As automobile law practitioners are aware, persons injured during the course of a motor vehicle accident may pursue both a lawsuit against the tortfeasor and, where the negligent party is underinsured, a claim for underinsured motorist benefits under the injured party’s own policy of automobile insurance.
Pennsylvania law allows such UIM claims to be pursued prior to the completion of any lawsuit as long as the UIM carrier is given a credit for the total amount of the liability coverage provided to the negligent party or parties. Harper v. Washington Insurance Co.,753 A.2d 282 (Pa.Super. 2000); Boyle v. Erie Insurance Co.,656 A.2d 941 (Pa.Super. 1995). This credit is designed to ensure that the injured party does not obtain a UIM recovery without first establishing that the value of his or her injuries exceeds the tortfeasor’s liability insurance coverage, i.e. that the tortfeasor is “underinsured.”
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