Photo:Lifetime Stock/Shutterstock.com

Attorneys for a West Haven woman injured after she was thrown from a motorcycle in September 2018 have secured a $300,000 settlement.

Albert Carocci, who represents passenger Alda Bergeron, said he was able to pursue the matter without filing a lawsuit because insurance carriers for his client and the motorcycle operator agreed to pay the policy limits.

“We would have definitely filed a lawsuit if they resisted on giving us the $300,000. We think that amount was fair,” said Carocci of Trantolo & Trantolo's Bridgeport office.

Bergeron, 62, was a passenger on the motorcycle that her boyfriend, Samuel Seeley, was driving when he lost control, throwing her to the street, Carocci said. She landed on her right side.

Carocci said Seeley, who was not issued a citation by police, told authorities that another motorist made a left-hand turn in front of him causing him to swerve and lose control. The incident occurred on Bridgeport Avenue in Milford, Carocci said.

Bergeron, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered serious injuries. She fractured her hip, had broken ribs on the right side of her body, fractured her clavicle, had lacerations to her right hand and an impaired eyelid.

“Her peripheral vision is impaired as her eyelid does not open fully anymore,” Carocci said.

Bergeron “has no recollection of the accident and recalls waking up in the hospital, where she was hospitalized for five days,” Carocci said.  She has incurred about $65,000 in medical expenses.

“She has gotten better through rehabilitation and bed rest,” Carocci said.

The entire process working with the two insurance companies took several months, and the matter resolved Feb. 14, Carocci said.

Carocci was able to secure the full $100,000 policy limit from Safeco Insurance, Seeley's carrier. He also pursued Bergeron's own policy for the underinsured. Through that effort, Carocci said, he was able collect the full $200,000 from Patrons Mutual Insurance Co. of Connecticut, Bergeron's carrier.

The money will be disbursed within the week, Carocci said.

Carocci finalized the case with the adjusters for the two insurance carriers: Jennifer Purdy of Patrons Mutual and Michelle Wissick of Safeco. Purdy did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday and Wissick declined to comment.

For Carocci, the case “was very straightforward.”

“My client is happy there has been a resolution,” he said.

The biggest challenge: seeking damages from the motorcycle insurer.

“Whenever you have a case involving a boyfriend and girlfriend, there are relationship issues you have to contend with,” Carocci said. “They can be tricky.”

Read More:

Middletown Jury Awards $287,351 to Woman Who Injured Back in 2014 Car Crash