Punitive Damages, DWI injuries, and Policy Limits
DWI injury claims have a higher than average settlement/verdict value in North Carolina because of one thing: Punitive damages.
When someone injures you and you seek to recover from them, you are looking for, generally, “compensatory” damages. Those are damages which essentially are to reimburse you for what you lost: medical treatment costs, lost wages, and something for pain and suffering are the traditional big three items we are looking for.
In North Carolina you can, under very limited circumstances, ask a court to award you not only compensatory damages (paying for your losses) but also punitive damages, or an award to the plaintiff that that is merely meant as a deterrent to the sort of behavior that led to the action. Punitive damages are limited in North Carolina except in once instance: DWI injury claims.
Mind you, you may not even ask for punitive damages in the absence of wanton and reckless conduct. So in your normal motor vehicle accident case, which would involve just plain old negligence, you may not seek punitive damages. However, North Carolina law allows for you to seek punitive damages in DWI injury claims because of the wanton and reckless nature of driving while impaired. These damages – unlike in every other punitive damages situation in NC – are unlimited, meaning that the jury can award the plaintiff however much money they feel would be a suitable punishment to the defendant for their behavior. And this would be in addition to whatever compensatory damages you were awarded as a plaintiff.
That’s a big deal.
However, there’s a rub, as always. How are you going to recover those punitive damages? Most people don’t have thousands of dollars to take, so what do you do?
Automobile liability policies are on the hook for punitive damages, so if you can get them, the defendant’s liability insurance carrier will have to pay them. However, most people have NC minimum limit policies, which at the time of this writing are $30,000 per person. So the total amount that any one plaintiff could recover from that kind of policy, whether it’s compensatory or compensatory AND punitive damages, would be $30,000.
Is there a way to get more? Well, maybe…
If you have Underinsured motorist coverage and you exceed the policy limits of the defendant, you might be able to recover against that policy. But UIM policies are not responsible for punitive damage verdicts, so they are not on the hook for that. They are, on the hook for compensatory damages, so if you have high compensatory damages, there is hope for a potentially reasonable recovery, depending on the circumstances.
This stuff is straight wacky, right?
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