Among other things, the law would require that an insurance company’s share of the recovery in a personal injury case be proportional to any gap in coverage, meaning that the injured party isn’t the only one taking a hit when an insurance policy maximum is not enough to fully cover a jury verdict.
Many in the insurance industry opposed the law, which was signed by Gov. John Kasich this week. Gallucci, who serves as President of the Ohio Association for Justice and who was instrumental in pushing the amendment through, wrote:
“The plain and simple truth is the insurance industry wants to protect their profits and justify raising premiums – all at the expense of Ohio families.”
For more on the law, check out this story in The Plain Dealer.
Gallucci offered the following example to the paper: Say a jury awarded a car accident victim $500,000 for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering, but the insurance policy of the liable driver has a maximum of $100,000 coverage. If medical expenses totaled $275,000, the insurance provider would typically take this entire amount, leaving the injured person with nothing.
Since the insurance coverage amounted to only 1/5 of the jury’s verdict, the insurance company would only be able to collect 1/5 of the total sum of medical bills under the new law. That would mean the plaintiff’s take would be $45,000.
At Plevin & Gallucci, we have been fighting for Ohio workers for decades. We support this new law because it will help injured people in Ohio get what they need to recover and move on, and we will keep our eye on the government in Columbus to ensure injured Ohioans are treated fairly under the law.
