Permanent Stay Granted Against Plaintiff Seeking Supplemental Coverage

Partner John Wynne was granted a permanent stay in an underinsured arbitration on behalf of the BMM client who was a defendant in the action. In this case, the plaintiff was a passenger at the time of an apparent vehicle collision. The plaintiff received a payment from the co-defendant’s policy and sought to obtain underinsured coverage from BMM’s client.

Plaintiff asserted a claim to recover SUM (supplemental uninsured/underinsured motorist) benefits on the grounds that the co-defendant's vehicle was underinsured, and argued that she was entitled to receive the difference between what was received and what the policy offered. Underinsured coverage is an elective that the BMM client does not provide. The plaintiff’s counsel argued that there was a public policy argument in favor of creating coverage where it did not exist.

A permanent motion to stay was granted in the client’s favor, as the client did not provide supplementary uninsured motorist coverage. The co-defendant had liability coverage and tendered its full policy amount. Due to Mr. Wynne’s efforts, the client resolved the claim in a timely manner without incurring coverage costs.