Legal Question in Personal Injury in Hawaii

Re: Personal Injury Protection

If you did not purchase the "stacking" option on your auto policy, then only one set of coverage applies per policy. There may be other coverages if your son lived with relatives in the same household who had autos.

With respect to a deduction of the $10,000 PIP from your UM or UIM coverage, if your son had serious injuries there may be a way that you will not have this deducted from the UM/UIM policy.

Please call me at 526-4000 ext. 206 for a free consultation. TJ Lane

Re: Personal Injury Protection

From your description of the accident, there is another responsible driver/vehicle which caused the injuries to your son. That driver/vehicle- and possibly their employer/owner as well- have primary responsibility for your son's injuries. The CLD (or reduction in insurance benefits provided for by statute up to a maximum of $10,000) applies against that coverage by statute. However, it reduces the amount recoverable only if the value of the claim for injuries is not more than $10,000 above the amount of the policy. Since you state that your son had severe injuries, the insurance on the other automobile would probably not be subject to that reduction.

After you recover the full amount of all coverages on that insurance, you may still pursue umbrella insurance (if any), any other liable parties and/or their insurance coverages, your own UIM coverages (as you have described) and the assets of the responsible driver/vehicle and perhaps their employer/owner.

The statutes do not specifically state whether or not the CLD can be applied by an insurance company to reduce the recovery in UIM cases. At this point, however, since your son's injuries were severe- the CLD would probably not apply so long as the value of the claims for injury are in excess of the liability coverage plus the UIM coverage plus $10,000.

Stacking is only an issue if the other primary coverages are exhausted. You should also be aware that in order to confirm that you have declined the stacking option, most insurers must have obtained a written form declining such coverage signed by the policy holder. Otherwise the UIM policies stack as the "default" under Hawaii law.

UM coverage really is different in its application. If the responsible parties were uninsured, then you may have a claim under your own UIM. This does not preclude going after the responsible parties assets directly however. If the responsible party was an employer doing work for his employer, the employer is liable- even if no insurance was purchased. The CLD does not directly apply to UM coverage under the statute, but it may apply as a matter of court interpretation. Once again however, since your son was severely injured, the CLD does not apply if the injuries were over $10,000 more than the available UM coverage.

I hope that this helps answer some of your questions. If you wish to discuss this further, please email me at [email protected] or call me at 808-528-2525.

Bill Lawson