Legal Question in Personal Injury in Tennessee

Re: MVA personal injury

The 16 year old driving his step father's car was

doing so under the "permissive use" doctrine. That means that the step father's car is covered by insurance so your injured family member does not have to worry that there is no insurance coverage on the other car. If your injured family member has uninsured motorist coverage that is more than the insurance coverage on the other car, there would also be a case to be made for uninsured (actually underinsured) coverage on your injured family member's car insurance. The medicals seem as though they are significant and there is clearly an argument to be made that insurance coverage will not make your injured family member whole. That is called the "made whole doctrine." Under the "made whole doctrine", medical bills would not have to be paid because the insurance coverage is not great enough to make your injured family member whole. The best way to think about the "made whole doctrine" is that there is only half a loaf of bread on the table.

Re: MVA personal injury

In Tennessee the parent may be liable under the family purpose doctrine if they purchased and/or maintained the car. Was the car registered in the driver's name? Have you received a copy of the accident report yet? You also need to know that medicare and your health insurance company will have a lien on any funds received. There are certain defenses to these liens but they can be difficult. If you would like to discuss this further my contact information can be found at hhpfirm.com. I am sorry for all that you are going through, I see a lot of these type of cases it is never easy.

Re: MVA personal injury

Unfortunately, you have not necessarily been given correct information about the 16 year old driver. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say, your family member probably has a very good lawsuit. If the at fault driver crossed the center lane and hit him head on, liability would almost be a given. Obviously, the other driver may claim that he did not do this or that someone forced him over, but for purposes of this response, I assume you are correct and the 16 year old was at fault. There is a statute in TN that helps you here and creates a rebuttable presumption that the child was using the car for the benefit of the owner of the car, the step-father, and that statute may apply here. There is also a doctrine in TN called the family purpose doctrine. Even without this, the insurance policy itself likely covers the personal injury and an experienced attorney can tell you how to handle a situation where the medical bills exceed the automobile insurance coverage. I would be more than happy to discuss this with you. Because of very short filing deadlines, please call or have your family member call legal counsel as soon as possible about this. Best of luck.

Re: MVA personal injury

You may have a case. I am available toll free at 866.352.3311 if you would like to discuss.

Re: MVA personal injury

Unfortunately, the State of TN only requires minimum insurance limits so even if the injured person's medical bills exceed the amount of insurance, there's nothing you can do. UNLESS the negligent driver has assets to attach/levy on; like a house or a vehicle that is paid for. It has got to be a substantial asset though to make it worth your while.

I don't know who told you that the step-father cannot be held responsible. That's not necessarily true. If the step-father gave the child permission to use the car, then the step-father can be charged with civil negligent entrustment. If the step-father has the car for the family's use and the child has driven it before and doesn't necessarily have to ask permission for each and every time he uses it, then I would argue that you can still charge the step-father with negligence under the 'family purpose doctrine' because the car was used by the family, for the family.