and see the full effects of the damage he’d tried to run away from. Joseph continued to build the case aggressively, showing that the facts strongly pointed to the driver being impaired at the time of the crash, and filed motions for extended damages to expose the insurance company to fees and costs if it failed to protect its insured.
When an insurance company fails to provide full and fair coverage under the terms of the policy, it can be acting in what’s called “bad faith,” which is when an insurance company acts unreasonably or dishonestly when handling a claim. The elements of the case gave reason to believe there may also be a bad-faith claim worth pursuing to ensure full justice was delivered.
“The insurance and the driver knew she was headed for a massive and expensive surgery,” Nemeh recalled. “They weren’t talking about a $250,000 case anymore.”
The Unexpected Out-of-Pocket Settlement
Joseph’s legal strategy paid off in an extraordinary way. During mediation, the driver, who owned a successful pool company, surprised everyone. Instead of just negotiating the insurance company’s contribution, the driver personally stepped in to pay an excess amount above his policy limits.
Ultimately, the driver agreed to pay $375,000 out of pocket. Combined with the $250,000 bodily injury (BI) policy and the $100,000 UM policy, the total recovery was $725,000.
“We were pleasantly surprised that the driver gave out of pocket,” Joseph said. “He may have been motivated by guilt, but it saved our client from the uncertainty of a trial, the mental anguish of testifying, and the risk of the jury not understanding the full scope of her injuries.”
Don’t Let the Insurance Company Rush Your Recovery
The biggest lesson from this case, according to Nemeh, is patience: “If one year from now you need surgery or you’re more hurt, there’s no coming back—we can’t refile your case.”
“We want to determine what’s fully wrong with you and what you need versus resolving a case because it’s convenient. More often than not, the more we can treat, the more value we can build.”
Feeling Pressured by Insurance After Your Accident? Let’s Talk
If you or a loved one is facing low-ball offers or feels the insurance company is ignoring the true costs of your injuries, contact the experienced attorneys at Farah & Farah 24/7 for a free consultation. We can talk through the details of your accident and help you understand what options you may have available–all at no cost to you.
