In Trailer/Towed Vehicle Accident/Personal Injury Cases, The Separate Insurance on the Trailer Behind The Vehicle May Provide Further Insurance Coverage

Virginia (VA) Truck Accident Injury Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC 

Virginia/Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers:

Virginia/Carolina Car/Truck Personal Injuries/Accidents Involving Trailers and Towed Vehicles/Boats/Cars/ATV’s:

In Trailer/Towed Vehicle Accidental Injury Cases, The Separate Insurance on the Trailer Behind The Vehicle May Provide Further Insurance Coverage

Our personal injury lawyers have handled cases over many years involving accidents where a car or truck operated by a careless driver also had a trailer connected, or was towing an ATV, boat, or other equipment. Also, our clients have actually been in their own car or truck and had their own trailer when they were in an accident caused by a negligent driver of another car or truck. The question a personal injury lawyer must investigate is exactly how many possible insurance sources apply to provide full compensation for a client who suffers personal injury or a wrongful death, especially if any trailer was involved.

First, there have been cases where our client was pulling a trailer when injured. I once represented a client who was involved in a lawn care business and was towing a trailer holding lawn equipment. Actually, he was almost into his driveway at his own home when he was struck by a negligent driver of a car who was passing another car coming in the opposite direction. In situations like this what if the negligent driver has very low insurance coverage and causes such serious injuries that the victim-here our client cannot work at his job? Our own client had a liability insurance policy not only on his own car, but a separate policy on the trailer behind his car, so we needed to examine whether our client's own insurance policy provided what is called the uninsured/under insured motorists coverage on his car or trailer for this type of personal injury. Underinsured motorist coverage applies to add additional insurance when the liability insurance of the careless driver is inadequate, but each state has its own rules on how it applies in addition to liability coverage available from the “at fault” driver.

Our client discussed above was using his own car when he was injured, and there are legal decisions that have held that insurance on a trailer, even if it was not struck during the collision, may also provide additional insurance coverage such as underinsured motorist coverage in this scenario.

In another case I handled in the 90's, my client was operating a tractor trailer unit and was in a collision with a car at a red light controlled intersection. The driver of the car was at fault and my client suffered a serious back injury. The driver of the car had a minimum type liability insurance policy. My client had no insurance on the tractor unit of his tractor-but he was operating a trailer under a lease for a different company, which was insured. The damage was to the cab or tractor of his semi-rig, so the question was could we access under-insured motorist coverage on the trailer he was pulling which was not even damaged in the collision? According to the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia, the under-insured motorist insurance applicable to a towed trailer, involved in a collision, may be applicable in addition to other under-insured motorist coverage in this type of accident.

Because the insurance company insuring the trailer (which was not damaged, but was hitched to the tractor) denied its insurance applied, I filed suit for my client—after all, the client had massive lost income, couldn’t work, and one million dollars of coverage either applied or did not. The federal judge who heard the dispute at trial ruled that the trailer's insurance was not applicable at all. However, I appealed the case to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and won the appeal--meaning that the trailer insurance in the sum of 1 million dollars was fully applicable even though the trailer was not damaged. We later settled the case for the majority of the 1 million dollar policy. The ruling is a fairly good precedent for the proposition that a vehicle and its trailer may both provide applicable uninsured motorist coverage in a personal injury collision involving only the lead car or truck, because the trailer, connected to a car or truck is being "used" when the collision occurs. There need not be damage to the trailer.

As a matter of fact the court went on to state:

Bray, a resident of Virginia, was driving a tractor-trailer in Seaford, Delaware, when he was involved in an accident with a car that had run a stop sign. Bray owned the tractor and had leased it to U.S. Lines Trucking. The tractor was pulling a semi-trailer owned by U.S. Lines and insured by the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (hereafter Pennsylvania, although the company is not an agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). Bray had no insurance on his tractor.

At the time of the accident, U.S. Lines had a liability policy for $1,000,000 issued by Pennsylvania to comply with Interstate Commerce Commission regulations. See 49 C.F.R. Sec. 1043.2(b)(2)(C) (1985). The policy itself explicitly provided only $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident underinsurance motorist coverage.

The district court held that the policy provided no underinsured motorist benefits to Bray either by the policy's terms or by statute….

At the time of the accident, Virginia law required that every insurance policy issued to the owner of a motor vehicle principally garaged in the state shall provide both personal injury liability coverage in the amount of $25,000 for one person, $50,000 for two or more persons injured in the same accident, and an equal amount of uninsured, which includes underinsured, motorist coverage.... Virginia law also provided that motorists who carried more than $25,000/$50,000 liability coverage would receive underinsured motorist coverage equal to their liability coverage, unless they specifically rejected this amount of underinsured motorist coverage within 20 days of the issuance or renewal of the policy. The statute required insurance carriers to give notice of this option to their insured…. Therefore, if the plain text of Virginia's motor vehicle insurance statutes is applied to the facts of the case, Pennsylvania afforded U.S. Lines uninsured motorist coverage in the amount of $1,000,000 on the semi-trailer involved in the accident that injured Bray….

He was a permissive user of the semi-trailer because he was using it to carry U.S. Lines cargo at the time of the accident. A towed vehicle is a "used" vehicle. [The Court said that the policy therefore provided 1 million coverage].

The case above was Bray v. Ins. Co. of Pa, 917 F.2d 130 (4^th Cir. 1990), and the same federal appeals court has applied this rule (a towed vehicle is a “used” vehicle, for purposes of a personal injury accident) in South Carolina (SC) and Virginia (VA) cases since this 1990 decision, and the rule likely applies in North Carolina (NC) and West Virginia (WV).

For any personal injury or wrongful death case involving a car or truck, with or without a trailer, contact our personal injury lawyers toll free or by quick contact form on this site, for a free consultation which will always include a complete analysis of available insurance coverages, including under-insured motorist coverages.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

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Our Virginia personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the VA injury attorneys with our firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Lewis and Shapiro have also selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Leiws and Shappiro, along with attorney John C. have been recognized as Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010.

Ours was the first personal injury firm in Virginia invited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain-damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that increased to $60 million with interest compounded while the defendant pursued a failed appeal, and was confidentially settled during the appeal.

 

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Our lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern United States and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

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Attorneys with Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton hold licenses to practice in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling truck wreck cases. Check out our truck accident case results and our free consumer guide on what to do if you get involved in an accident with a commercial truck.

We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Newport News, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Jim and Rick have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of practicing lawyers receive this honor.

In addition, our VA injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms, and we have the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization. The rating indicates we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

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