Underinsured Motorists Coverage

Hanna v. Indiana Farms Mutual Insurance Company (Ind. Ct. App. Feb. 29, 2012)

- Originally published February 29, 2012

This case involves an underinsured motorists (UIM) claim brought by the parents of a child killed in a two-car collision during a drag race. The Plaintiffs received compensation from the tortfeasors and then brought a claim against the Plaintiffs’ insurance company. The Court of Appeals issued two important holdings: 1) the deceased child’s parents were entitled to a single joint claim for their son’s death, and 2) the parents were not entitled to UIM proceeds because the amounts they had received from the tortfeasors exceeded their coverage limits under their UIM insurance policy.

The first holding turned on an interpretation of the Child Wrongful Death Act which, in pertinent part, allows the father and mother jointly, or either of them individually by naming the other parent as a co-defendant, to bring a claim for their child’s wrongful death. The Court held the statute does not permit each parent to maintain a separate wrongful death claim.

Although the first holding seems fairly straight forward, it was an issue of first impression. Specifically, no Court had ever held that parents of a deceased child could not each maintain a separate action for wrongful death. This decision, therefore, provides important clarity to any parties involved in a child wrongful death case. The case also highlights the issues that can arise when a child of divorced parents dies because of the torts of another person. In this circumstance, two claims would be improper. The parents either must bring a single joint claim or one parent may bring the claim and name the other parent as a party to answer for his interest.

The second holding turned on the fact that the parents had received $300,000 from the tortfeasors and had only $250,000 in UIM coverage. This holding is nothing new but does apply established law regarding UIM coverage to this particular set of facts.

Barrett McNagny LLP

Legal Disclaimer

The information contained in the Barrett McNagny LLP website is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice on any subject matter. Furthermore, the information contained on our website may not reflect the most current legal developments. You should not act upon this information without consulting legal counsel.

Your transmission and receipt of information on the Barrett McNagny LLP website, or sending an e-mail to one of our attorneys or staff, will not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Barrett McNagny LLP. If you need legal advice and want to establish an attorney-client relationship with Barrett McNagny LLP, please contact one of our attorneys by telephone, email, or other means of communication, and allow the attorney to confirm that the firm does not represent other persons or entities involved in the matter and that the firm is willing to accept representation. Until such confirmation is provided by one of our attorneys, you should not transmit information to us that you consider confidential. If you do provide information to us, and no attorney-client relationship is established, the information will not be considered confidential or privileged, and our receipt of such information will not preclude us from representing another client in a matter adverse to you.

Any links to other websites are not intended to be referrals or endorsements of those sites.

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

ADA Compliance

Transparency Cover Rule: Machine-Readable Files

Contact Us
Hello,
My name is
 
and I am a(n)
seeking legal counsel in the area of 
.
Please
me at
as soon as you can.

Thank you for contacting us!

A representative will be in touch with you shortly.

An attorney-client relationship will NOT be formed merely by sending an email to Barrett McNagny, LLP or to any of its attorneys. Please do not send any information specific to your legal needs until you obtain approval from a Barrett McNagny, LLP attorney, as the content of such email will not be considered confidential or privileged. By sending us an email, you confirm your understanding of this notification. If you agree, you may use the e-mail links on this page to contact an attorney.
YesNo