In A Car Accident While Pregnant: Will Illinois Law Step Up For Your Baby?
When a pregnant woman is in an accident, there may be emotional and physical trauma to the mother and her baby. However, the stress may not end there. Some insurance companies seek to lower their liability by questioning the extent of injuries to the mother and her baby. Frankly, no pregnant mother should ever have to go through such a situation.
We recently took on just this type of legal challenge at Gordon Gordon & Centracchio and we’re glad to say we reached an injury settlement on behalf of both mom and her baby.
In our case, a pregnant woman crossing the street as a pedestrian was hit by negligent driver. Not only would mom need to be hospitalized for her injuries, but her unborn baby needed extensive fetal monitoring to ensure his own health. Thankfully, mom was ultimately OK and the baby was born healthy.
How does insurance apply when you’re injured while pregnant?
The at-fault driver here had $25,000 per person liability limits. The insurance company quickly offered up $25,000 to resolve the case. We hollered, “No way! You’re forgetting the baby!”
In Illinois, a baby – even in utero – is considered a person for liability insurance purposes. What this meant was that in addition to the $25,000 in available insurance for mom, there was also $25,000 in insurance available for the unborn baby boy.
The insurance company fought us on this argument every step of the way. It wasn’t until the first day of the trial that they gave in – seeing that we were prepared to take the case to trial to prove our point and collect the full policy.
This brings up a related topic of why having automobile liability insurance is so important, including knowing your limits of coverage (which, by the way, most people don’t know). We’ll speak to this topic in greater detail in our next blog post.
If you are pregnant and have been in an automobile accident, speak with an attorney who is well-versed in this area of the law – one of our own at Gordon Gordon & Centracchio. We understand how to forcefully litigate against insurance companies to protect the rights of pregnant mothers and their babies after an accident. Contact us today for a free consultation and review of your case.
The information you obtain on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. The information on this website is not a substitute for personal legal advice. While we invite you to contact us, please note that contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship, unless you are accepted as a client of the firm. Reviewing the information on this site also does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between you and Gordon Gordon & Centracchio, Ltd.