Yacht vs. Dinghy

$600,000 TOTAL SETTLEMENT, including $200,000 over the defendant’s insurance policy limits.

Our client was riding in a dinghy with her sister in Puget Sound, enjoying the summer sun. To her disbelief and horror, a yacht operator did not see the dinghy and plowed right into her, fracturing her hip.

After recovering policy limits from the yacht operator’s primary insurance, we demanded all $300,000 of the homeowner’s umbrella coverage. The umbrella insurer wouldn’t even pay half that. We filed suit. A few months into litigation, we demanded $500,000 on the $300,000 policy. They paid.

The insurance company had failed to protect the yacht operator from an excess judgment, so we forced them to pay over their policy limits—more than what was actually covered. Insurers need to protect their customers, not just make things hard for injured victims.