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Car Crash Victim Gets Both Insurance And Disability Payments

A woman
who became disabled after a car accident can be compensated for her lost wages
under her auto insurance policy, even though she’s also receiving Social
Security disability benefits, according to a federal judge in Pennsylvania.

Francine
Smith became totally disabled after a car crash with another driver. The other
driver had a $100,000 insurance policy, but that wasn’t enough to fully
compensate Francine for her loss. Fortunately, Francine had an “underinsured
motorist” benefit in her own auto insurance policy with Progressive, which
kicked in to help cover the difference.

Meanwhile,
Francine applied for Social Security disability benefits and began receiving
$1,174 each month.

Progressive
claimed that it should be able to deduct the $1,174 per month from the amount
it was paying Francine for lost wages under the policy. It said that Francine
was being compensated for that amount twice. And it pointed to a state law that
said people shouldn’t be allowed to collect double for the same harm.

But the
state law was never meant to apply to Social Security disability benefits, the
court ruled. Therefore, Francine could collect the full amount.

Of
course, the law varies from state to state, and only an attorney can determine
the full amount of compensation to which you’re entitled in your specific
circumstances.

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