Charles County Circuit Court awards full coverage, rejects waiver

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Oct 14, 2008 by Brendan Kearney

GEICO Insurance Co. should have paid $300,000 in uninsured motorist coverage to a Waldorf man when his son was rear-ended in November 2004, not the $20,000 the father purchased when he bought the policy and signed a waiver in 1992, a Charles County jury decided this month.

The insurance agent was negligent when, in the mid-1990s, he allowed Phillip Peterson Jr.'s mother to triple her family's liability coverage -- from $100,000 to $300,000 -- with the express purpose of protecting her family, without telling her about the continuing effect of the waiver, the jury found.

By law, an auto insurance policy must provide uninsured motorist and liability coverage in the same amount unless the insured signs a valid waiver.

Peterson's attorney said the policy "didn't touch all the bases required under the law."

"In the case of the Petersons, they saved $27.10 to take their coverage down from $300,000 to $20,000," said Richard L. Jacklitsch, who represented Peterson, his former fiancee (who was in the minivan at the time of the accident), and his father. "It's a shortsighted savings of a few pennies because no one explained to them how crucial that coverage is."

Jacklitsch said the jury award will "make all the difference in getting [Peterson's] hospital bills paid and his surgical bills paid," but still will not completely cover the "off-the-charts" total. GEICO agreed the damages exceeded $300,000, Jacklitsch said.

Peterson, who did not return to work until last year, said he is "relieved" the legal fight is "finally over."

"It's been a long process, almost four years," said Peterson, 30. "A lot of people want money from me. It was kind of frustrating not being able to pay them."

Francis J. Ford, who represented GEICO, did not return calls for comment last week and Monday. According to Jacklitsch, GEICO argued there had been no request to change the uninsured motorist coverage from that which had been purchased, per the waiver, 16 years earlier.

Peterson was sitting in his minivan at a red light on Crain Highway near Pierce Road on the evening of Nov. 29, 2004 when Troy Lee Willett, going about 60 miles per hour, "plowed him into the car in front and then fled the scene," according to Jacklitsch.

"The other guy [Willett] had no headlights, no insurance," Jacklitsch said.

Peterson said he suffered lower spinal fractures, which went undiagnosed for almost a year, and underwent back surgery in September 2005. He returned to the hospital the next month with pulmonary embolisms, blood clots in his left lung.

Jacklitsch said his client has been "lucky" to experience a "tremendous recovery," but Peterson said he still feels "a lot of radiating nerve pain."

"Overall I'm better than I was but I guess I'll never be the same physically as I was before the accident," said Peterson, who plans to enroll at the University of Maryland, College Park this spring.

Peterson filed suit in Prince George's County originally, but the case was transferred to Charles County Circuit Court earlier this year. GEICO made no offer prior to trial before Judge Amy Janel Bragunier two weeks ago, Jacklitsch said.

"Our theory was when they changed their coverage, GEICO needed a new waiver that told the insured what the cost of the new coverage that was being waived was," Jacklitsch said.

In addition to the Petersons, the jury heard from a Towson personal injury lawyer, who testified about the sufficiency of the waiver, and a retired auto insurance salesman, who testified about the GEICO agent's actions.

Phillip Peterson Jr., et al. v. GEICO Insurance Co.

Court: Charles County Circuit

Case No: 08-C-08-000507

Proceedings: Jury trial

Judge: Amy Janel Bragunier

Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict

Dates: Incident: Nov. 29, 2004; Suit transferred to Charles Co.: Feb. 28, 2008; Disposition: Oct. 3, 2008

Plaintiffs' Attorneys: Richard L. Jacklitsch of the Jaklitsch Law Group

Defense Attorneys: Francis J. Ford of the Law Offices of Francis J. Ford

Charges: Negligence

Award: $286,000